128. See Kur-án, ch. vii., v. 139.
129. “Aboo-Farrág” is a surname of a famous saint, the seyyid Ahmad El-Bedawee, buried at Tanta in the Delta: it implies that he obtains relief to those who visit his tomb, and implore his intercession.
130. The morning-prayers, two rek’ahs sunneh and two fard: the noon, four sunneh and four fard; the afternoon, the same; the evening, three fard and two sunneh; and the night-prayers (or ’eshë), four sunneh and four fard, and two sunneh again. After these are yet to be performed three rek’ahs “witr;” i.e., single or separate prayers: these may be performed immediately after the ’eshë prayers, or at any time in the night; but are more meritorious if late in the night.
131. There are some little differences in the attitudes of the four great sects during prayer. I describe those of the Hanafees.
132. Some persons previously utter certain supererogatory ejaculations, expressive of the praise and glory of God; and add, “I seek refuge with God from Satan the accursed;” which petition is often offered up before reciting any part of the Kur-án on other occasions, as commanded by the Kur-án itself (ch. xvi., v. 100). The Kur-án is usually recited, in the fard prayers, in a voice slightly audible, excepting at noon and the ’asr, when it is recited inaudibly. By Imáms, when praying at the head of others, and sometimes by persons praying alone, it is chanted. In the sunneh prayers it is recited inaudibly.
133. In the third and fourth fard rek’ahs, the recitation of a second portion of the Kur-án after the Fát’hah should be omitted; and before fard prayers of four rek’ahs, the “ikámeh”“ikámeh” (which consists of the words of the adán, with the addition of “the time of prayer is come,” pronounced twice after “come to security”) should be repeated; but most persons neglect doing this, and many do not observe the former rule.
134. The doctors of El-Islám differ respecting the proper position of the fingers of the right hand on this occasion: some hold that all the fingers but the first are to be doubled, as represented in Part II. of the sketch of the postures of prayer.
135. Some say that every believer is attended by two angels; others say, five; others, sixty, or a hundred and sixty.
136. Beginning with the words “God: there is no deity but He;” and ending with, “He is the High, the Great.”
137. Adjoining each mosque are several “latrinæ,” in each of which is a receptacle with water, for ablution.
138. If of the sect of the Sháfe’ees, to which most of the people of Cairo belong; but if of that of the Hanafees, four rek’ahs.
139. Kur-án, chap. xxxiii., v. 56.
140. There are some trifling differences in the forms of salutations of the Prophet in the Friday-prayers in different mosques; I describe what is most common.
141. A kind of lizard, the lacerta Libyca.
142. In the great mosque El-Azhar there are several Muballighs in different places, to make the adán heard to the whole congregation.
143. To commemorate the acquisition of Egypt by the sword. It is never used by the Khateeb but in a country or town that has been so acquired by the Muslims from unbelievers.
144. During my first visit to Egypt I went to the great mosque El-Azhar, to witness the performance of the Friday-prayers by the largest congregation in Cairo. I was pleased with the preaching of the Khateeb of the mosque, Gád-El-Mowla, and afterwards procured his sermon-book (“deewán khutab”), containing sermons for every Friday in the year, and for the two “’eeds,” or grand festivals. I translate the first sermon.
145. The year begins and ends with a sacred month. The sacred months are four: the first, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth. During these, war was forbidden to be waged against such as acknowledged them to be sacred, but was afterwards allowed. The first month is also held to be excellent on account of the day of ’A’shoora (respecting which see Chap. XXIV. of this work); and the last, on account of the pilgrimage.
146. That of the month of Ramadán.
147. See an account of the customs observed in honour of the day of ’A’shoora, chap. xxiv.
148. The Khateeb always closes his exhortation with one or two traditions of the Prophet.
149. The five daily prayers ordained by the Kur-án.
150. This is always the same, or nearly so.
151. Kur-án, chap. xxvi., last verse.
152. Idem., chap. xxxiii., v. 56.
153. The patriarch Abraham.
154. The reigning Sultán at the time when the above was written.
155. This sentence, beginning “O God, frustrate,” was not inserted in one copy of this prayer, which I obtained from an Imám. Another Imám, at whose dictation I wrote the copy here translated, told me that this sentence and some others were often omitted.
