FOOTNOTES:

"The season has become pleasant! The time of the rose is come! Take your morning potations, as long as the rose has blossoms and flowers!"

When he resumed his work, he made it known by singing aloud—

"If my Lord prolong my life until the rose-season, I will take again my morning potations: but if I die before it, alas! for the loss of the rose and wine!"I implore the God of the supreme throne, whose glory be extolled, that my heart may continually enjoy the evening potations to the day of resurrection."

The Khaleefeh was so amused with the humour of this man that he granted him an annual pension of ten thousand dirhems to enable him to enjoy himself amply on these occasions. Another anecdote may be added to showthe estimation of the rose in the mind of an Arab. It is said that Rowḥ Ibn-Ḥátim, the governor of the province of Northern Africa, was sitting one day, with a female slave, in an apartment of his palace, when a eunuch brought him a jar full of red and white roses which a man had offered as a present. He ordered the eunuch to fill the jar with silver in return; but his slave said, "O my lord, thou hast not acted equitably towards the man; for his present to thee is of two colours, red and white." The Emeer replied, "Thou hast said truly;" and gave orders to fill the jar for him with silver and gold (dirhems and deenárs) intermixed. Some persons preserve roses during the whole of the year in the following manner. They take a number of rose-buds and fill with them a new earthen jar, and, after closing its mouth with mud so as to render it impervious to the air, bury it in the earth. Whenever they want a few roses, they take out some of these buds, which they find unaltered, sprinkle a little water upon them and leave them for a short time in the air, when they open and appear as if just gathered.[182]

The rose is even a subject of miracles. It is related by Ibn-Ḳuteybeh that there grows in India a kind of rose, upon the leaves of which is inscribed, "There is no deity but God:"[183]But I find a more particular account of this miraculous rose. A person, who professed tohave seen it, said, "I went into India, and I saw at one of its towns a large rose, sweet-scented, upon which was inscribed, in white characters, 'There is no deity but God; Moḥammad is God's apostle: Aboo-Bekr is the very veracious: ´Omar is the discriminator:' and I doubted of this, whether it had been done by art; so I took one of the blossoms not yet opened, and in it was the same inscription; and there were many of the same kind there. The people of that place worshipped stones, and knew not God, to whom be ascribed might and glory."[184]Roses are announced for sale in the streets of Cairo by the cry of "The rose was a thorn: from the sweat of the Prophet it blossomed!" in allusion to a miracle recorded of Moḥammad. "When I was taken up into heaven," said the Prophet, "some of my sweat fell upon the earth, and from it sprang the rose; and whoever would smell my scent, let him smell the rose." In another tradition it is said, "The white rose was created from my sweat on the night of the Meạráj;[185]and the red rose, from the sweat of Jebraeel;[186]and the yellow rose, from the sweat of El-Buráḳ."[187]The Persians take especial delight in roses; sometimes spreading them as carpets or bedson which to sit or recline in their revellings.

But there is a flower pronounced more excellent than the rose, that of the Egyptian privet, or Lawsonia inermis.[188]Moḥammad said, "The chief of the sweet-scented flowers of this world and of the next is the fághiyeh;" and this was his favourite flower.[189]I approve of his taste; for this flower, which grows in clusters somewhat like those of the lilac, has a most delicious fragrance. But, on account of discrepancies in different traditions, a Muslim may with a clear conscience prefer either of the two flowers next mentioned.

The Prophet said of the violet (benefsej), "The excellence of the extract of violets, above all other extracts, is as the excellence of me above all the rest of the creation: it is cold in summer, and hot in winter:" and, in another tradition, "The excellence of the violet is as the excellence of el-Islám above all other religions."[190]A delicious sherbet is made of a conserve of sugar and violet-flowers.

