FOOTNOTES:

Less than a shilling for all he promised was little enough: I gave ithim for the trouble he had taken; and he uttered many abrupt prayers for me. In the following night, however, I saw in my sleep neither Moḥammad, nor El-Khiḍr, nor the Seyyid El-Bedawee, unless, like Nebuchadnezzar, I was unable on awaking to remember my dreams.

Some reputed saints of the more respectable class, to avoid public notice, wear the general dress and manners of their fellow-countrymen, and betray no love of ostentation in their acts of piety and self-denial; or live as hermits in desert places, depending solely upon Providence for their support, and are objects of pious and charitable visits from the inhabitants of near and distant places, and from casual travellers. Others distinguish themselves by the habit of a darweesh, or by other peculiarities, such as a long and loose coat (called dilḳ) composed of patches of cloth of various colours, long strings of beads hung upon the neck, a ragged turban, and a staff with shreds of cloth of different colours attached to the top; or obtain a reputation for miraculous powers by eating glass, fire, serpents, etc. Some of those who are insane, and of those who feign to be so, go about, even in crowded cities, in a state of perfect nudity, and are allowed to commit with impunity acts of brutal sensuality which the law, when appealed to, should punish with death. Such practices are forbidden by the religion and law even in the cases of saints; butcommon and deeply-rooted superstition prevents their punishment.

During the occupation of Egypt by the French, the Commander-in-chief, Menou, applied to the sheykhs (or ´Ulamà) of the city for their opinion "respecting those persons who were accustomed to go about in the streets in a state of nudity, crying out and screaming, and arrogating to themselves the dignity of wiláyeh, relied upon as saints by the generality of the people, neither performing the prayers of the Muslims nor fasting," asking whether such conduct was permitted by the religion, or contrary to the law. He was answered, "Conduct of this description is forbidden, and repugnant to our religion and law and to our traditions." The French General thanked them for this answer, and gave orders to prevent such practices in future, and to seize every one seen thus offending; if insane, to confine him in the Máristán (or hospital and lunatic asylum); and if not insane, to compel him either to relinquish his disgusting habits, or to leave the city.[75]

Of reputed saints of this kind, thus writes an enlightened poet, El-Bedree El-Ḥijázee:—

"Would that I had not lived to see every fool esteemed among men as a Ḳuṭb!Their learned men take him as a patron, nay, even as Lord, in place of the Possessor of Heaven's throne.Forgetting God,they say, 'Such a one from all mankind can remove affliction.'When he dies, they make for him a place of visitation, and strangers and Arabs hurry thither in crowds:Some of them kiss his tomb, and some kiss the threshold of the door, and the very dust.Thus do the idolaters act towards their images, hoping so to obtain their favour."

These lines are quoted by El-Jabartee, in his account of a very celebrated modern saint, the seyyid ´Alee El-Bekree (events of Rabeeạ eth-Thánee, 1214). A brief history of this person will not be here misplaced, as it will present a good illustration of the general character and actions of those insane individuals who are commonly regarded as saints.

The seyyid ´Alee El-Bekree was a mejzoob (or insane person) who was considered an eminent welee, and much trusted in: for several years he used to walk naked about the streets of Cairo, with a shaven face, bearing a long nebboot (or staff), and uttering confused language, which the people attentively listened to, and interpreted according to their desires and the exigencies of their states. He was a tall, spare man, and sometimes wore a shirt and a cotton skull-cap; but he was generally barefooted and naked. The respect with which he was treated induced a woman, who was called the sheykhah Ammooneh, to imitate his example further than decency allowed: she followed him whithersoever he went, covered at first with her izár (or large cotton veil thrown over the head andbody), and muttering, like him, confused language. Entering private houses with him, she used to ascend to the ḥareems, and gained the faith of the women, who presented her with money and clothes, and spread abroad that the sheykh ´Alee had looked upon her, and affected her with religious frenzy, so that she had become a weleeyeh, or female saint. Afterwards, becoming more insane and intoxicated, she uncovered her face, and put on the clothing of a man; and thus attired she still accompanied the sheykh, and the two wandered about, followed by numbers of children and common vagabonds; some of whom also stripped off their clothes in imitation of the sheykh, and followed, dancing; their mad actions being attributed (like those of the woman) to religious frenzy, induced by his look or touch, which converted them into saints. The vulgar and young, who daily followed them, consequently increased in numbers; and some of them, in passing through the market-streets, snatched away goods from the shops, thus exciting great commotion wherever they went. When the sheykh sat down in any place, the crowd stopped, and the people pressed to see him and his mad companions. On these occasions the woman used to mount upon the maṣṭabah of a shop, or ascend a hillock, and utter disgusting language, sometimes in Arabic, and sometimes in Turkish, while many persons among her audience would kiss her hands to derive a blessing. After having perseveredfor some time in this course, none preventing them, the party entered one day the lane leading from the principal street of the city to the house of the Ḳáḍee, and were seized by a Turkish officer there residing, named Jaạfar Káshif, who, having brought them into his house, gave the sheykh some food, and drove out the spectators, retaining the woman and the mejzoobs, whom he placed in confinement. He then liberated the sheykh ´Alee, brought out the woman and the mejzoobs and beat them, sent the woman to the Máristán and there confined her, and set at large the rest, after they had prayed for mercy and clothed themselves and recovered from their intoxication. The woman remained awhile confined in the Máristán, and when liberated lived alone as a sheykhah, believed in by men and women, and honoured as a saint with visits and festivals.

