FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[1]See below,25ff.[2]An Apostle is distinguished from a mere Prophet by his having abookrevealed to him.[3]I use two words (perhaps the best that our language affords) to express corresponding Arabic terms, which some persons regard as synonymous, but others distinguish by different shades of meaning. On what I consider the best authority, the word which I render "fate" respects the decrees of God in a general sense; while that which I translate "destiny" relates to the particular applications of those decrees. In such senses these terms are here to be understood when separately employed.[4]Ḳur-án, xiii. 39.[5]El-Insán el-Kámil, by ´Abd-El-Kereem El-Jeelee, quoted by El-Isḥáḳee in his account of Ibráheem Pásha el-Maḳtool.[6]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, i. 26-34, 373. [Cp. S. Lane-Poole, "The Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moḥammad" (1882), 180-182.][7]Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 7.[8]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 381.[9]For a translation of the whole of this prayer, see my "Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," ch. xxv.[10]Ḳur. v. 35.[11]For a fuller account of the prayers, see "Modern Egyptians," ch. iii.[12]The Iḳámeh: see below, ch. viii.[13][For the collected legislation of the Ḳur-án, see my "Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moḥammad," 133 ff. S. L-P.][14]Among a people by whom falsehood, in certain cases, is not only allowed but commended, oaths of different kinds are more or less binding. In considering this subject we should also remember that oaths may sometimes be expiated. There are some oaths which, I believe, few Muslims would falsely take; such as saying, three times, "By God the Great!" (Wa-lláhi-l-´aẓeem), and the oath upon the muṣḥaf (or copy of the Ḳur-án), saying, "By what this contains of the word of God!" This latter is rendered more binding by placing a sword with the sacred volume, and still more so by the addition of a cake, or piece of bread, and a handful of salt. But a form of oath which is generally yet more to be depended upon is that of saying, "I impose upon myself divorcement!" (that is, "the divorce of my wife, if what I say be false!"); or, "I impose upon myself interdiction!" which has a similar meaning ("My wife be unlawful to me!"); or, "I impose upon myself a triple divorcement!" which binds a man by the irrevocable divorce of his wife. If a man use any of these three forms of oath falsely, his wife, if he have but one, is divorced by the oath itself, if proved to be false, without the absolute necessity of any further ceremony; and if he have two or more wives, he must under such circumstances choose one of them to put away.[15][But see my "Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moḥammad," 139, S. L-P.][16]Ḳur. v. 49.[17]Hence it has been called, by many travellers, and even by some learned Orientalists, the Great Feast; but it is never so called by the Arabs.

[1]See below,25ff.

[2]An Apostle is distinguished from a mere Prophet by his having abookrevealed to him.

[3]I use two words (perhaps the best that our language affords) to express corresponding Arabic terms, which some persons regard as synonymous, but others distinguish by different shades of meaning. On what I consider the best authority, the word which I render "fate" respects the decrees of God in a general sense; while that which I translate "destiny" relates to the particular applications of those decrees. In such senses these terms are here to be understood when separately employed.

[4]Ḳur-án, xiii. 39.

[5]El-Insán el-Kámil, by ´Abd-El-Kereem El-Jeelee, quoted by El-Isḥáḳee in his account of Ibráheem Pásha el-Maḳtool.

[6]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, i. 26-34, 373. [Cp. S. Lane-Poole, "The Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moḥammad" (1882), 180-182.]

[7]Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 7.

[8]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 381.

[9]For a translation of the whole of this prayer, see my "Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," ch. xxv.

[10]Ḳur. v. 35.

[11]For a fuller account of the prayers, see "Modern Egyptians," ch. iii.

[12]The Iḳámeh: see below, ch. viii.

[13][For the collected legislation of the Ḳur-án, see my "Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moḥammad," 133 ff. S. L-P.]

[14]Among a people by whom falsehood, in certain cases, is not only allowed but commended, oaths of different kinds are more or less binding. In considering this subject we should also remember that oaths may sometimes be expiated. There are some oaths which, I believe, few Muslims would falsely take; such as saying, three times, "By God the Great!" (Wa-lláhi-l-´aẓeem), and the oath upon the muṣḥaf (or copy of the Ḳur-án), saying, "By what this contains of the word of God!" This latter is rendered more binding by placing a sword with the sacred volume, and still more so by the addition of a cake, or piece of bread, and a handful of salt. But a form of oath which is generally yet more to be depended upon is that of saying, "I impose upon myself divorcement!" (that is, "the divorce of my wife, if what I say be false!"); or, "I impose upon myself interdiction!" which has a similar meaning ("My wife be unlawful to me!"); or, "I impose upon myself a triple divorcement!" which binds a man by the irrevocable divorce of his wife. If a man use any of these three forms of oath falsely, his wife, if he have but one, is divorced by the oath itself, if proved to be false, without the absolute necessity of any further ceremony; and if he have two or more wives, he must under such circumstances choose one of them to put away.

[15][But see my "Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moḥammad," 139, S. L-P.]

[16]Ḳur. v. 49.

[17]Hence it has been called, by many travellers, and even by some learned Orientalists, the Great Feast; but it is never so called by the Arabs.

The Muslims, in general, believe in three different species of created intelligent beings: Angels, who are created of light; Genii, who are created of fire; and Men, created of earth. The first species are called Meláïkeh (sing. Melek); the second, Jinn (sing. Jinnee); the third, Ins (sing. Insee). Some hold that the Devils (Sheyṭáns) are of a species distinct from Angels and Jinn; but the more prevailing opinion, and that which rests on the highest authority, is, that they are rebellious Jinn.

"It is believed," says El-Ḳazweenee, "that the Angels are of a simple substance, endowed with life and speech and reason, and that the difference between them and the Jinn and Sheyṭáns is a difference of species. Know," he adds, "that the Angels are sanctified from carnal desire and the disturbance of anger: they disobey not God in what He hath commanded them, but do what they are commanded. Their food is the celebrating of his glory; their drink, the proclaiming of his holiness; their conversation,the commemoration of God, whose name be exalted; their pleasure, his worship; they are created in different forms, and with different powers." Some are described as having the forms of brutes. Four of them are Archangels; Jebraeel or Jibreel (Gabriel), the angel of revelations; Meekaeel or Meekál (Michael), the patron of the Israelites; ´Azraeel, the angel of death; and Isráfeel, the angel of the trumpet, which he is to sound twice, or as some say thrice, at the end of the world—one blast will kill all living creatures (himself included), another, forty years after, (he being raised again for this purpose, with Jebraeel and Meekaeel), will raise the dead. These Archangels are also called Apostolic Angels. They are inferior in dignity to human prophets and apostles, though superior to the rest of the human race: the angelic nature is held to be inferior to the human nature, because all the Angels were commanded to prostrate themselves before Adam. Every believer is attended by two guardian and recording angels, one of whom writes his good actions, the other, his evil actions: or, according to some, the number of these angels is five, or sixty, or a hundred and sixty. There are also two Angels, called Munkir (vulg. Nákir) and Nekeer, who examine all the dead and torture the wicked in their graves.