156. Kur-án, chap. vii., v. 22.
157. Ibid., chap. xvi., v. 92.
158. Because the Prophet received the first revelation in that month.
159. Kur-án, chap. ii., v. 183.
160. The year being lunar, each month retrogrades through all the seasons in the course of about thirty-three years and a half.
161. A Málikee is held bound to perform the pilgrimage if strong enough to bear the journey on foot, and able to earn his food on the way.
162. On the pronunciation of this word, see a note to the second paragraph of Chapter V., p. 120.
163. More properly “Sagheer.” This is what many travellers have incorrectly called “the Great Festival.”
164. Misled by the decision of those doctors, and an opinion prevalent in Europe, I represented the laws of “holy war” as more severe than I find them to be according to the letter and spirit of the Kur-án, when carefully examined, and according to the Hanafee code. I am indebted to Mr. Urquhart for suggesting to me the necessity of revising my former statement on this subject; and must express my conviction that no precept is to be found in the Kur-án which, taken with the context, can justify unprovoked war.
165. Kur-án, chap. ii., v. 216. A kind of wine, formerly called “nebeedh” (a name now given to prohibited kinds), may be lawfully drunk. This is generally an infusion of dry grapes, or dry dates. The Muslims used to keep it until it had slightly fermented; and the Prophet himself was accustomed to drink it, but not when it was more than two days old. The nebeedh of raisins is now called “zebeeb.”
166. A similar beverage, thus prepared from barley, was used by the ancient Egyptians. (Herodotus, lib. ii., cap. 77.) The modern inhabitants of Egypt also prepare boozeh from wheat and from millet in the same manner, but less commonly.
167. Swine were universally deemed impure by the ancient Egyptians (Herodotus, lib. ii., cap. 47.)
168. Kur-án, chap. v., v. 4.
169. The Arabic words of this prayer, “God give thee patience,” etc., are, “Allah yesabbirak (for yusabbirak) ’ala má belák.”
170. In some respects the Muslim code does not appear to be so strictly founded upon exigencies of a sanatory nature as the Mosaic. See Leviticus xi. 9-12. In Egypt, fish which have not scales are generally found to be unwholesome food. One of the few reasonable laws of El-Hákim was that which forbade the selling or catching such kinds of fish. See De Sacy, “Chrestomathie Arabe,” 2nde ed., tome i., p. 98.
171. It is unlawful to give or receive interest, however small, for a loan, or on account of credit; and to exchange any article for another article of the same species, but differing in quantity. These and several other commercial transactions of a similar kind are severely condemned; but they are not very uncommon among modern Muslims, some of whom take exorbitant interest.
172. Many of the Muslims hold that only sculptures which cast a shadow, representing living creatures, are unlawful; but the Prophet certainly condemned pictures also.
173. A law given in the Kur-án is called “fard.”
174. A law derived from the Traditions is called “sunneh.”
175. Kur-án, chap. iv., v. 3.
176. Some Muslim moralists argue, that, as four wives are a sufficient number for one man, so also are four concubine-slaves, or four women consisting of these two classes together; but, notwithstanding what Sale and some other learned men have asserted on this subject, the Muslim law certainly does not limit the number of concubine-slaves whom a man may have, whether in addition to, or without, a wife or wives.
177. In like manner, when a Christian man marries a Jewess, the Muslim law requires the offspring to profess “the better faith,” namely, the Christian, if unwilling to embrace El-Islám.
178. Chap. iv., vv. 26, 27.
179. By the Hanafee code, a man may not marry a woman from whose breast he has received a single drop of milk; but Esh-Sháfe’ee does not prohibit the marriage unless he has been suckled by her five times in the course of the first two years.
180. A boy may be thus married; but he may divorce his wife.
181. Whatever property the wife receives from her husband, parents, or any other person, is entirely at her own disposal, and not subject to any claim of her husband or his creditors.