The seyyid ´Alee, after he had thus been deprived of his companions and imitators, was constrained to lead a different kind of life. He had a cunning brother, who, to turn the folly of this saint to a good account, and fill his own purse, (seeing how great faith the people placed in him, as the Egyptians are prone to do in such a case), confined him in his house, and clothed him, asserting that he had his permission to do so, and that he had been invested with the dignity of Ḳuṭb. Thus he contrived to attract crowds of persons, men and women, to visit him. He forbadehim to shave his beard, which consequently grew to its full size; and his body became fat and stout from abundance of food and rest; for, while he went about naked, he was, as before mentioned, of a lean figure. During that period he used generally to pass the night wandering without food through the streets in winter and summer. Having now servants to wait upon him, whether sleeping or waking, he passed his time in idleness, uttering confused and incoherent words, and sometimes laughing and sometimes scolding; and in the course of his idle loquacity he could not but let fall some words applicable to the affairs of some of his listening visitors, who attributed such expressions to his supernatural knowledge of the thoughts of their hearts, and interpreted them as warnings or prophecies. Men and women, and particularly the wives of the grandees, flocked to him with presents and votive offerings, which enriched the coffers of his brother; and the honours which he received ceased not with his death. His funeral was attended by multitudes from every quarter. His brother buried him in the mosque of Esh-Sharáïbee, in the quarter of the Ezbekeeyeh, made for him a maḳṣoorah (or railed enclosure) and an oblong monument over the grave, and frequently repaired thither with readers of the Ḳur-án, munshids to sing odes in his honour, flag-bearers, and other persons, who wailed and screamed, rubbed their faces against the bars of the window before his grave, and caught the air of the place in their handsto thrust it into their bosoms and pockets. Men and women came crowding together to visit his tomb, bringing votive offerings and wax candles and eatables of various kinds to distribute for his sake to the poor.[76]The oblong monument over his grave, resembling a large chest, was covered, when I was in Cairo, with a black stuff ornamented by a line of words from the Ḳur-án, in white characters, surrounding it. A servant who accompanied me during my rides and walks used often to stop as we passed this tomb, and touch the wooden bars of the window above mentioned with his right hand, which he then kissed to obtain a blessing.

In most cases greater honour is paid to a reputed saint after his death, than he receives in his life. A small, square, whitewashed building, crowned with a dome, is generally erected as his tomb, surrounding an oblong monument of stone, brick, or wood, which is immediately over the sepulchral vault. At least one such building forms a conspicuous object close by, or within, almost every Arab village; for the different villages, and different quarters of every town and city, have their respective patron saints, whose tombs are frequently visited, and are the scenes of periodical festivals, generally celebrated once in everyyear. The tombs of many very eminent saints are mosques; and some of these are large and handsome edifices, the monument being under a large and lofty dome and surrounded by an enclosure of wooden railings, or of elegantly worked bronze. In these buildings also, and in some others, the monument is covered with silk or cotton stuff ornamented with words from the Ḳur-án, which form a band around it. Many buildings of the more simple kind erected in honour of saints, and some of the larger description, are mere cenotaphs, or cover only some relic of the person to whom they are dedicated. The tombs and cenotaphs, or shrines of saints, are visited by numerous persons, and on frequent occasions; most commonly on a particular day of the week. The object of the visitor, in general, is to perform some meritorious act, such as taking bread, or other food, or money, for the poor, or distributing water to the thirsty, on account of the saint, to increase his rewards in heaven, and at the same time to draw down a blessing on himself; or to perform a sacrifice of a sheep, goat, calf, or other animal, which he has vowed to offer, if blessed with some specific object of desire, or to obtain general blessings; or to implore the saint's intercession in some case of need. The flesh of the devoted animal is given to the poor. The visitors also often take with them palm-branches, or sprigs of myrtle, or roses or other flowers, to lay upon themonument, as they do when they visit the tombs of their relations. The visitor walks round the monument, or its enclosure, from left to right, or with his left side towards it (as the pilgrims do round the Kaạbeh), sometimes pausing to touch its four angles or corners with his right hand, which he then kisses; and recites the opening chapter of the Ḳur-án (the Fátiḥah) standing before one or each of its four sides. Some visitors repeat also the chapter of Yá-Seen (the 36th), or employ a person to recite this, or even the whole of the Ḳur-án, for hire. The reciter afterwards declares that he transfers the merit of this work to the soul of the deceased saint. Any private petition the visitor offers up on his own account, imploring a favourable answer for the sake of the saint, or through his intercession; holding his hands before his face like an open book, and then drawing them down his face. Many a visitor, on entering the tomb, kisses the threshold, or touches it with his right hand, which he then kisses; and on passing by it, persons often touch the window and kiss the hand thus honoured.