The species of Jinn is said to have been created some thousands of years before Adam. According toa tradition from the Prophet, this species consists of five orders or classes; namely, Jánn (who are the least powerful of all), Jinn, Sheyṭáns (or Devils), ´Efreets, and Márids. The last, it is added, are the most powerful; and the Jánn are transformed Jinn, like as certain apes and swine were transformed men.[18]—It must, however, be remarked here that the terms Jinn and Jánn are generally used indiscriminately as names of the whole species (including the other orders above mentioned), whether good or bad; and that the former term is the more common; also, that Sheyṭán is commonly used to signify any evil Jinnee. An ´Efreet is a powerful evil Jinnee: a Márid, an evil Jinnee of the most powerful class. The Jinn (but, generally speaking, evil ones) are called by the Persians Deevs; the most powerful evil Jinn, Nárahs (which signifies "males," though they are said to be males and females); the good Jinn, Perees, though this term is commonly applied to females.

In a tradition from the Prophet, it is said, "The Jánn were created of a smokeless fire."[19]El-Jánn is sometimes used as a name of Iblees, as in the following verse of the Ḳur-án:—"And the Jánn [the father ofthe Jinn;i.e.Iblees] we had created before [i.e.before the creation of Adam] of the fire of the samoom [i.e.of fire without smoke]."[20]Jánn also signifies "a serpent," as in other passages of the Ḳur-án;[21]and is used in the same book as synonymous with Jinn.[22]In the last sense it is generally believed to be used in the tradition quoted in the commencement of this paragraph. There are several apparently contradictory traditions from the Prophet which are reconciled by what has been above stated: in one, it is said that Iblees was the father of all the Jánn and Sheyṭáns,[23]Jánn being here synonymous with Jinn; in another, that Jánn was the father of all the Jinn,[24]Jánn being here used as a name of Iblees.

"It is held," says El-Ḳazweenee, a writer of the thirteenth century, "that the Jinn are aërial animals, with transparent bodies, which can assume various forms. People differ in opinion respecting these beings: some consider the Jinn and Sheyṭáns as unruly men, but these persons are of the Moạtezileh [a sect of Muslim freethinkers]; and some hold that God, whose name be exalted, created the Angels of the light of fire, and the Jinn of its flame [but this is at variance with the general opinion], and the Sheyṭáns of itssmoke [which is also at variance with the common opinion], and that [all] these kinds of beings are [usually] invisible[25]to men, but that they assume what forms they please, and when their form becomes condensed they are visible."—This last remark illustrates several descriptions of Jinnees in the "Thousand and One Nights," where the form of the monster is at first undefined, or like an enormous pillar, and then gradually assumes a human shape and less gigantic size. It is said that God created the Jánn (or Jinn) two thousand years before Adam (or, according to some writers, much earlier), and that there are believers and infidels, and every sect, among them, as among men.[26]Some say that a prophet, named Yoosuf, was sent to the Jinn; others, that they had only preachers or admonishers; others, again, that seventy apostles were sent, before Moḥammad, to Jinn and men conjointly.[27]It is commonly believed that the preadamite Jinn were governed by forty (or, according to some, seventy-two) kings, to each of whom the Arab writers give the name of Suleymán (Solomon); and that they derive their appellation from the last of these, who was called Jánn Ibn Jánn, and who, some say, built the Pyramids of Egypt. The following account of the preadamite Jinn is given by El-Ḳazweenee.—"It is related in histories that a race of Jinn in ancient times, before the creation of Adam, inhabited the earth andcovered it, the land and the sea, and the plains and the mountains; and the favours of God were multiplied upon them, and they had government and prophecy and religion and law. But they transgressed and offended, and opposed their prophets, and made wickedness to abound in the earth; whereupon God, whose name be exalted, sent against them an army of Angels, who took possession of the earth, and drove away the Jinn to the regions of the islands, and made many of them prisoners; and of those who were made prisoners was ´Azázeel [afterwards called Iblees, from hisdespair]; and a slaughter was made among them. At that time, ´Azázeel was young: he grew up among the Angels [and probably for that reason was called one of them], and became learned in their knowledge, and assumed the government of them; and his days were prolonged until he became their chief; and thus it continued for a long time, until the affair between him and Adam happened, as God, whose name be exalted, hath said, 'When we said unto the Angels, Worship[28]ye Adam, and [all] worshipped except Iblees, [who] was [one] of the Jinn.'"[29]

"Iblees," we are told by another author, "was sent as a governor upon the earth, and judged among the Jinn a thousand years, after which he ascended intoheaven, and remained employed in worship until the creation of Adam."[30]The name of Iblees was originally, according to some, ´Azázeel (as before mentioned); and according to others, El-Ḥárith: his patronymic is Aboo-Murrah, or Abu-l-Ghimr.[31]It is disputed whether he was of the Angels or of the Jinn. There are three opinions on this point.—1. That he was of the Angels, from a tradition from Ibn-´Abbás.—2. That he was of the Sheyṭáns (or evil Jinn); as it is said in the Ḳur-án, "except Iblees, [who] was [one] of the Jinn:" this was the opinion of El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, and is that commonly held.—3. That he was neither of the Angels nor of the Jinn; but created alone, of fire. Ibn-´Abbás founds his opinion on the same text from which El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree derives his: "When we said unto the Angels, Worship ye Adam, and [all] worshipped except Iblees, [who] was [one] of the Jinn" (before quoted): which he explains by saying, that the most noble and honourable among the Angels are called "the Jinn," because they areveiledfrom the eyes of the other Angels on account of their superiority; and that Iblees was one of these Jinn. He adds that he had the government of the lowest heaven and of the earth, and was called the Ṭáoos (literally, Peacock) of the Angels; and that there was not a spot in the lowest heaven but he had prostrated himselfupon it: but when the Jinn rebelled upon the earth, God sent a troop of Angels who drove them to the islands and mountains; and Iblees being elated with pride, and refusing to prostrate himself before Adam, God transformed him into a Sheyṭán. But this reasoning is opposed by other verses, in which Iblees is represented as saying, "Thou hast createdmeoffire, and hast createdhim[Adam] of earth."[32]It is therefore argued, "If he were created originally of fire, how was he created of light? for the Angels were [all] created of light."[33]The former verse may be explained by the tradition that Iblees, having been taken captive, was exalted among the Angels; or perhaps there is an ellipsis after the word "Angels;" for it might be inferred that the command given to the Angels was also (andà fortiori) to be obeyed by the Jinn.