The myrtle (ás or narseen) is the rival of the violet. "Adam," said theProphet, "fell down from Paradise with three things; the myrtle, which is the chief of sweet-scented flowers in this world; an ear of wheat, which is the chief of all kinds of food in this world; and pressed dates, which are the chief of the fruits of this world."[191]

The anemone[192]was monopolized for his own enjoyment by Noạmán Ibn-El-Mundhir (King of El-Ḥeereh, and contemporary of Moḥammad), as the rose was afterwards by El-Mutawekkil.[193]

Another flower much admired and celebrated in the East is the gilliflower (menthoor or kheeree). There are three principal kinds; the most esteemed is the yellow, or gold-coloured, which has a delicious scent both by night and day; the next, the purple, and other dark kinds, which have a scent only in the night; the least esteemed, the white, which has no scent. The yellow gilliflower is an emblem of a neglected lover.[194]

The narcissus (narjis) is very highly esteemed. Galen says, "He who has two cakes of bread, let him dispose of one of them for some flowers of the narcissus; for bread is the food of the body, and the narcissus is the food of the soul."Hippocrates gave a similar opinion.[195]

The following flowers complete the list of those celebrated as most appropriate to add to the delights of wine:—the jasmine, eglantine, Seville-orange-flower, lily, sweet-basil, wild thyme, buphthalmum, chamomile, nenuphar, lotus, pomegranate-flower, poppy, ketmia, crocus or saffron, safflower, flax, the blossoms of different kinds of bean, and those of the almond.[196]

A sprig of Oriental willow[197]adds much to the charms of a bunch of flowers, being the favourite symbol of a graceful woman.

But I have not yet mentioned all that contributes to the pleasures of an Eastern carousal. For what is the juice of the grape without melodious sounds? "Wine is as the body; music, as the soul; and joy is their offspring."[198]All the five senses should be gratified. For this reason an Arab toper, who had nothing, it appears, but wine to enjoy, exclaimed,—

"Ho! give me wine to drink; and tell me 'This is wine;'"

for in drinking his sight and smell and taste and touch would all beaffected; but it was desirable that his hearing should also be pleased.[199]

Music was condemned by the Prophet almost as severely as wine. "Singing and hearing songs," said he, "cause hypocrisy to grow in the heart, like as water promoteth the growth of corn:"[200]—and musical instruments he declared to be among the most powerful means by which the Devil seduces man. An instrument of music is the Devil's muëddin, serving to call men to his worship. Of the hypocrisy of those attached to music, the following anecdote presents an instance:—A drunken young man with a lute in his hand was brought one night before the Khaleefeh ´Abd-El-Melik the son of Marwán, who, pointing to the instrument, asked what it was, and what was its use. The youth made no answer; so he asked those around him; but they also remained silent, till one, more bold than the rest, said, "O Prince of the Faithful, this is a lute: it is made by taking some wood of the pistachio-tree, and cutting it into thin pieces, and gluing these together, and then attaching over them these chords, which, when a beautiful girl touches them, send forth sounds more pleasant than those of rain falling upon a desert land; and my wife be separated from me by a triple divorce, if every one in this councilis not acquainted with it, and doth not know it as well as I do, and thou the first of them, O Prince of the Faithful." The Khaleefeh laughed, and ordered that the young man should be discharged.[201]