The great periodical or annual festivals are observed with additional ceremonies, and by crowds of visitors. These are called Moolids (more properly Mólids), and are held on the anniversary of the birth of the saint or in commemoration of that event. Persons are then hired to recite the Ḳur-án in and near the tomb during the day; and others, chiefly darweeshes, employthemselves during the night in performing zikrs, which consist in repeating the name of God, or the profession of his unity, etc., in chorus, accompanying the words by certain motions of the head, hands, or whole body; munshids, at intervals, singing religious odes or love songs during these performances, to the accompaniment of a náy, which is a kind of flute, or the arghool, which is a double reed-pipe. These moolids are scenes of rejoicing and of traffic, which men and boys and girls attend to eat sweetmeats, and drink coffee and sherbets, or to amuse themselves with swinging, or turning on a whirligig, or witnessing the feats of conjurers, or the performances of dancers; and to which tradesmen repair to sell or barter their goods. The visitors to the great moolids of the Seyyid Aḥmad El-Bedawee at Ṭanṭà in the Delta of Egypt, which are great fairs as well as religious festivals, are almost as numerous as the pilgrims at Mekkeh. During a moolid, the inhabitants of the houses in the neighbourhood of the tomb hang lamps before their houses, and spend a great part of the night listening to the story-tellers at the coffee-shops, or attending the zikrs.

These latter performances, though so common among the Arabs, are inconsistent with the spirit of the Mohammadan religion, and especially with respect to music, which was not employed in religious ceremonies until after the second century of the Flight.The Imám Aboo-Bekr Eṭ-Ṭoosee, being asked whether it were lawful or not to be present with people who assembled in a certain place and read a portion of the Ḳur-án, and, after a munshid had recited some poetry, would dance and become excited and play upon tambourines and pipes,—answered, that such practices were vain, ignorant, and erroneous, not ordained by the Ḳur-án or the Traditions of the Prophet, but invented by those Israelites who worshipped the Golden Calf; that the Prophet and his companions used to sit so quietly that a bird might alight upon the head of any one of them and not be disturbed; that it was incumbent on the Sulṭán and his vicegerents to prevent such persons from entering the mosques and other places for these purposes; and that no one who believed in God and the Last Day should be present with them or assist them in their vain performances: such, he asserted, was the opinion of the Imáms of the Muslims.[77]Some eminent doctors, however, have contended for the lawfulness of these practices.

The following is an account of a Zikr I myself witnessed. The zikkeers (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.[78]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 zikkeers were Aḥmedee darweeshes, persons of the lower orders, and meanly dressed: many of them wore green turbans. At one end of the ring were four munshids (or singers of religious odes), and with them was a player on the kind of flute called náy. 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 munshids, and sat there to hear a complete act, or "mejlis," of the zikr; which act commenced at about three o'clock, Muslim time (or three hours after sunset), and continued two hours.

The performers began by reciting the opening chapter of the Ḳur-án, all together, their sheykh, or chief, first exclaiming, "El-Fátiḥah!" They then chanted the following words:—"O God, bless our lord Moḥammad among the former generations; and bless our lord Moḥammad among the latter generations; and bless our lord Moḥammad in every time and period; and bless our lord Moḥammad in the highest degree, unto the day of judgment; and bless all the prophets and apostles among the inhabitants of theheavens 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, Aboo-Bekr and ´Omar and ´Othmán and ´Alee, 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 Fátiḥah, but silently. This form of prefacing the zikr is commonly used by almost all orders of darweeshes in Egypt.

The performers now began the zikr itself. Sitting in the manner above described, they chanted, in slow measure, "Lá iláha illa-lláh" ("There is no deity but God") to the following air:—

Lá iláha illa-lláh. Lá iláha illa-lláh. Lá iláha illa-lláh.

bowing the head and body twice in each repetition of "Lá iláha illa-lláh." Thus they continued about a quarter of an hour; and then, for about the same spaceof time, they repeated the same words to the same air, but in a quicker measure and with correspondingly quicker motions. In the mean time, the munshids frequently sang to the same (or a variation of the same) air portions of a ḳaṣeedeh or of a muweskshaḥ;[79]an ode of a similar nature to the Song of Solomon, generally alluding to the Prophet as the object of love and praise; and at frequent intervals one of them sang out the word "meded," implying an invocation for spiritual or supernatural aid.

The zikkeers, 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:—

Lá iláha illa-lláh. Lá iláha illa-lláh. Lá iláha illa-lláh.

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

Lá iláha illa-lláh. Lá iláha illa-lláh.

They next rose, and, standing in the same order in which they had been sitting, repeated the same words to another air. After which, stillstanding, they repeated these words in a very deep and hoarse tone, laying the principal emphasis upon the word "Lá" and the penultimate syllable of the following words, and uttering apparently with a considerable effort: the sound much resembled that which is produced by beating the rim of a tambourine. Each zikkee turned his head alternately to the right and left at each repetition of "Lá iláha illa-lláh." One of them, a eunuch, at this part of the zikr, was seized with an epileptic fit, evidently the result of a high state of religious excitement; but nobody seemed surprised at it, for occurrences of this kind at zikrs are not uncommon. All the performers now seemed 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 above mentioned was again seized with fits several times; and I generally remarked that this happened after one of the munshids had sung a line or two and exerted himself more than usual to excite his hearers: the singing was, indeed, to my taste, very pleasing. 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 munshids. The zikkeers receive no pay.