According to a tradition, Iblees and all the Sheyṭáns are distinguished from the other Jinn by a longer existence. "The Sheyṭáns," it is added, "are the children of Iblees, and die not but with him, whereas the [other] Jinn die before him;"[34]though they may live many centuries. But this is not altogether accordant with the popular belief: Iblees and many other evil Jinn are to survive mankind, but they are to die before the general resurrection, as also even theAngels, the last of whom will be the Angel of Death, ´Azraeel. Yet notallthe evil Jinn are to live thus long: many of them are killed by shooting stars, hurled at them from heaven; wherefore, the Arabs, when they see a shooting star (shiháb), often exclaim, "May God transfix the enemy of the faith!" Many also are killed by other Jinn, and some even by men. The fire of which the Jinnee is created circulates in his veins, in place of blood: therefore, when he receives a mortal wound, this fire, issuing from his veins, generally consumes him to ashes.

The Jinn, it has been already shown, are peccable. They eat and drink, and propagate their species, sometimes in conjunction with human beings; in which latter case, the offspring partakes of the nature of both parents. In all these respects they differ from the Angels. Among the evil Jinn are distinguished the five sons of their chief, Iblees; namely, Teer, who brings about calamities, losses and injuries; El-Aạwar, who encourages debauchery; Sóṭ, who suggests lies; Dásim, who causes hatred between man and wife; and Zelemboor, who presides over places of traffic.[35]

The most common forms and habitations or places of resort of the Jinn must now be described.

The following traditions from the Prophet are the most to the purposethat I have seen.—The Jinn are of various shapes; having the forms of serpents, scorpions, lions, wolves, jackals, etc.[36]The Jinn are of three kinds: one on the land, one in the sea, and one in the air.[37]The Jinn consist of forty troops; each troop consisting of six hundred thousand.[38]—The Jinn are of three kinds: one have wings and fly; another are snakes and dogs; and the third move about from place to place like men.[39]Domestic snakes are asserted to be Jinn on the same authority.[39a]

The Prophet ordered his followers to kill serpents and scorpions if they intruded at prayers; but on other occasions he seems to have required first to admonish them to depart, and then, if they remained, to kill them. The Doctors, however, differ in opinion whetherallkinds of snakes or serpents should be admonished first, or whetheranyshould; for the Prophet, say they, took a covenant of the Jinn [probably after the above-mentioned command], that they should not enter the houses of the faithful: therefore, it is argued, if they enter, they break their covenant, and it becomes lawful to kill them without previous warning. Yet it is related that ´Aïsheh, the Prophet's wife, having killed a serpent in her chamber,was alarmed by a dream, and fearing that it might have been a Muslim Jinnee, as it did not enter her chamber when she was undressed, gave in alms, as an expiation, twelve thousand dirhems (about £300), the price of the blood of a Muslim.[40]

The Jinn were said to appear to mankind most commonly in the shapes of serpents, dogs, cats, or human beings. In the last case, they are sometimes of the stature of men, and sometimes of a size enormously gigantic. If good, they are generally resplendently handsome: if evil, horribly hideous. They become invisible at pleasure, by a rapid extension or rarefaction of the particles which compose them, or suddenly disappear in the earth or air or through a solid wall. Many Muslims in the present day profess to have seen and held intercourse with them:—witness the following anecdote, which was related to me by a Persian with whom I was acquainted in Cairo, named Abu-l-Ḳásim, a native of Jeelán, then superintendent of Moḥammad ´Alee's Printing-office at Booláḳ.

One of this person's countrymen, whom he asserted to be a man of indubitable veracity, was sitting on the roof of a house which he had hired, overlooking the Ganges, and was passing the closing hour of the day, according to his usual custom, in smoking his Persian pipe and feasting his eyes by gazing at the beautifulforms of Indian maidens bathing in the river, when he beheld among them one so lovely that his heart was overpowered with desire to have her for his wife. At nightfall she came to him, and told him that she had observed his emotion and would consent to become his wife; but on the condition that he should never admit another female to take or share her place, and that she should only be with him in the night time. They took the marriage-vow to each other, with none for their witness but God; and great was his happiness, till, one evening, he saw again, among a group of girls in the river, another who excited in him still more powerful emotions. To his surprise, this very form stood before him at the approach of night. He withstood the temptation, mindful of his marriage-vow; she used every allurement, but he was resolute. His fair visitor then told him that she was his wife; that she was a jinneeyeh; and that she would always thenceforward visit him in the form of any females whom he might chance to desire.

The Zóba´ah, which is a whirlwind that raises the sand or dust in the form of a pillar of prodigious height, often seen sweeping across the deserts and fields, is believed to be caused by the flight of an evil Jinnee. To defend themselves from a Jinnee thus "riding in the whirlwind," the Arabs often exclaim, "Iron! Iron!" (Ḥadeed! Ḥadeed!), or, "Iron! thou unlucky!" (Ḥadeed! yá mashoom!) asthe Jinn are supposed to have a great dread of that metal: or they exclaim, "God is most great!" (Alláhu akbar!).[41]A similar superstition prevails with respect to the water-spout at sea, as may be seen in the adventures of King Shahriyár in the introduction to the "Thousand and One Nights."

It is believed that the chief abode of the Jinn is in the Mountains of Ḳáf, which are supposed to encompass the whole of our earth. But they are also believed to pervade the solid body of our earth, and the firmament; and to choose as their principal places of resort or of occasional abode, baths, wells, ovens, ruined houses, market-places, the junctures of roads, the sea, and rivers. The Arabs, therefore, when they pour water on the ground, or enter a bath, or let down a bucket into a well, and on various other occasions, say "Permission!" or "Permission, ye blessed!" (Destoor! or Destoor yá mubárakeen![42])The evil spirits (or evil Jinn), it is said, had liberty to enter any of the seven heavens till the birth of Jesus, when they were excluded from three of them: on the birth of Moḥammad they were forbidden the other four.[43]They continue, however, to ascend to the confines of the lowest heaven, and there listening to the conversation of the Angels respecting things decreed by God, obtain knowledge of futurity, which they sometimes impart to men, who, by means of talismans, or certaininvocations, make them to serve the purposes of magical performances. What the Prophet said of Iblees, in the following tradition, applies also to the evil Jinn over whom he presides:—His chief abode [among men] is the bath; his chief places of resort are the markets, and the junctures of roads; his food is whatever is killed without the name of God being pronounced over it; his drink, whatever is intoxicating; his muëddin, the mizmár (a musical pipe,i.e.any musical instrument); his Ḳur-án, poetry; his written character, the marks made in geomancy;[44]his speech, falsehood; his snares, women.[45]