The latter saying of the Prophet, respecting the Devil, suggests another anecdote related of himself by Ibraheem El-Móṣilee, the father of Isḥáḳ; both of whom were very celebrated musicians. I give a translation of it somewhat abridged.—"I asked Er-Rasheed," says Ibraheem, "to grant me permission to spend a day at home with my women and brothers; and he gave me two thousand deenárs, and appointed the next Saturday for this purpose. I caused the meats and wine and other necessaries to be prepared, and ordered the chamberlain to close the door, and admit no one: but while I was sitting, with my attendants standing in the form of a curved line before me, there entered and approached me a sheykh, reverend and dignified and comely in appearance, wearing short khuffs,[202]and two soft gowns, with a ḳalensuweh [sugarloaf hat] upon his head, and in his hand a silver-headed staff; and sweet odours were diffused from his clothes. I was enraged with the chamberlain for admitting him; but on his saluting me in a very courteous manner, I returned his salutation, and desired him to sitdown. He then began to repeat to me stories, tales of war, and poetry; so that my anger was appeased, and it appeared to me that my servants had not presumed to admit him until acquainted with his politeness and courteousness. I therefore said to him, 'Hast thou any inclination for meat?' He answered, 'I have no want of it.'—'And the wine?' said I. He replied, 'Yes.' So I drank a large cupful, and he did the same, and then said to me, 'O Ibraheem, wilt thou let us hear some specimen of thy art in which thou hast excelled the people of thy profession?' I was angry at his words; but I made light of the matter, and, having taken the lute and tuned it, I played and sang; whereupon he said, 'Thou hast performed well, O Ibraheem.' I became more enraged, and said within myself, 'He is not content with coming hither without permission, and asking me to sing, but he calls me by my name, and proves himself unworthy of my conversation.' He then said, 'Wilt thou let us hear more? If so we will requite thee.' And I took the lute and sang, using my utmost care on account of his saying, 'we will requite thee.' He was moved with delight, and said, 'Thou hast performed well, O my master Ibraheem:'—adding, 'Wilt thou permit thy slave to sing?' I answered, 'As thou pleasest:'—but thinking lightly of his sense to sing after me. He took the lute, and tuned it; and, by Allah! I imagined that the lute spoke in his bands with an eloquent Arab tongue.He proceeded to sing some verses commencing,—

'My heart is wounded! Who will give me for it a heart without a wound?'"

The narrator continues by saying that he was struck dumb and motionless with ecstasy; and that the strange sheykh, after having played and sung again, and taught him an enchanting air (with which he afterwards enraptured his patron, the Khaleefeh), vanished. Ibraheem, in alarm, seized his sword; and was the more amazed when he found that the porter had not seen the stranger enter or leave the house; but he heard his voice again, outside, telling him that he was Aboo-Murrah (the Devil).[203]

Ibraheem El-Móṣilee, his son Isḥák, and Mukkáriḳ[204](a pupil of the former), were especially celebrated among Arab musicians and among the distinguished men of the reign of Hároon Er-Rasheed. Isḥáḳ El-Móṣilee relates of his father Ibraheem that when Er-Rasheed took him into his service he gave him a hundred and fifty thousand dirhems and allotted him a monthly pension of ten thousand dirhems, besides occasional presents [one of which is mentioned as amounting to a hundred thousand dirhems for a single song],and the produce of his (Ibraheem's) farms: he had food constantly prepared for him; three sheep every day for his kitchen, besides birds; three thousand dirhems were allowed him for fruits, perfumes, etc., every month, and a thousand dirhems for his clothing; "and with all this," says his son, "he died without leaving more than three thousand deenárs, a sum not equal to his debts, which I paid after his death."[205]Ibraheem was of Persian origin, and of a high family. He was commonly called the Nedeem (or cup-companion), being Er-Rasheed's favourite companion at the wine-table; and his son, who enjoyed the like distinction with El-Ma-moon, received the same appellation, as well as that of "Son of the Nedeem." Ibraheem was the most famous musician of his time, at least till his son attained celebrity.[206]

Isḥáḳ El-Mósilee was especially famous as a musician; but he was also a good poet, accomplished in general literature, and endowed with great wit. He was honoured above all other persons in the pay of El-Ma-moon, and enjoyed a long life; but for many years before his death he was blind.[207]