The most approvedand common mode of entertaining guests at modern private festivities among the Arabs is by a Khatmeh, which is the recitation of the whole of the Ḳur-án. Three or more persons of the inferior class of the professors of religion and law, who are called faḳeehs (vulgarly, fiḳees) are usually hired for this purpose. Schoolmasters, and students of the collegiate mosques who devote themselves to religion and law, are the persons most commonly thus employed. Their mode of recitation is a peculiar kind of chanting, which, when well executed, I found very agreeable, at least for an hour or so: but the guests seldom have to listen to the chanting of the whole of the Ḳur-án: the reciters usually accomplish the greater portion of their task, in a somewhat hurried manner, before the guests have assembled, each of them chanting in turn a certain portion, as a thirtieth part of the whole (called a juz), or half of one of these sections (a ḥezb), or, more commonly, a quarter (rubạ). Afterwards they chant more leisurely, and in a more musical manner; but still by turns. These recitations of the whole of the Ḳur-án are performed on various festive occasions, but are most usual after a death; the merit of the performance being transferred to the soul of the deceased.

In the year 1834, when I was residing in Cairo, a General in the service of Moḥammad ´Alee hired a large party of men to perform a recital of the Ḳur-ánin his house in that city, and then went up into his ḥareem and strangled his wife, in consequence of a report which accused her of inchastity. The religious ceremony was designed as preparatory to this act, though the punishment of the woman was contrary to the law, since her husband neither produced four witnesses of the imputed crime, nor allowed her to clear herself of the charge by her own oath. Another case of diligence in the performance of a religious duty, accompanied by the contemplation of murder, but murder on a larger scale, occurred in the same city shortly after. Suleymán Agha, the Siláḥdár, being occupied in directing the building of a public fountain as a work of charity to place to the account of a deceased brother, desired to extend the original plan of the structure; and to do this, it was necessary that he should purchase two houses adjoining the plot in which the foundations had been laid: but the owners of these houses refused to sell them, and he therefore employed a number of workmen to undermine them by night and cause them to fall upon their inhabitants. His scheme, however, but partially succeeded, and no lives were sacrificed. This man was notorious for cruelty, but he was a person of pleasing and venerable countenance and engaging manners: whenever I chanced to meet him, I received from him a most gracious salutation. He died before I quitted Egypt.

FOOTNOTES:[64]D'Ohsson (i. 315, 316) asserts the Ḳuṭb to be the chief minister of the Ghós; and gives an account somewhat different from that which I offer of the orders under his authority: but perhaps the Turkish Darweeshes differ from the Arab in their tenets on this subject.[65]It is said that "the Nuḳaba are three hundred; the Nujaba, seventy; the Abdál, forty; the Akhyár, seven; the ´Omud, four; the Ghós [as before mentioned], one. The Nuḳaba reside in El-Gharb [Northern Africa to the west of Egypt]; the Nujaba, in Egypt; the Abdál, in Syria; the Akhyár travel about the earth; the ´Omud, in the corners of the earth; the abode of the Ghós is at Mekkeh. In an affair of need, the Nuḳaba implore relief for the people; then, the Nujaba; then, the Abdál; then, the Akhyár; then, the ´Omud; and if their prayer be not answered, the Ghós implores, and his prayer is answered." (El-Isḥáḳee's History, preface.)—This statement, I find, rests on the authority of a famous saint of Baghdád Aboo-Bekr El-Kettánee, who died at Mekkeh, in the year of the Flight, 322. (Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of that year).[66]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.[67]El-Jabartee's History of Modern Egypt, vol. ii., obituary of the year 1201 (MS. in my possession).—The appellation of "the four Ḳuṭbs" is given in Egypt to the seyyid Aḥmad Rifá´ah, the seyyid ´Abd-El-Ḳádir El-Jeelánee, the seyyid Aḥmad El-Bedawee, and the seyyid Ibráheem Ed-Dásooḳee, the founders of the four orders of darweeshes most celebrated among the Arabs, called Rifá´eeyeh, Ḳádireeyeh, Aḥmedeeyeh, and Baráhimeh.[68]El-Jabartee's History, vol. i., obituary of the year 1188.[69]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 291.[70]Mir-át ez-Zemán, 1. 1.[71]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 218.[72]Ibid., events of the year 334.[73]Es-Suyooṭee's Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 4.[74]These are two very celebrated welees.[75]El-Jabartee's History, vol. iii., events of the month of Shaạbán, 1215 (A.D.1800-1801).[76]El-Jabartee's History, vol. ii., obituary of the year 1207, and events of Rejeb, 1200; and vol. iii., events of Rabeeạ eth-Thánee, 1214.[77]El-Isḥáḳee, reign of El-Mutawekkil. Cp. De Sacy, Chrest. Arabe, i. 122, 123 (2nd ed.).[78]The zikr here described was performed near the tomb of a saint, for whose sake it was celebrated. The ceremony is often performed in a sepulchral mosque, and often in the court, or in a chamber, of a private house.[79]For an example, see Modern Egyptians, ch. xxiv.

[64]D'Ohsson (i. 315, 316) asserts the Ḳuṭb to be the chief minister of the Ghós; and gives an account somewhat different from that which I offer of the orders under his authority: but perhaps the Turkish Darweeshes differ from the Arab in their tenets on this subject.