That particular Jinn presided over particular places was an opinion of the early Arabs. It is said in the Ḳur-án, "And there were certain men who sought refuge with certain of the Jinn."[46]In the Commentary of the Jeláleyn, I find the following remark on these words:—"When they halted on their journey in a place of fear, each man said, 'I seek refuge with the lord of this place, from the mischief of his foolish ones!'" In illustration of this, I may insert the following tradition, translated from El-Ḳazweenee:—"It is related by a certain narrator of traditions, that he descended into a valley with his sheep, and awolf carried off a ewe from among them; and he arose, and raised his voice, and cried, 'O inhabitant of the valley!' whereupon he heard a voice saying, 'O wolf, restore to him his sheep!' and the wolf came with the ewe, and left her and departed." The same opinion is held by the modern Arabs, though probably they do not use such an invocation. A similar superstition, a relic of ancient Egyptian credulity, still prevails among the people of Cairo. It is believed that each quarter of this city has its peculiar guardian-genius, or Agathodaemon, which has the form of a serpent.[47]

It has already been mentioned that some of the Jinn are Muslims, and others infidels. The good Jinn acquit themselves of the imperative duties of religion, namely, prayers, alms-giving, fasting during the month of Ramaḍán, and pilgrimage to Mekkeh and Mount ´Arafát; but in the performance of these duties they are generally invisible to human beings.[48]

It has been stated, that, by means of talismans, or certain invocations, men are said to obtain the services of Jinn; and the manner in which the latter are enabled to assist magicians, by imparting to them the knowledge of future events, has been explained above. No man ever obtained such absolute power over the Jinn as Suleymán Ibn Dáood (Solomon, the son of David).This he did by virtue of a most wonderful talisman, which is said to have come down to him from heaven. It was a seal-ring, upon which was engraved "the most great name" of God, and was partly composed of brass and partly of iron. With the brass he stamped his written commands to the good Jinn; with the iron (for the reason before mentioned, p.36), those to the evil Jinn or Devils. Over both orders he had unlimited power; as well as over the birds and the winds,[49]and, as is generally said, over the wild beasts. His Wezeer, Áṣaf the son of Barkhiyà, is also said to have been acquainted with "the most great name," by uttering which, the greatest miracles may be performed,—even that of raising the dead. By virtue of this name engraved on his ring, Suleymán compelled the Jinn to assist in building the Temple of Jerusalem, and in various other works. Many of the evil Jinn he converted to the true faith, and many others of this class, who remained obstinate in infidelity, he confined in prisons. He is said to have been monarch of the whole earth. Hence, perhaps, the name of Suleymán is given to the universal monarchs of the preadamite Jinn; unless the story of his own universal dominion originated from confounding him with those kings.

The injuries related to have been inflicted upon human beings by evil Jinn are of various kinds. Jinn are said to have often carried off beautiful women,whom they have forcibly kept as their wives or concubines. Malicious or disturbed Jinn are asserted often to station themselves on the roofs or at the windows of houses, and to throw down bricks and stones on persons passing by. When they take possession of an uninhabited house, they seldom fail to persecute terribly any person who goes to reside in it. They are also very apt to pilfer provisions, etc. Many learned and devout persons, to secure their property from such depredations, repeat the words "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful!" on locking the doors of their houses, rooms, or closets, and on covering the bread-basket, or anything containing food.[50]During the month of Ramaḍán, the evil Jinn are believed to be confined in prison; and therefore, on the last night of that month, with the same view, women sometimes repeat the words above mentioned, and sprinkle salt upon the floors of the apartments of their houses.[51]

To complete this sketch of Arabian demonology, an account must be added of several creatures generally believed to be of inferior orders of the Jinn.

One of these is the Ghool, which is commonly regarded as a kind of Sheyṭán or evil Jinnee, that eats men; and is also described by some as a Jinnee or an enchanter who assumes various forms. The Ghools are said to appear in the forms of human beings, and of various animals, andin many monstrous shapes; to haunt burial-grounds and other sequestered spots; to feed upon dead human bodies; and to kill and devour any human creature who has the misfortune to fall in their way: whence the term "Ghool" is applied to any cannibal. An opinion quoted by a celebrated author respecting the Ghool is that it is a demoniacal animal, which passes a solitary existence in the deserts, resembling both man and brute; that it appears to a person travelling alone in the night and in solitary places, and being supposed by him to be itself a traveller, lures him out of his way.[52]

Another opinion stated by him is this: that when the Sheyṭáns attempt to hear words by stealth [from the confines of the lowest heaven] they are struck by shooting-stars; and some are burnt; some, falling into a sea, or rather a large river (baḥr), are converted into crocodiles; and some, falling upon the land, become Ghools. The same author adds the following tradition:—"The Ghool is any Jinnee that is opposed to travels, assuming various forms and appearances;"[53]and affirms that several of the Companions of the Prophet saw Ghools in their travels, and that ´Omar, among them, saw a Ghool while on a journey to Syria, before El-Islám, and struck it with his sword. It appears that "Ghool" is, properly speaking, a name only given to afemaledemon of the kindabove described: the male is called "Ḳuṭrub." It is said that these beings, and the Ghaddár or Gharrár, and other similar creatures which will presently be mentioned, are the offspring of Iblees and of a wife whom God created for him of the fire of the samoom (which here signifies, as in an instance before mentioned, "a smokeless fire"); and that they sprang from an egg.[54]The female Ghool, it is added, appears to men in the deserts, in various forms, converses with them, and sometimes yields herself to them.