Mukháriḳ appears to have rivalled his master Ibraheem. The latter, he relates, took him to perform before Er-Rasheed, who used to have a curtain suspended between him and the musicians. "Others," he says,"sang, and he was unmoved; but when I sang, he came forth from behind the curtain, and exclaimed, 'Young man, hither!' and he seated me upon the couch (sereer) and gave me thirty thousand dirhems."[208]The following anecdote (which I abridge a little in translation) shows his excellence in the art which he professed, and the effect of melody on an Arab:—"After drinking with the Khaleefeh [El-Ma-moon, I think,] a whole night, I asked his permission," says he, "to take the air in the Ruṣáfeh [quarter of Baghdád], which he granted; and while I was walking there, I saw a damsel who appeared as if the rising sun beamed from her face. She had a basket, and I followed her. She stopped at a fruiterer's, and bought some fruit; and observing that I was following her, she looked back and abused me several times; but still I followed her until she arrived at a great door, after having filled her basket with fruits and flowers and similar things. When she had entered and the door was closed behind her, I sat down opposite to it, deprived of my reason by her beauty; and knew that there must be in the house a wine party.

"The sun went down upon me while I sat there; and at length there came two handsome young men on asses, and they knocked at the door, and when they were admitted, I entered with them; the master of the housethinking that I was their companion, and they imagining that I was one of his friends. A repast was brought up, and we ate, and washed our hands, and were perfumed. The master of the house then said to the two young men, 'Have ye any desire that I should call such a one?' (mentioning a woman's name). They answered, 'If thou wilt grant us the favour, well:'—so he called for her, and she came, and lo, she was the maiden whom I had seen before, and who had abused me. A servant-maid preceded her, bearing her lute, which she placed in her lap. Wine was then brought, and she sang, while we drank, and shook with delight. 'Whose air is that?' they asked. She answered, 'My master Mukháriḳ's.' She then sang another air, which she said was also mine; while they drank by pints; she looking aside and doubtfully at me until I lost my patience, and called out to her to do her best: but in attempting to do so, singing a third air, she overstrained her voice, and I said, 'Thou hast made a mistake:'—upon which she threw the lute from her lap in anger, so that she nearly broke it, saying, 'Take it thyself, and let us hear thee.' I answered, 'Well;' and, having taken it and tuned it perfectly, sang the first of the airs which she had sung before me; whereupon all of them sprang upon their feet and kissed my head. I then sang the second air, and the third; and their reason almost fled with ecstasy.

"The master of the house, after asking his guests and being told by themthat they knew me not, came to me, and, kissing my hand, said, 'By Allah, my master, who art thou?' I answered, 'By Allah, I am the singer Mukháriḳ.'—'And for what purpose,' said he, kissing both my hands, 'camest thou hither?' I replied, 'As a spunger;'—and related what had happened with respect to the maiden: whereupon he looked towards his two companions and said to them, 'Tell me, by Allah, do ye not know that I gave for that girl thirty thousand dirhems, and have refused to sell her?' They answered, 'It is so.' Then said he, 'I take you as witnesses that I have given her to him.'—'And we,' said the two friends, 'will pay thee two-thirds of her price.' So he put me in possession of the girl, and in the evening when I departed, he presented me also with rich dresses and other gifts, with all of which I went away; and as I passed the places where the maiden had abused me, I said to her, 'Repeat thy words to me;' but she could not for shame. Holding the girl's hand, I went with her immediately to the Khaleefeh, whom I found in anger at my long absence; but when I related my story to him he was surprised, and laughed, and ordered that the master of the house and his two friends should be brought before him, that he might requite them; to the former he gave forty thousand dirhems; to each of his two friends, thirty thousand; and tome a hundred thousand; and I kissed his feet and departed."[209]

It is particularly necessary for the Arab musician that he have a retentive memory, well stocked with choice pieces of poetry and with facetious or pleasant anecdotes, interspersed with songs; and that he have a ready wit, aided by dramatic talent, to employ these materials with good effect. If to such qualifications he adds fair attainments in the difficult rules of grammar, a degree of eloquence, comic humour, and good temper, and is not surpassed by many in his art, he is sure to be a general favourite. Very few Muslims of the higher classes have condescended to study music, because they would have been despised by their inferiors for doing so; or because they themselves have despised or condemned the art. Ibraheem, the son of the Khaleefeh El-Mahdee, and competitor of El-Ma-moon, was a remarkable exception: he is said to have been an excellent musician and a good singer.