[65]It is said that "the Nuḳaba are three hundred; the Nujaba, seventy; the Abdál, forty; the Akhyár, seven; the ´Omud, four; the Ghós [as before mentioned], one. The Nuḳaba reside in El-Gharb [Northern Africa to the west of Egypt]; the Nujaba, in Egypt; the Abdál, in Syria; the Akhyár travel about the earth; the ´Omud, in the corners of the earth; the abode of the Ghós is at Mekkeh. In an affair of need, the Nuḳaba implore relief for the people; then, the Nujaba; then, the Abdál; then, the Akhyár; then, the ´Omud; and if their prayer be not answered, the Ghós implores, and his prayer is answered." (El-Isḥáḳee's History, preface.)—This statement, I find, rests on the authority of a famous saint of Baghdád Aboo-Bekr El-Kettánee, who died at Mekkeh, in the year of the Flight, 322. (Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of that year).

[66]Modern Egyptians, ch. x.

[67]El-Jabartee's History of Modern Egypt, vol. ii., obituary of the year 1201 (MS. in my possession).—The appellation of "the four Ḳuṭbs" is given in Egypt to the seyyid Aḥmad Rifá´ah, the seyyid ´Abd-El-Ḳádir El-Jeelánee, the seyyid Aḥmad El-Bedawee, and the seyyid Ibráheem Ed-Dásooḳee, the founders of the four orders of darweeshes most celebrated among the Arabs, called Rifá´eeyeh, Ḳádireeyeh, Aḥmedeeyeh, and Baráhimeh.

[68]El-Jabartee's History, vol. i., obituary of the year 1188.

[69]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 291.

[70]Mir-át ez-Zemán, 1. 1.

[71]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 218.

[72]Ibid., events of the year 334.

[73]Es-Suyooṭee's Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 4.

[74]These are two very celebrated welees.

[75]El-Jabartee's History, vol. iii., events of the month of Shaạbán, 1215 (A.D.1800-1801).

[76]El-Jabartee's History, vol. ii., obituary of the year 1207, and events of Rejeb, 1200; and vol. iii., events of Rabeeạ eth-Thánee, 1214.

[77]El-Isḥáḳee, reign of El-Mutawekkil. Cp. De Sacy, Chrest. Arabe, i. 122, 123 (2nd ed.).

[78]The zikr here described was performed near the tomb of a saint, for whose sake it was celebrated. The ceremony is often performed in a sepulchral mosque, and often in the court, or in a chamber, of a private house.

[79]For an example, see Modern Egyptians, ch. xxiv.

An implicit belief in magic is entertained by almost all Muslims; and him among them who denies its truth they regard as a freethinker or an infidel. Some are of opinion that it ceased on the mission of Moḥammad; but these are comparatively few. Many of the most learned Muslims, to the present age, have deeply studied it; and a much greater number of persons of inferior education (particularly schoolmasters) have more or less devoted their time and talents to the pursuit of this knowledge. Recourse is had to it for the discovery of hidden treasures, for alchymical purposes, for the acquisition of the knowledge of futurity, to procure offspring, to obtain the affection of a beloved object, to effect cures, to guard against the influence of the evil eye, to afflict or kill an enemy or a rival, and to attain various other objects of desire.

There are two descriptions of magic: one is spiritual, and regarded by all but freethinkers as true;the other natural, and denounced by the more religious and enlightened as deceptive.

I. Spiritual magic, which is termed er-Rooḥánee (vulg. Rowḥánee), chiefly depends upon the virtues of certain names of God and passages from the Ḳur-án, and the agency of Angels and Jinn. It is of two kinds: High and Low (´Ilwee and Suflee), or Divine and Satanic (Raḥmánee,i.e.relating to "the Compassionate," and Sheyṭánee).

1. Divine magic is regarded as a sublime science, and is studied only by good men, and practised only for good purposes. Perfection in this branch of magic consists in the knowledge of "the most great name" of God (el-Ism el-Aạẓam); but this knowledge is imparted to none but the peculiar favourites of heaven. By virtue of this name, which was engraved on his seal-ring, Suleymán (Solomon) subjected to his dominion the Jinn and the birds and the winds. By pronouncing it, his minister Áṣaf, also, transported in an instant to the presence of his sovereign in Jerusalem the throne of the Queen of Sheba.[80]But this was a small miracle to effect by such means; for by uttering this name a man may even raise the dead. Other names of the Deity, commonly known, are believed to have particular efficacies when uttered or written; as also are the names of the Prophet; and Angels and good Jinn are said to be rendered subservient to the purposes of divine magic by means ofcertain invocations. Of such names and invocations, together with words unintelligible to the uninitiated in this science, passages from the Ḳur-án, mysterious combinations of numbers, and peculiar diagrams and figures, are chiefly composed written charms employed for good purposes. Enchantment, when used for benevolent purposes, is regarded by the vulgar as a branch of lawful or divine magic; but not so by the learned: and the same remark applies to the science of divination.

2. Satanic magic, as its name implies, is a science depending on the agency of the Devil and the inferior evil Jinn, whose services are obtained by means similar to those which propitiate, or render subservient, the good Jinn. It is condemned by the Prophet and all good Muslims, and only practised for bad purposes.