The Seạláh, or Saạláh, is another demoniacal creature, described by most authors as of the Jinn. It is said that it is mostly found in forests; and that when it captures a man, it makes him dance, and plays with him as the cat plays with the mouse. A man of Iṣfahán asserted that many beings of this kind abounded in his country; that sometimes the wolf would hunt one of them by night, and devour it, and that, when it had seized it, the Seạláh would cry out, "Come to my help, for the wolf devoureth me!" or it would cry, "Who will liberate me? I have a hundred deenárs, and he shall receive them!" but the people knowing that it was the cry of the Seạláh, no one would liberate it; and so the wolf would eat it.[55]—An island in the sea of Eṣ-Ṣeen (China) iscalled "the Island of the Seạláh," by Arab geographers, from its being said to be inhabited by the demons so named: they are described as creatures of hideous forms, supposed to be Sheyṭans, the offspring of human beings and Jinn, who eat men.[56]

The Ghaddár, or Gharrár,[57]is another creature of a similar nature, described as being found in the borders of El-Yemen, and sometimes in Tihámeh, and in the upper parts of Egypt. It is said that it entices a man to it, and either tortures him in a manner not to be described, or merely terrifies him, and leaves him.[58]

The Delhán is also a demoniacal being, inhabiting the islands of the seas, having the form of a man, and riding on an ostrich. It eats the flesh of men whom the sea casts on the shore from wrecks. Some say that a Delhán once attacked a ship in the sea, and desired to take the crew; but they contended with it; whereupon it uttered a cry which caused them to fall upon their faces, and it took them.[59]

The Shiḳḳ is another demoniacal creature,having the form of half a human being (like a man divided longitudinally); and it is believed that the Nesnás is the offspring of a Shiḳḳ and of a human being. The former appears to travellers; and it was a demon of this kind who killed, and was killed by, ´Alḳamah, the son of Ṣafwán, the son of Umeiyeh; of whom it is well known that he was killed by a Jinnee. So says El-Ḳazweenee.

The Nesnás (above mentioned) is described as resembling half a human being; having half a head, half a body, one arm, and one leg, with which it hops with much agility; as being found in the woods of El-Yemen, and being endowed with speech: "but God," it is added, "is all-knowing."[60]It is said that it is found in Ḥaḍramót as well as El-Yemen; and that one was brought alive to El-Mutawekkil: it resembled a man in form, excepting that it had but half a face, which was in its breast, and a tail like that of a sheep. The people of Ḥaḍramót, it is added, eat it; and its flesh is sweet. It is only generated in their country. A man who went there asserted that he saw a captured Nesnás, which cried out for mercy, conjuring him by God and by himself.[61]A race of people whose head is in the breast, is described as inhabiting an island called Jábeh (supposed to be Java), in the Sea of El-Hind (India).[62]A kind of Nesnásis also described as inhabiting the Island of Ráïj, in the Sea of Eṣ-Ṣeen (China), and having wings like those of the bat.[63]

The Hátif is a being that is heard, but not seen; and is often mentioned by Arab writers. It is generally the communicator of some intelligence in the way of advice, or direction, or warning.

Here terminating this chapter, I must beg the reader to remark that the superstitious fancies which it describes are prevalent among all classes of the Arabs, and the Muslims in general, learned as well as vulgar.

FOOTNOTES:[18]Mir-át ez-Zemán (MS. in my possession)—a great history whose author lived in the thirteenth century of our era. See also Ḳur. v. 65.[19]Mir-át ez-Zemán. Ḳur. lv. 14. The word which signifies "a smokeless fire" has been misunderstood by some as meaning "the flame of fire:" El-Jóheree (in the Ṣiḥáḥ) renders it rightly; and says that of this fire wastheSheyṭán (Iblees) created.[20]Ḳur. xv. 27; and Commentary of the Jeláleyn.[21]Ḳur. xxvii. 10; and xxviii. 31; and the Jeláleyn.[22]Ḳur. lv. 39, 74; and the Jeláleyn.[23]´Ikrimeh, from Ibn-´Abbás, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.[24]Mujáhid, from the same, ibid.[25]Hence the appellations of "Jinn" and "Jánn."[26]Tradition from the Prophet, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.[27]Ibid.[28]The worship here spoken of is prostration, as an act of obeisance to a superior being.[29]Ḳur. xviii. 48.[30]Eṭ-Ṭabaree, quoted in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.[31]Mir-át ez-Zemán.[32]Ḳur. vii. 11; and xxxviii. 77.[33]Mir-át ez-Zemán.[34]El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán. My interpolation of the word "other" is required by his opinion before stated.[35]Mujáhid, quoted by El-Ḳazweenee.[36]Mujáhid, from Ibn-´Abbás, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.[37]El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, ibid.[38]´Ikrimeh, from Ibn-´Abbás, ibid.[39]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 314.[39a]Ibid. ii. 311, 312.[40]Mir-át ez-Zemán. See above, p.18.[41]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.[42]Ibid.[43]Sale, in a note on chap. xv. of the Ḳur-án.[44]So I translate the word "khaṭṭ;" but in Es-Suyooṭee's Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 7, I find, in its place, the word "weshm," or "tattooing;" and there are some other slight variations and omissions in this tradition as there quoted.[45]El-Ḳazweenee.[46]Ḳur. lxxii. 6.[47]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.[48]Ibid. ch. xxiv.[49]Ḳur. xxvii. 17; xxxviii. 35.[50]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.[51]Ibid.[52]El-Ḳazweenee.[53]El-Jáḥiz (´Amr Ibn-Baḥr).[54]Tradition from Wahb Ibn-Munebbih, quoted in the account of the early Arabs in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.[55]El-Ḳazweenee.[56]Ibn-El-Wardee [fourteenth century].[57]Its name is written differently in two different MSS. in my possession.[58]El-Ḳazweenee, and Mir-át ez-Zemán.[59]El-Ḳazweenee. In my MS. of Ibn-El-Wardee, I find the name written "Dahlán." He mentions an island called by this name, in the Sea of ´Omán; and describes its inhabitants as cannibal Sheyṭáns, like men in form, and riding on birds resembling ostriches. There is also an inferior class of the Jinn, termed El-Ghowwáṣah, that is, the Divers or Plungers in the seas.[60]El-Ḳazweenee, in the khátimeh [or epilogue] of his work.[61]Mir-át ez-Zemán.[62]Ibn-El-Wardee.[63]Idem.

[18]Mir-át ez-Zemán (MS. in my possession)—a great history whose author lived in the thirteenth century of our era. See also Ḳur. v. 65.

[19]Mir-át ez-Zemán. Ḳur. lv. 14. The word which signifies "a smokeless fire" has been misunderstood by some as meaning "the flame of fire:" El-Jóheree (in the Ṣiḥáḥ) renders it rightly; and says that of this fire wastheSheyṭán (Iblees) created.

[20]Ḳur. xv. 27; and Commentary of the Jeláleyn.

[21]Ḳur. xxvii. 10; and xxviii. 31; and the Jeláleyn.

[22]Ḳur. lv. 39, 74; and the Jeláleyn.

[23]´Ikrimeh, from Ibn-´Abbás, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[24]Mujáhid, from the same, ibid.

[25]Hence the appellations of "Jinn" and "Jánn."

[26]Tradition from the Prophet, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[27]Ibid.

[28]The worship here spoken of is prostration, as an act of obeisance to a superior being.

[29]Ḳur. xviii. 48.