182. Kur-án, chap. ii., vv. 229, 230.
183. As the Mosaic law also allows. See Deut. xxiv. 1.
184. The witnesses must always be Muslims in accusations against a person of the same faith.
185. Yet many Christians and Jews in Egypt infringe the law in this respect with impunity.
186. In this the Muslim law differs from the Mosaic, which assigns a double portion to the first-born son. See Deut. xxi. 17.
187. In my summary of the principal laws relating to inheritance, in the former editions of this work, there were some errors, occasioned by my relying too much upon Sale’s version of the Kur-án; for I doubted not his accuracy, as he had several commentaries to consult, and I had none; wherefore, in my inquiries respecting these laws, I sought only to add to, not to correct, the information conveyed by his version. I have here given a corrected statement, derived from the Kur-án and the Commentary of the Geláleyn, supplying some words of necessary explanation (which are enclosed in brackets) partly on the authority of a sheykh who was my tutor, and partly from the valuable work of D’Ohsson, “Tableau Général de l’Empire Othoman,” Code Civil, livre iv.
188. According to Sale’s translation of the 12th verse of chap. iv., and a note thereon, if the deceased have no child, and his parents be his heirs, then his mother shall have the third part, and his father the other two-thirds: but if he have brethren, his mother shall have a sixth part;—and by his translation of the last verse of the same chapter, stating that the brothers of a man who has died without issue have a claim to inheritance, it is implied that the brothers, if the father be living, must have a share; consequently, that they would have, in the case above-mentioned, a sixth part: for he has not stated that this portion which is deducted from the mother’s share goes to the father, nor that the father’s share is diminished.—Why the mother’s share is diminished and the father’s increased, in the case to which this note relates, I do not see: the reason might be easily inferred, were it not that the surviving brothers or sisters of the deceased may be his brothers or sisters by the mother’s side only.
189. This is exclusive of what may remain due to her of her dowry, of which one-third is usually held in reserve by the husband, to be paid to her if he divorce her, or when he dies.
190. The portions of the Kur-án upon which the above laws are founded are verses 12-15, and the last verse, of chap. iv.
191. The reader may see them in D’Ohsson’s work before mentioned.
192. Chap. ii., v. 280.
193. Chap. ii., v. 173.
194. Chap. iv., v. 94.
195. Or, according to some, ten thousand dirhems.
196. Kur-án, chap. v., v. 49.
197. Chap. v., v. 42.
198. The deenár is a mitkál (or nearly 72 English grains) of gold. Sale, copying a false translation by Marracci, and neglecting to examine the Arabic text quoted by the latter, has stated the sum in question to be four deenárs.
199. The feet are confined by a chain or rope attached at each end to a staff, which is turned round to tighten it. This is called a “falakah.” Two persons (one on each side) strike alternately.
200. Kur-án, chap. iv., v. 19.
201. This is a “Sunneh” law. The doom, as Mr. Urquhart observes, “stands rather as the expression of public abhorrence, than as a law which is to be carried into execution.” (“Spirit of the East,” vol. ii., p. 425.) The law is the same in the case of the adulterer, if married; but it is never enforced. See Leviticus xx. 10, and John viii. 4, 5.
202. It is worthy of remark, that the circumstance which occasioned the promulgation of this extraordinary law was an accusation of adultery preferred against the Prophet’s favourite wife, ’A’ïsheh; she was thus absolved from punishment, and her reputation was cleared by additional “revelations.”
203. Chap. xxiv., vv. 4-9.
204. An unmarried person convicted of adultery is likewise obnoxious only to this punishment. The two laws mentioned in Leviticus xx. 13 and 15 have been introduced into the Muslim code; but in the present day they are never executed.
205. In the villages of Egypt, a woman found, or suspected, to have been guilty of this crime, if she be not a common prostitute, often experiences a different fate, which will be described in the account of the domestic life and customs of the lower orders.
206. The conduct of the lower orders in Cairo on this occasion speaks sadly against their character. A song was composed on the victim of this terrible law, and became very popular in the metropolis.