In the houses of the wealthy, the vocal and instrumental performers were usually (as is the case in many houses in the present age) domestic female slaves, well instructed in their art by hired male or female professors. In the "Thousand and One Nights," these slaves are commonly described as standing or sitting unveiled in the presence of male guests; but from several descriptions of musical entertainments that Ihave met with in Arabic works it appears that according to the more approved custom in respectable society they were concealed on such occasions behind a curtain which generally closed the front of an elevated recess. In all the houses of wealthy Arabs that I have entered, one or each of the larger saloons has an elevated closet, the front of which is closed by a screen of wooden lattice-work to serve as an orchestra for the domestic or hired female singers and instrumental performers.

To a person acquainted with modern Arabian manners, it must appear inconsistent with truth to describe (as is often the case in the "Thousand and One Nights") such female singers as exposing their faces before strange men, unless he can discover in sober histories some evidence of their having been less strict in this respect than the generality of Arab women at the present time. I find, however, a remarkable proof that such was the case in the latter part of the ninth century of the Flight, and the beginning of the tenth: that is, about the end of the fifteenth century of our era. The famous historian Es-Suyooṭee, who flourished at this period, in his preface to a curious work on wedlock, written to correct the corrupt manners of his age, says:—"Seeing that the women of this time deck themselves with the attire of wantons, and walk in the sooḳs (or market-streets) like female warriors against the religion, and uncover their faces and handsbefore men to incline (men's) hearts to them by evil suggestions, and play at feasts with young men, thereby meriting the anger of the Compassionate [God], and go forth to the public baths and assemblies with various kinds of ornaments and perfumes and with conceited gait; (for the which they shall be congregated in Hell-fire, for opposing the good and on account of this their affected gait;) while to their husbands they are disobedient, behaving to them in the reverse manner, excepting when they fear to abridge their liberty of going abroad by such conduct; for they are like swine and apes in their interior nature, though like daughters of Adam in their exterior appearance; especially the women of this age; not advising their husbands in matters of religion, but the latter erring in permitting them to go out to every assembly; sisters of devils and demons, etc. etc.... I have undertaken the composition of this volume."[210]A more convincing testimony than this, I think, cannot be required.

The lute (el-´ood) is the only instrument that is generally described as used at the entertainments which we have been considering. Engravings of this and other musical instruments are given in my work on the Modern Egyptians. The Arab viol (called rabáb) was commonly used by inferior performers.

The Arab music is generally of a soft and plaintive character, andparticularly that of the most refined description, which is distinguished by a peculiar system of intervals. The singer aims at distinct enunciation of the words, for this is justly admired; and delights in a trilling style. The airs of songs are commonly very short and simple, adapted to a single verse, or even to a single hemistich; but in the instrumental music there is more variety.

Scarcely less popular as an amusement and mode of passing the time is the bath, or hammám,—a favourite resort of both men and women of all classes among the Muslims who can afford the trifling expense which it requires; and (it is said) not only of human beings, but also of evil genii; on which account, as well as on that of decency, several precepts respecting it have been dictated by Moḥammad. It is frequented for the purpose of performing certain ablutions required by the religion, or by a regard for cleanliness, for its salutary effects, and for mere luxury.