[30]Eṭ-Ṭabaree, quoted in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[31]Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[32]Ḳur. vii. 11; and xxxviii. 77.

[33]Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[34]El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán. My interpolation of the word "other" is required by his opinion before stated.

[35]Mujáhid, quoted by El-Ḳazweenee.

[36]Mujáhid, from Ibn-´Abbás, in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[37]El-Ḥasan El-Baṣree, ibid.

[38]´Ikrimeh, from Ibn-´Abbás, ibid.

[39]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 314.

[39a]Ibid. ii. 311, 312.

[40]Mir-át ez-Zemán. See above, p.18.

[41]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.

[42]Ibid.

[43]Sale, in a note on chap. xv. of the Ḳur-án.

[44]So I translate the word "khaṭṭ;" but in Es-Suyooṭee's Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil, section 7, I find, in its place, the word "weshm," or "tattooing;" and there are some other slight variations and omissions in this tradition as there quoted.

[45]El-Ḳazweenee.

[46]Ḳur. lxxii. 6.

[47]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.

[48]Ibid. ch. xxiv.

[49]Ḳur. xxvii. 17; xxxviii. 35.

[50]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.

[51]Ibid.

[52]El-Ḳazweenee.

[53]El-Jáḥiz (´Amr Ibn-Baḥr).

[54]Tradition from Wahb Ibn-Munebbih, quoted in the account of the early Arabs in the Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[55]El-Ḳazweenee.

[56]Ibn-El-Wardee [fourteenth century].

[57]Its name is written differently in two different MSS. in my possession.

[58]El-Ḳazweenee, and Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[59]El-Ḳazweenee. In my MS. of Ibn-El-Wardee, I find the name written "Dahlán." He mentions an island called by this name, in the Sea of ´Omán; and describes its inhabitants as cannibal Sheyṭáns, like men in form, and riding on birds resembling ostriches. There is also an inferior class of the Jinn, termed El-Ghowwáṣah, that is, the Divers or Plungers in the seas.

[60]El-Ḳazweenee, in the khátimeh [or epilogue] of his work.

[61]Mir-át ez-Zemán.

[62]Ibn-El-Wardee.

[63]Idem.

The Arabs entertain remarkable opinions with respect to the offices and supernatural powers of their saints, which form an important part of the mysteries of the Darweeshes (Dervishes), and are but imperfectly known to the generality of Muslims.

Muslim Saints and devotees are known by the common appellation of Welees, or particular favourites of God. The more eminent among them compose a mysterious hierarchical body, whose government respects the whole human race, infidels as well as believers, but whose power is often exercised in such a manner that the subjects influenced by it know not from what person or persons its effects proceed. The general governor or coryphaeus of these holy beings is commonly called the Ḳuṭb, which literally signifies a "pole," or an "axis," and is metaphorically used to signify a "chief," either in a civil or political, or in a spiritual sense. The Ḳuṭb of the saints is distinguished by other appellations: he is called Ḳuṭb el-Ghós, or Ḳuṭb el-Ghóth (the Ḳuṭb of Invocation for Help), etc.; andsimply, El-Ghós.[64]The orders under the rule of this chief are called ´Omud (or Owtád), Akhyár, Abdál, Nujaba, and Nuḳaba: I name them according to their precedence.[65]Perhaps to these should be added an inferior order called Aṣḥáb ed-Darak,i.e."Watchmen," or "Overseers." The members are not known as such to their inferior unenlightened fellow-creatures, and are often invisible to them. This is more frequently the case with the Ḳuṭb, who, though generally stationed at Mekkeh, on the roof of the Kaạbeh, is never visible there, nor at any of his other favourite stations or places of resort; yet his voice is often heard at these places. Whenever he and the saints under his authority mingle among ordinary men, they are not distinguished by a dignified appearance, but are always humbly clad.These, and even inferior saints, are said to perform astonishing miracles, such as flying in the air, passing unhurt through fire, swallowing fire, glass, etc., walking upon water, transporting themselves in a moment of time to immense distances, and supplying themselves and others with food in desert places. Their supernatural power they are supposed to obtain by a life of the most exalted piety, and especially by constant self-denial, accompanied with the most implicit reliance upon God, by the services of good genii, and, as many believe, by the knowledge and utterance of "the most great name" of God. A miracle performed by a saint is distinguished by the term "karámeh" from one performed by a prophet, which is called "moạjizeh."

El-Khiḍr and Ilyás (Elias), are both believed to have been Ḳuṭbs, and the latter is called in the Ḳur-án an apostle; but it is disputed whether the former was a prophet or merely a welee. Both are said to have drunk of the Fountain of Life, and to be in consequence still living; and Ilyás is commonly believed to invest the successive Ḳuṭbs. The similarity of the miracles ascribed to the Ḳuṭbs to those performed by Elias or Elijah, I have remarked in a former work.[66]Another miracle, reminding us of the mantle of Elijah in the hands of his successor, may here be mentioned.—A saint who was the Ḳuṭb of his time, dying at Tunis,left his clothes in trust to his attendant, Moḥammad El-Ashwam, a native of the neighbouring regency of Tripoli, who desired to sell these relics, but was counselled to retain them, and accordingly, though high prices were bidden for them, made them his own by purchase. As soon as they became his property, he was affected, we are told, with a divine ecstasy, and endowed with miraculous powers.[67]

Innumerable miracles are related to have been performed by Muslim saints, and large volumes are filled with the histories of their wonderful lives. The author of the work from which the above story is taken, mentions, as a fact to be relied on, in an account of one of his ancestors, that, his lamp happening to go out one night while he was reading alone in the riwáḳ of the Jabart (of which he was the sheykh), in the great mosque El-Azhar, the forefinger of his right hand emitted a light which enabled him to continue his reading until his naḳeeb had trimmed and lighted another lamp.[68]

From many stories of a similar kind that I have read, I select thefollowing as a fair specimen: it is related by a very celebrated saint, Ibráheem El-Khowwáṣ.—"I entered the desert [on pilgrimage to Mekkeh from El-´Iráḳ], and there joined me a man having a belt round his waist, and I said, 'Who art thou?'—He answered, 'A Christian; and I desire thy company.' We walked together for seven days, eating nothing; after which he said to me, 'O monk of the Muslims, produce what thou hast in the way of refreshment, for we are hungry:' so I said, 'O my God, disgrace me not before this infidel:' and lo, a tray, upon which were bread and broiled meat and fresh dates and a mug of water. We ate, and continued our journey seven days more; and I then said to him, 'O monk of the Christians, produce what thou hast in the way of refreshment; for the turn is come to thee:' whereupon he leaned upon his staff, and prayed; and lo, two trays, containing double that which was on my tray. I was confounded, and refused to eat: he urged me, saying, 'Eat;' but I did it not. Then said he, 'Be glad; for I give thee two pieces of good news: one of them is that I testify that there is no deity but God and that Moḥammad is God's Apostle: the other, that I said, O God, if there be worth in this servant, supply me with two trays:—so this is through thy blessing.' We ate, and the man put on the dress of pilgrimage, and so entered Mekkeh, where he remained with me a year as a student; afterwhich he died, and I buried him in [the cemetery] El-Maạlà." "And God," says the author from whom I take this story, "is all-knowing:"i.e.He alone knoweth whether it be strictly true: but this is often added to the narration of traditions resting upon high authority.[69]