207. Among many other erroneous statements respecting the Wahhábees, it has been asserted that they prohibit the drinking of coffee.
208. Though his territory has been greatly lessened since the above was written, his power in Egypt remains nearly the same.
209. The government of Egypt, from the period of the conquest of this country by the Arabs, has been nearly the same as it is at present in its influence upon the manners and customs and character of the inhabitants; and I therefore do not deem an historical retrospect necessary to the illustration of this work. It should, however, be mentioned that the people of Egypt are not now allowed to indulge in that excessive fanatical rudeness with which they formerly treated unbelievers; and hence European travellers have one great cause for gratitude to Mohammad ’Alee. Restraint may, at first, increase, but will probably, in the course of time, materially diminish the feeling of fanatical intolerance.
210. “Khideewee” is a relative adjective formed from the Turkish “Khideev,” which signifies “a prince.”
211. Thus pronounced in Egypt, but more properly “Kyáhya,” or “Ketkhud′a.”
212. A very arbitrary power is often exercised in this and similar courts, and the proceedings are conducted with little decorum. Many Turkish officers, even of the highest rank, make use of language far too disgusting for me to mention, towards persons brought before them for judgment, and towards those who appeal to them for justice.
213. He used to arrive in Cairo in the beginning of Ramadán; but the beginning of the first month, Moharram, has of late been fixed upon, instead of the former period.
214. The Egyptian piaster is now equivalent to the fifth part of a shilling, or 2¼d.
215. This law is borrowed from the Jews. See Deut. xix. 15.—A man may refuse to give his testimony.
216. A purse is the sum of five hundred piasters, and was then equivalent to nearly seven pounds sterling, but is now equal to only five pounds.
217. In the singular “’A′lim.” This title is more particularly given to a professor of jurisprudence. European writers generally use the plural form of this appellation for the singular.
218. Since this was written, the public women throughout Egypt have been compelled to relinquish their licentious profession.
219. “Ibn beled.” If blind, he answers, “Aama.”
220. “Wahhed;” or, to more than one person, “Wahhedoo.”
221. Baron Hammer-Purgstall is mistaken in substituting “Meshaaledschi” for “Shealeg′ee.” The officer who bears the latter appellation does not carry a mesh′al, but a twisted torch. The mesh′al is described and figured in Chap. vi.
222. An ornament worn on the crown of the head-dress by women, described in the Appendix to this work.
223. See Diodorus Siculus, lib. i., cap. 80.
224. Suleymán A′gha, the Silahdár.
225. Aboo-Dá-ood, Aboo-’Alee, etc., are patronymics, used by the Egyptian peasants in general, not as signifying “Father of Dá-ood,” “Father of ’Alee,” etc., but “whose father is (or was) Dá-ood,” “—— ’Alee,” etc.
226. Lib. xxii. The more easily the peasant pays, the more is he made to pay.
227. Some estimate it at five millions; others, at little more than two millions.
228. The feddán has lately been reduced: it was equal to about an English acre and one-tenth a few years ago; and somewhat more at an earlier period.
229. Of some productions, as cotton, flax, etc., the government always takes the whole.
230. Even the debts of the peasantry of one village are often imposed upon the inhabitants of another who have paid all that is justly due from them.
231. The above account of the government of Egypt, having been written in the years 1834 and 1835, is not altogether correct with respect to the present time (1842). Great changes are now being made in various departments; and as the Básha has no longer to maintain an enormous military and naval force, he will be able to ameliorate very considerably the condition of the people whom he governs. Most of the evils of which the people of Egypt have hitherto had to complain have arisen from the vast expense incurred in war, from the conscription, and from the dishonesty of almost all the Básha’s civil officers.
232. Men and women of this race often contract marriages with persons who are not members of the same; and as the title of shereef is inherited from either of the parents, the number of persons who enjoy this distinction has become very considerable.
233. This word is thus pronounced by the inhabitants of Cairo and the greater part of Egypt; but in most other countries where Arabic is spoken, “hájj.” The Turks and Persians use, instead of it, the synonymous Arabic word “hájjee.”