The following description of a public bath will convey a sufficient notion of those in private houses, which are on a smaller scale and generally consist of only two or three chambers. The public bath comprises several apartments with mosaic or tesselated pavements, composed of white and black marble and pieces of fine red tile and sometimes other materials. The inner apartments are covered with domes, having a number of small round glazed apertures for theadmission of light. The first apartment is the meslakh, or disrobing room, which has in the centre a fountain of cold water, and next the walls wide benches or platforms encased with marble. These are furnished with mattresses and cushions for the higher and middle classes, and with mats for the poorer sort. The inner division of the building, in the more regularly planned baths, occupies nearly a square: the central and chief portion of it is the principal apartment, or ḥarárah, which generally has the form of a cross. In its centre is a fountain of hot water, rising from a base encased with marble, which serves as a seat. One of the angles of the square is occupied by the beyt-owwal, or antechamber of the ḥarárah: in another is the fire over which is the boiler; and each of the other two angles is generally occupied by two small chambers, in one of which is a tank filled with warm water, which pours down from a spot in the dome; in the other, two taps side by side, one of hot and the other of cold water, with a small trough beneath, before which is a seat. The inner apartments are heated by the steam which rises from the fountain and tanks, and by the contiguity of the fire; but the beyt-owwal is not so hot as the ḥarárah, being separated from it by a door. In cold weather the bather undresses in the former, which has two or three raised seats like those of the meslakh.

With a pair of wooden clogs to his feet, and having a large napkin round his loins, and generally asecond wound round his head like a turban, a third over his chest, and a fourth covering his back, the bather enters the ḥarárah, the heat of which causes him immediately to perspire profusely. An attendant of the bath removes from him all the napkins excepting the first; and proceeds to crack the joints of his fingers and toes, and several of the vertebrae of the back and neck; kneads his flesh, and rubs the soles of his feet with a coarse earthen rasp, and his limbs and body with a woollen bag which covers his hand as a glove; after which, the bather, if he please, plunges into one of the tanks. He is then thoroughly washed with soap and water and fibres of the palm-tree, and shaved, if he wish it, in one of the small chambers which contain the taps of hot and cold water; and returns to the beyt-owwal. Here he generally reclines upon a mattress, and takes some light refreshment, while one of the attendants rubs the soles of his feet and kneads the flesh of his body and limbs, previously to his resuming his dress. It is a common custom now to take a pipe and a cup of coffee during this period of rest.

The women are especially fond of the bath, and often have entertainments there; taking with them fruits, sweetmeats, etc., and sometimes hiring female singers to accompany them. An hour or more is occupied by the process of plaiting the hair and applying the depilatory, etc.; and generally an equaltime is passed in the enjoyment of rest or recreation or refreshment. All necessary decorum is observed on these occasions by most ladies, but women of the lower orders are often seen in the bath without any covering. Some baths are appropriated solely to men; others, only to women; and others, again, to men during the forenoon, and in the afternoon to women. When the bath is appropriated to women, a napkin, or some other piece of drapery is suspended over the door to warn men from entering.

Before the time of Moḥammad, there were no public baths in Arabia; and he was so prejudiced against them, for reasons already alluded to, that he at first forbade both men and women from entering them: afterwards, however, he permitted men to do so, if for the sake of cleanliness, on the condition of their wearing a cloth; and women also on account of sickness, child-birth, etc., provided they had not convenient places for bathing in their houses. But notwithstanding this license, it is held to be a characteristic of a virtuous woman not to go to a bath even with her husband's permission: for the Prophet said, "Whatever woman enters a bath, the devil is with her." As the bath is a resort of the Jinn, prayer should not be performed in it, nor the Ḳur-án recited. The Prophet said, "All the earth is given to me as a place of prayer, and as pure, except the burial-ground and the bath." Hence also, when a person is about toenter a bath, he should offer up an ejaculatory prayer for protection against evil spirits; and should place his left foot first over the threshold. Infidels have often been obliged to distinguish themselves in the bath, by hanging a signet to the neck, or wearing anklets, etc., lest they should receive those marks of respect which should be paid only to believers.[211]