The saint above mentioned was called "El-Khowwáṣ" (or the maker of palm-leaf baskets, etc.) from the following circumstance, related by himself.—"I used," said he, "to go out of the town [Er-Rei] and sit by a river on the banks of which was abundance of palm-leaves; and it occurred to my mind to make every day five baskets [ḳuffehs], and to throw them into the river, for my amusement, as if I were obliged to do so. My time was so passed for many days: at length, one day, I thought I would walk after the baskets, and see whither they had gone: so I proceeded awhile along the bank of the river, and found an old woman sitting sorrowful. On that day I had made nothing. I said to her, 'Wherefore do I see thee sorrowful?' She answered, 'I am a widow: my husband died leaving five daughters, and nothing to maintain them; and it is my custom to repair every day to this river, and there come to me, upon the surface of the water, five baskets, which I sell, and by means of them I procure food; but to-day they have not come, and I know not what to do.' Upon hearing this, I raised my head towards heaven, andsaid, 'O my God, had I known that I had more than five children to maintain, I had laboured more diligently.'" He then took the old woman to his house, and gave her money and flour, and said to her, "Whenever thou wantest anything, come hither and take what may suffice thee."[70]

An irresistible influence has often been exercised over the minds of princes and other great men by reputed saints. Many a Muslim Monarch has thus been incited (as the Kings of Christendom were by Peter the Hermit) to undertake religious wars, or urged to acts of piety and charity, or restrained from tyranny, by threats of Divine vengeance to be called down upon his head by the imprecations of a welee. ´Alee, the favourite son of the Khaleefeh El-Ma-moon, was induced for the sake of religion to flee from the splendour and luxuries of his father's court, and after the example of a self-denying devotee to follow the occupation of a porter in a state of the most abject poverty at El-Baṣrah, fasting all the day, remaining without sleep at night in a mosque, and walking barefooted, until, under an accumulation of severe sufferings, he prematurely ended his days, dying on a mat. The honours which he refused to receive in life were paid to him after his death: his rank being discovered by a ring and paper which he left, his corpse was anointed with camphor and musk and aloes, wrapped in fine linen of Egypt, and soconveyed to his distressed father at Baghdád.[71]

Self-denial I have before mentioned as one of the most important means by which to attain the dignity of a welee. A very famous saint, Esh-Shiblee, is said to have received from his father an inheritance of sixty millions of deenárs (a sum incredible, and probably a mistake for sixty thousand, or for sixty million dirhems) besides landed property, and to have expended it all in charity: also, to have thrown into the Tigris seventy hundred-weight of books, written by his own hand during a period of twenty years.[72]

Sháh El-Karmánee, another celebrated saint, had a beautiful daughter, whom the Sulṭán of his country sought in marriage. The holy man required three days to consider his sovereign's proposal, and in the mean time visited several mosques, in one of which he saw a young man humbly occupied in prayer. Having waited till he had finished, he accosted him, saying, "My son, hast thou a wife?" Being answered "No," he said, "I have a maiden, a virtuous devotee, who hath learned the whole of the Ḳur-án, and is amply endowed with beauty. Dost thou desire her?"—"Who," said the young man, "will marry me to such a one as thou hast described, when I possess no more than three dirhems?"—"Iwill marry thee to her," answered the saint: "she is my daughter, and Iam Sháh the son of Shujáạ El-Karmánee: give me the dirhems that thou hast, that I may buy a dirhem's worth of bread, and a dirhem's worth of something savoury, and a dirhem's worth of perfume." The marriage-contract was performed; but when the bride came to the young man, she saw a stale cake of bread placed upon the top of his mug; upon which she put on her izár, and went out. Her husband said, "Now I perceive that the daughter of Sháh El-Karmánee is displeased with my poverty." She answered, "I did not withdraw from fear of poverty, but on account of the weakness of thy faith, seeing how thou layest by a cake of bread for the morrow."[73]

One of my friends in Cairo, Abu-l-Ḳásim of Jeelán, entertained me with a long relation of the mortifications and other means which he employed to attain the rank of a welee. These were chiefly self-denial and a perfect reliance upon Providence. He left his home in a state of voluntary destitution and complete nudity, to travel through Persia and the surrounding countries and yet more distant regions if necessary, in search of a spiritual guide. For many days he avoided the habitations of men, fasting from daybreak till sunset, and then eating nothing but a little grass or a few leaves or wild fruits, till by degrees he habituated himself to almost total abstinence from every kind of nourishment.His feet, at first blistered and cut by sharp stones, soon became callous; and in proportion to his reduction of food, his frame, contrary to the common course of nature, became (according to his own account) more stout and lusty. Bronzed by the sun, and with his black hair hanging over his shoulders (for he had abjured the use of the razor), he presented in his nudity a wild and frightful appearance, and on his first approaching a town, was surrounded and pelted by a crowd of boys; he therefore retreated, and, after the example of our first parents, made himself a partial covering of leaves; and this he always afterwards did on similar occasions, never remaining long enough in a town for his leafy apron to wither. The abodes of mankind he always passed at a distance, excepting when several days' fast, while traversing an arid desert, compelled him to obtain a morsel of bread or a cup of water from the hand of some charitable fellow-creature.

One thing that he particularly dreaded was to receive relief from a sinful man, or from a demon in the human form. In passing over a parched and desolate tract, where for three days he had found nothing to eat, not even a blade of grass, nor a spring from which to refresh his tongue, he became overpowered with thirst, and prayed that God would send him a messenger with a pitcher of water. "But," said he, "let the water be in a green Baghdádeepitcher, that I may know it to be from Thee, and not from the Devil; and when I ask the bearer to give me to drink, let him pour it over my head, that I may not too much gratify my carnal desire."—"I looked behind me," he continued, "and saw a man bearing a green Baghdádee pitcher of water, and said to him, 'Give me to drink;' and he came up to me, and poured the contents over my head, and departed! By Allah it was so!"