Bábil, or Babel, is regarded by the Muslims as the fountain head of the science of magic, which was, and, as most think, still is, taught there to mankind by two fallen angels, named Hároot and Mároot, who are there suspended by the feet in a great pit closed by a mass of rock. According to the account of them generally received as correct, these two angels, in consequence of their want of compassion for the frailties of mankind, were rendered, by God, susceptible of human passions, and sent down upon the earth to be tempted. They both sinned, and being permitted to choose whether they would be punishedin this life or in the other, chose the former. But they were sent down not merely to experience temptation, being also appointed to tempt others by means of their knowledge of magic; though it appears that they were commanded not to teach this art to any man "until they had said, 'Verily we are a temptation; therefore be not an unbeliever.'"[81]The celebrated traditionist, Mujáhid, is related to have visited them under the guidance of a Jew. Having removed the mass of rock from the mouth of the pit or well, they entered. Mujáhid had been previously charged by the Jew not to mention the name of God in their presence; but when he beheld them, resembling in size two huge mountains, and suspended upside-down, with irons attached to their necks and knees, he could not refrain from uttering the forbidden name; whereupon the two angels became so violently agitated that they almost broke the irons which confined them, and Mujáhid and his guide fled back in consternation.[82]

Enchantment, which is termed es-Seḥr, is almost universally acknowledged to be a branch of satanic magic; but some few persons assert that itmaybe, and by somehasbeen, studied with good intentions, and practised by the aid of good Jinn: consequently, that there is such a science asgoodenchantment, which is to be regardedas a branch ofdivineorlawfulmagic. The metamorphoses are said to be generally effected by means of spells or invocations to the Jinn, accompanied by the sprinkling of water or dust, etc., on the object to be transformed. Persons are said to be enchanted in various ways: some, paralyzed, or even deprived of life; others, affected with irresistible passion for certain objects; others, again, rendered demoniacs; and some, transformed into brutes, birds, etc. The evil eye is believed to enchant in a very powerful and distressing manner. This was acknowledged even by the Prophet.[83]Diseases and death are often attributed to its influence. Amulets,[84]which are mostly written charms, of the kind above described, are worn by many Muslims with the view of counteracting, or preserving from, enchantment; and for the same purpose, many ridiculous ceremonies are practised.

Divination, which is termed el-Kiháneh, is pronounced on the highest authority to be a branch of satanic magic, though not believed to be soby all Muslims. According to an assertion of the Prophet, what a fortune-teller says may sometimes be true; because one of the Jinn steals away the truth, and carries it to the magician's ear: for the Angels come down to the region next to the earth (the lowest heaven), and mention the works that have been pre-ordained in heaven; and the Devils (or evil Jinn) listen to what the Angels say, and hear the orders predestined in heaven and carry them to the fortune-tellers. It is on such occasions that shooting-stars are hurled at the Devils.[85]It is said that "the diviner obtains the services of the Sheyṭán by magic arts, and by names [invoked], and by the burning of perfumes, and he informs him of secret things: for the Devils, before the mission of the Apostle of God," it is added, "used to ascend to heaven and hear words by stealth."[86]That the evil Jinn are believed still to ascend sufficiently near to the lowest heaven to hear the conversation of the Angels, and so to assist magicians, appears from the former quotation, and is asserted by all Muslims. The discovery of hidden treasures before alluded to, is one of the objects for which divination is most studied. The mode of divination called Ḍarb el-Mendel is by some supposed to be effected by the aid of evil Jinn; but the more enlightened of theMuslims regard it as a branch of natural magic.[87]

There are certain modes of divination which cannot properly be classed under the head of spiritual magic, but require a place between the account of this science and that of natural magic. The most important of these branches of Kiháneh is Astrology, which is called ´Ilm en-Nujoom. This is studied by many Muslims in the present day; and its professors are often employed by the Arabs to determine a fortunate period for laying the foundation of a building, commencing a journey, etc.; but more frequently by the Persians and Turks. The Prophet pronounced astrology to be a branch of magic.[88]Another branch of Kiháneh is Geomancy, called Ḍarb er-Raml;[89]a mode of divination from certain marks made on sand (whence its appellation), or on paper; and said to be chiefly founded on astrology. The science called ez-Zijr, or el-´Eyáfeh, is a third branch of Kiháneh; being divination or auguration chieflyfrom the motions and positions or postures of birds or of gazelles and other beasts of the chase. Thus what was termed a Sániḥ, that is, such an animal standing or passing with its right side towards the spectator, was esteemed among the Arabs as of good omen; and a Báriḥ, or an animal of this kind with its left side towards the spectator, was held as inauspicious.[90]El-Ḳiyáfeh, under which term are included Chiromancy and its kindred sciences, is a fourth branch of Kiháneh. Et-Tefául, or the taking an omen, particularly a good one, from a name or words accidentally heard or seen or chosen from a book, belongs to the same science.