234. Unless there be a eunuch. The sakka is generally the chief of the servants.
236. To preserve the matting or carpet from injury, a small brass tray is often placed beneath the bowl; and a small tray of wood is made use of to receive the ashes of the tobacco.
237. A Persian word, signifying “glass.”
238. It is, however, often recommended in the case of a cough. One of my friends, the most celebrated of the poets of Cairo, who is much troubled by asthma, uses the nárgeeleh almost incessantly from morning till night.
239. This is the name of the beverage; the berries (whether whole or pounded) are called “bunn.”
240. In a full service there are ten fingáns and zarfs of uniform kinds, and often another fingán and zarf of a superior kind for the master of the house, or for a distinguished guest. In the accompanying sketch, the coffee-pot (“bekreg,” or “bakrag”) and the zarfs and tray are of silver, and are represented on a scale of one-eighth of the real size. Below this set are a similar zarf and fingán, on a scale of one-fourth, and a brass zarf, with the fingán placed in it. Some zarfs are of plain or gilt silver filigree; and a few opulent persons have them of gold. Many Muslims, however, religiously disallow all utensils of gold and of silver.
241. Baron Hammer-Purgstall considers this word a corruption, and writes “chasseki” in its stead; “’áz’kee” (for “’ázikee”“’ázikee”) is, however, the term used by the Egyptians.
242. They sometimes perfume the beard and mustaches with civet.
243. Whether walking or riding, a person of the higher classes is usually attended by a servant bearing his pipe.
244. One of the latter (that to the right) is an earthen vessel. Each of the above utensils is represented on a scale of about one-eighth of the real size.
245. “Yemeenak! shimálak!” (to thy right! to thy left!), “dahrak!” (thy back!), “wishshak!” (thy face!), “gembak!” (thy side!), “riglak!” (thy foot!), “kaabak!” (thy heel!), and, to a Turk, “sákin!” (take care!), are the most common cries. The following appellations are also often added: “yá efendee!” (to a Turk), “yá sheykh!” (to an old or a middle-aged Muslim native), “yá sabee!” (to a young man), “yá weled!” or “yá ibnee!” (to a boy), “yá shereef!” (to a green turbaned descendant of the Prophet), “yá m’allim!” (to a native Christian, or a Jew), “yá khawágeh!” (to a Frank), “yá sitt!” (to a lady, or a female of the middle order), and “yá bint!” that is “daughter,” or “girl” (to a poor female). A woman of the lower class, however old she be, the servant must call “girl,” or “daughter,” or probably she will not move an inch out of the way. A little girl, or young woman, is often called “’arooseh,” or “bride;” and “hággeh,” or “female pilgrim,” is an appellation often given to women in the streets.
246. See Mark vii. 3.
247. In the houses of some of the opulent, these utensils are of silver. I have also seen some of gilt copper.
249. Or “Bi-smi-lláhi-r-rahmáni-r-raheem” (In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful).
250. One of the servants is holding a water-bottle: the other, a fly-whisk, made of palm leaves.
251. Our Saviour and His disciples thus ate from one dish. See Matt. xxvi. 23.
252. Or he merely sops his morsel of bread in the dish. See Ruth ii. 14; and John xiii. 26.
253. The bámiyeh is the esculent “hibiscus:” the part which is eaten is a polygonal pod, generally between one and three inches in length, and of the thickness of a small finger: it is full of seeds and nutritive mucilage, and has a very pleasant flavour. A little lime-juice is usually dropped on the plate of bámiyehs.
254. The black and white bádingán are the fruits of two kinds of egg-plant: the red is the tomato.
255. Because used for unclean purposes.
256. So called from the Persian “khósh áb,” or “sweet water.”
257. It is drunk with ladles of tortoise-shell or cocoa-nut.
258. The principal and best fruits of Egypt are dates, grapes, oranges and citrons of various kinds, common figs, sycamore-figs, prickly pears, pomegranates, bananas, and a great variety of melons. From this enumeration, it appears that there are not many good fruits in this country.