Rejoicing in this miracle, as a proof of his having attained to a degree of wiláyeh (or saintship), and refreshed by the water, he continued his way over the desert, more firm than ever in his course of self-denial, which, though imperfectly followed, had been the means of his being thus distinguished. But the burning thirst returned shortly after, and he felt himself at the point of sinking under it, when he beheld before him a high hill, with a rivulet running by its base. To the summit of this hill he determined to ascend, by way of mortification, before he would taste the water, and this point, with much difficulty, he reached at the close of day. Here standing, he saw approaching, below, a troop of horsemen, who paused at the foot of the hill, when their chief, who was foremost, called out to him by name, "O Abu-l-Ḳásim! O Jeelánee! Come down and drink!"—but persuaded by this that he was Iblees with a troop of his sons, the evil Genii, he withstood the temptation,and remained stationary until the deceiver with his attendants had passed on and were out of sight. The sun had then set; his thirst had somewhat abated; and he only drank a few drops.

Continuing his wanderings in the desert, he found upon a pebbly plain an old man with a long white beard, who accosted him, asking of what he was in search. "I am seeking," he answered, "a spiritual guide; and my heart tells me that thou art the guide I seek." "My son," said the old man, "thou seest yonder a saint's tomb; it is a place where prayer is answered; go thither, enter it, and seat thyself: neither eat nor drink nor sleep; but occupy thyself solely, day and night, in repeating silently, 'Lá iláha illa-lláh' (There is no deity but God); and let not any living creature see thy lips move in doing so; for among the peculiar virtues of these words is this, that they may be uttered without any motion of the lips. Go, and peace be on thee!"

"Accordingly," said my friend, "I went thither. It was a small square building, crowned by a cupola; and the door was open. I entered, and seated myself, facing the niche and the oblong monument over the grave. It was evening, and I commenced my silent professions of the unity, as directed by my guide; and at dusk I saw a white figure seated beside me, as if assisting in my devotional task. I stretched forth my hand to touch it; but found that it was nota material substance; yet there it was: I saw it distinctly. Encouraged by this vision, I continued my task for three nights and days without intermission, neither eating nor drinking, yet increasing in strength both of body and of spirit; and on the third day, I saw written upon the whitewashed walls of the tomb, and on the ground, and in the air, wherever I turned my eyes, 'Lá iláha illa-lláh;' and whenever a fly entered the tomb, it formed these words in its flight. By Allah it was so! My object was now fully attained: I felt myself endowed with supernatural knowledge: thoughts of my friends and acquaintances troubled me not; but I knew where each one of them was, in Persia, India, Arabia, and Turkey, and what each was doing. I experienced an indescribable happiness. This state lasted several years; but at length I was insensibly enticed back to worldly objects: I came to this country; my fame as a calligraphist drew me into the service of the government; and now see what I am, decked with pelisses and shawls, and with this thing [a diamond order] on my breast; too old, I fear, to undergo again the self-denial necessary to restore me to true happiness, though I have almost resolved to make the attempt."

Soon after this conversation, he was deprived of his office, and died of the plague. He was well known to have passed several years as a wandering devotee; and his sufferings, combined with enthusiasm, perhapsdisordered his imagination, and made him believe that he really saw the strange sights which he described to me; for there was an appearance of earnestness and sincerity in his manner, such as I thought could hardly be assumed by a conscious impostor.

Insanity, however, if not of a very violent and dangerous nature, is commonly regarded by Muslims as a quality that entitles the subject of it to be esteemed as a saint; being supposed to be the abstraction of the mind from worldly affairs, and its total devotion to God. This popular superstition is a fertile source of imposture; for, a reputation for sanctity being so easily obtained and supported, there are numbers of persons who lay claim to it from motives of indolence and licentiousness, eager to receive alms merely for performing the tricks of madmen, and greedy of indulging in pleasures forbidden by the law; such indulgences not being considered in their case as transgressions by the common people, but rather as indications of holy frenzy. From my own observation I should say that lunatics or idiots, or impostors, constitute the majority of the persons reputed to be saints among the Muslims of the present day; and most of those who are not more than slightly tinged with insanity are darweeshes.

A reputed saint of this description in Cairo, in whom persons of some education put great faith, affected to have a particular regard for me. Heseveral times accosted me in an abrupt manner, acquainted me with the state of my family in England, and uttered incoherent predictions respecting me, all of which communications, excepting one which he qualified with an "in sháa-lláh" (or "if it be the will of God"), I must confess, proved to be true; but I must also state that he was acquainted with two of my friends who might have materially assisted him to frame these predictions, though they protested to me that they had not done so. The following extract from a journal which I kept in Cairo during my last visit to Egypt, will convey some idea of this person, who will serve as a picture of many of his fraternity.—To-day (Nov. 6th, 1834), as I was sitting in the shop of the Pásha's booksellers, a reputed saint, whom I have often seen here, came and seated himself by me, and began, in a series of abrupt sentences, to relate to me various matters respecting me, past, present, and to come. He is called the sheykh ´Alee el-Leythee. He is a poor man, supported by alms; tall and thin and very dark, about thirty years of age, and wears nothing at present but a blue shirt and a girdle and a padded red cap. "O Efendee," he said, "thou hast been very anxious for some days. There is a grain of anxiety remaining in thee yet. Do not fear. There is a letter coming to thee by sea, that will bring thee good news." He then proceeded to tell me of the state of my family, and that all werewell excepting one, whom he particularized by description, and who he stated to be then suffering from an intermittent fever. [This proved to be exactly true.] "This affliction," he continued, "may be removed by prayer; and the excellences of the next night, the night of [i.e.preceding] the first Friday of the month of Rejeb, of Rejeb, the holy Rejeb, are very great. I wanted to ask thee for something to-day; but I feared, I feared greatly. Thou must be invested with the wiláyeh [i.e.be made a welee]: the welees love thee, and the Prophet loves thee. Thou must go to the sheykh Muṣṭafà El-Munádee and the sheykh El-Baháee.[74]Thou must be a welee." He then took my right hand, in the manner commonly practised in the ceremony which admits a person a darweesh, and repeated the Fátiḥah; after which he added, "I have admitted thee my darweesh." Having next told me of several circumstances relating to my family—matters of an unusual nature—with singular minuteness and truth, he added, "To-night, if it be the will of God, thou shalt see the Prophet in thy sleep, and El-Khiḍr and the Seyyid El-Bedawee. This is Rejeb, and I wanted to ask thee—but I feared—I wanted to ask of thee four piasters, to buy meat and bread and oil and radishes. Rejeb! Rejeb! I have great offices to do for thee to-night."

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