The taking a fál, or omen, from the Ḳur-án is generally held to be lawful. Various trifling events are considered as ominous. For instance, a Sulṭán quitting his palace with his troops, a standard happened to strike a "thureiyà" (a cluster of lamps, so called from resembling the Pleiades), and broke them: he drew from this an evil omen, and would have relinquished the expedition; but one of his chief officers said to him, "O our Lord, thy standards have reached the Pleiades;"—and, being relieved by this remark, he proceeded, and returned victorious.[91]The interpretation of dreams,termed Taạbeer el-Menámát, must also be classed among the branches of this science. According to the Prophet, it is the only branch of divination worthy of dependance. "Good dreams," said he, "are one of the parts of prophecy," and "nothing else of prophecy remains." "Good dreams are from God; and false dreams from the Devil." "When any one of you has a bad dream, spit three times over your left shoulder, and seek protection with God from the Devil thrice; and turn from the side on which the dream was, to the other."[92]This rule is observed by many Muslims. Dreams are generally so fully relied upon by them as to be sometimes the means of deciding contested points in history and science. The sight, in a dream, of anything green or white, or of water, is considered auspicious; anything black or red, or fire, inauspicious.

This firm belief in dreams will be well illustrated by the following anecdote, which was related to me in Cairo, shortly after the terrible plague of the year 1835, by the sheykh Moḥammad Eṭ-Ṭanṭáwee, who had taken the trouble of investigating the fact, and had ascertained its truth.

A tradesman, living in the quarter of El-Ḥanafee, in Cairo, dreamed during that plague that eleven persons were carried out from his house to be buried, victims of this disease. He awoke in a state of thegreatest distress and alarm, reflecting that eleven was the total number of the inhabitants of his house, including himself, and that it would be vain in him to attempt, by adding one or more members to his household, to elude the decree of God and give himself a chance of escape: so calling together his neighbours, he informed them of his dream, and was counselled to submit with resignation to a fate so plainly foreshown, and to be thankful to God for the timely notice with which he had been mercifully favoured. On the following day, one of his children died; a day or two after, a wife; and the pestilence continued its ravages among his family until he remained in his house alone. It was impossible for him now to entertain the slightest doubt of the entire accomplishment of the warning: immediately, therefore, after the last death that had taken place among his household, he repaired to a friend at a neighbouring shop, and calling to him several other persons from the adjoining and opposite shops, he reminded them of his dream, acquainted them with its almost complete fulfilment, and expressed his conviction that he, the eleventh, should very soon die. "Perhaps," said he, "I shall die this next night: I beg of you, therefore, for the sake of God, to come to my house early to-morrow morning, and the next morning and the next if necessary, to see if I be dead, and, when dead, that I am properly buried; for I have no one withme to wash and shroud me. Fail not to do me this service, which will procure you a recompense in heaven. I have bought my grave-linen: you will find it in a corner of the room in which I sleep. If you find the door of the house latched, and I do not answer to your knocking, break it open."

Soon after sunset he laid himself in his lonely bed, though without any expectation of closing his eyes in sleep; for his mind was absorbed in reflections upon the awful entry into another world, and a review of his past life. As the shades of night gathered around him he could almost fancy that he beheld, in one faint object or another in his gloomy chamber, the dreadful person of the Angel of Death: and at length he actually perceived a figure gliding in at the door, and approaching his bed. Starting up in horror, he exclaimed, "Who art thou?"—and a stern and solemn voice answered, "Be silent! I am ´Azraeel, the Angel of Death!"—"Alas!" cried the terrified man; "I testify that there is no deity but God, and I testify that Moḥammad is God's Apostle! There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great! To God we belong, and to Him we must return!"—He then covered himself over with his quilt, as if for protection, and lay with throbbing heart, expecting every moment to have his soul torn from him by the inexorable messenger. But moments passed away, and minutes, and hours, yet without hisexperiencing any hope of escape; for he imagined that the Angel was waiting for him to resign himself, or had left him for a while, and was occupied in receiving first the souls of the many hundred human beings who had attained their predestined term in that same night and in the same city, and the souls of the thousands who were doomed to employ him elsewhere.

Daybreak arrived before his sufferings terminated; and his neighbours, coming according to their promise, entered his chamber, and found him still in bed; but observing that he was covered up and motionless as a corpse, they doubted whether he were still alive, and called to him. He answered, with a faint voice, "I am not yet dead; but the Angel of Death came to me in the dusk of the evening, and I expect him every moment to make his return, to take my soul: therefore trouble me not; but see me washed and buried."—"But why," said his friends, "was the street-door left unlatched?"—"I latched it," he answered, "but the Angel of Death may have opened it."—"And who," they asked, "is the man in the court?" He answered, "I know of no man in the court: perhaps the Angel who is waiting for my soul has made himself visible to you, and been mistaken in the twilight for a man."—"He is a thief," they said, "who has gathered together everything in the house that he could carry away, and has been struck by the plague while doing so, and now lies dead in the court, at thefoot of the stairs, grasping in his hand a silver candlestick."—The master of the house, after hearing this, paused for a moment, and then, throwing off his quilt, exclaimed, "Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures! That is the eleventh, and I am safe! No doubt it was that rascal who came to me and said that he was the Angel of Death. Praise be to God! Praise be to God!"

This man survived the plague, and took pleasure in relating the above story. The thief had overheard his conversation with his neighbours, and, coming to his house in the dusk, had put his shoulder to the wooden lock, and so raised the door and displaced the latch within. There is nothing wonderful in the dream, nor in its accomplishment; the plague of 1835 entirely desolated many houses, and was mostly fatal to the young; and all the inhabitants of the house in question were young excepting the master.

The distinction of fortunate and unfortunate days should also here be mentioned. Thursday and Friday, especially the latter, are considered fortunate; Monday and Wednesday, doubtful; Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday, especially the last, unfortunate. It is said that there are seven evil days in every [lunar] month: namely, the third, on which Ḳábeel (Cain) killed Hábeel (Abel); the fifth, on which God cast down Adam from paradise, and afflicted the people of Yoonus (Jonas), and on which Yoosuf (Joseph) wascast into the well; the thirteenth, on which God took away the wealth of Eiyoob (Job), and afflicted him, and took away the kingdom from Suleymán (Solomon), and on which the Jews killed the prophets; the sixteenth, on which God exterminated and buried the people of Looṭ (Lot), and transformed three hundred Christians into swine and Jews into apes, and on which the Jews sawed asunder Zekeriyà (Zachariah); the twenty-first, on which Pharaoh was born, and on which he was drowned, and on which his nation was afflicted with the plagues; the twenty-fourth, on which Numrood (Nimrod) killed seventy women, and cast El-Khaleel (Abraham) into the fire, and on which was slaughtered the camel of Ṣáliḥ; and the twenty-fifth, on which the suffocating wind was sent upon the people of Hood.[93]

II. Natural magic, which is called es-Seemiyà, is regarded by most persons of the more enlightened classes of Muslims as altogether a deceptive art, no more worthy of respect than legerdemain; but it seems to be nearly allied to enchantment, for it is said to effect, in appearance, the most wonderful transformations, and to cause the most extraordinary visions; affecting the senses and imagination in a manner similar to opium. This and other drugs are supposed by some persons to be the chief means by which such illusions are caused; and perfumes, which are generally burnt in these performances, may operate in asimilar manner. As such things are employed in performances of the kind called Ḍarb el-Mendel, before mentioned, these feats are regarded by many as effected by natural magic, notwithstanding what has been said above respecting the services of evil Jinn being procured by means of perfumes. Alchymy (El-Keemiyà) is a branch of natural magic. It is studied by many Muslims of the present day, and by some of considerable talents and attainments.

The most celebrated of the magicians who have gained notoriety in Egypt during the course of the last hundred years was the sheykh Aḥmad Ṣádoomeh, who flourished somewhat more than sixty years ago.[94]Several persons of Cairo, men of intelligence and of good education, have related to me various most marvellous stories of his performances, on the authority of eye-witnesses whom they considered veracious; but a more credible account of this magician I have found in the work of the excellent historian of Modern Egypt. This author mentions the sheykh Ṣádoomeh as an aged man of venerable appearance who derived his origin from the town of Semennood in the Delta, and who acquired a very great and extensive celebrity for his attainments in spiritual and natural magic, and for holding converse, face to face, with Jinn, and causing them to appear to other persons, even to the blind, as men acquainted with him informed the historian. His contemporaries, saysthis writer, entertained various opinions respecting him; but, among them, a famous grammarian and general scholar, the sheykh Ḥasan El-Kafráwee, regarded him as a first-rate saint, who performed evident miracles; this learned man pronouncing as such the effects of "his legerdemain and natural magic." His fame he describes as having increased until he was induced to try an unlucky experiment.

A Memlook chief, Yoosuf Bey, saw some magic characters written on the body of one of his female slaves, and, exasperated by jealousy, commanded her with a threat of instant death to tell him who had done this. She confessed that a woman had taken her to the sheykh Ṣádoomeh, and that he had written this charm to attract to her the Bey's love. Upon hearing this, he instantly sent some attendants to seize the magician, put him to death, and throw him into the Nile; which was done.[95]But the manner in which the seizure was made, as related to me by one of my friends, deserves to be mentioned. Several persons, one after another, endeavoured to lay hold upon him; but every arm that was stretched forth for this purpose was instantly paralyzed, through a spell muttered by the magician;until a man behind him thrust a gag into his mouth, and so stopped his enchantments.

Of the stories related to me of Ṣádoomeh's miracles, the following will serve as a specimen:—In order to give one of his friends a treat, he took him to the distance of about half an hour's walk into the desert on the north of Cairo; here they both sat down, upon the pebbly and sandy plain, and, the magician having uttered a spell, they suddenly found themselves in the midst of a garden, like one of the gardens of paradise, abounding with flowers and fruit-trees of every kind, springing up from a soil clothed with verdure brilliant as the emerald and irrigated by numerous streamlets of the clearest water. A repast of the most delicious viands and fruits and wines was spread before them by invisible hands; and they both ate to satiety, taking copious draughts of the various wines. At length, the magician's guest sank into a deep sleep; and when he awoke, he found himself again in the pebbly and sandy plain, with Ṣádoomeh still by his side.

The reader will probably attribute this vision to a dose of opium or some similar drug; and such I suppose to have been the means employed; for I cannot doubt the integrity of the narrator, though he would not admit such an explanation,—regarding the whole as an affair of magic effected by the operation of the Jinn.

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