Hunting and hawking, which were common and favourite diversions of the Arabs, and especially of their kings and other great men, have now fallen into comparative disuse among this people. They are, however, still frequently practised by the Persians, and in the same manner as they are generally described in the "Thousand and One Nights."[212]The more common kinds of game are gazelles, or antelopes, hares, partridges, the species of grouse called "ḳaṭà," quails, wild geese, ducks, etc. Against all of these, the hawk is generally employed, but assisted in the capture of gazelles and hares by dogs. The usual arms of the sportsmen in mediæval times were the bow and arrow, the cross-bow, the spear, the sword and the mace. When the game is struck down but not killed by any weapon, its throat is immediately cut. If merely stunned and then left to die, its flesh is unlawful food. Hunting is allowable only for the purpose of procuring food, or to obtain the skin of an animal, or for the sake of destroying ferocious and dangerous beasts;but the rule is often disregarded. Amusement is certainly, in general, the main object of the Muslim huntsman; but he does not with this view endeavour to prolong the chase; on the contrary, he strives to take the game as quickly as possible. For this purpose nets are often employed, and the hunting party, forming what is called the circle of the chase (ḥalḳat eṣ-ṣeyd), surround the spot in which the game is found.

"On the eastern frontiers of Syria," says Burckhardt, "are several places allotted for the hunting of gazelles: these places are called 'masiade' [perhaps more properly, 'maṣyedehs']. An open space in the plain, of about one mile and a half square, is enclosed on three sides by a wall of loose stones, too high for the gazelles to leap over. In different parts of this wall, gaps are purposely left, and near each gap a deep ditch is made on the outside. The enclosed space is situated near some rivulet or spring to which in summer the gazelles resort. When the hunting is to begin, many peasants assemble, and watch till they see a herd of gazelles advancing from a distance towards the enclosure, into which they drive them: the gazelles, frightened by the shouts of these people and the discharge of fire-arms, endeavour to leap over the wall, but can only effect this at the gaps, where they fall into the ditch outside, and are easily taken, sometimesby hundreds. The chief of the herd always leaps first: the others follow him one by one. The gazelles thus taken are immediately killed, and their flesh is sold to the Arabs and neighbouring Felláḥs."[213]Hunting the wild ass is among the most difficult sports of the Arabs and Persians.

FOOTNOTES:[150]A pious Muslim generally sits at his meals with the right knee raised, after the example of the Prophet, who adopted this custom in order to avoid too comfortable a posture in eating, as tempting to unnecessary gratification.[151]Hist. Aegypt. Compend. 180-182. (Oxon. 1800.)[152]El-Maḳreezee's Khiṭaṭ: Account of the Khaleefehs' Palaces.[153]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 329.[154]Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, 8vo. ed. i. 178, 179.[155]Price's Retrospect of Mahom. History, ii. 229.[156]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 339.[157]De Sacy, Chrestomathie Arabe, i. 125-131, Arabic text.[158]That is, a race-course for sallies of wit and eloquence on the subject of wine: the word "kumeyt" being used, in preference to more than a hundred others that might have been employed, to signify "wine," because it bears also the meaning of "a deep red horse." The book has been already quoted in these pages.[159]His name is not mentioned in my copy; but D'Herbelot states it to have been Shems-ed-Deen Moḥammad ibn-Bedr-ed-Deen Ḥasan el-Ḳáḍee; and writes his surname "Naouagi," or "Naouahi."[160][Mr. Lane followed the usual custom of travellers of his day who wished to be intimate with the Egyptians, and took the name of Manṣoor Effendee. A letter from Bonomi to him, under this name, exists in the British Museum (25,658, f. 67), and has led the compilers of the Index to the Catalogue of Additions to the MSS., published in 1880, into the pardonable error of inventing an "Edward Mansoor Lane." S. L-P.][161]Ḳur. ii. 216.[162]Ḳur. iv. 46.[163]Lev. x. 9.[164]Ḳur. v. 92.[165]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. ix.[166]Ibid, khátimeh.[167]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, 1. 1.[168]Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy, Chrest. Arabe.[169]"While tears of blood trickle from the strainer, the ewer beneath it giggles." (Eṣ-Ṣadr Ibn-El-Wekeel, quoted in the Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiii.)—The strainer is called "ráwooḳ."[170]The Moḥtesib is inspector of the markets, the weights and measures, and provisions, etc.[171]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 295.[172]The cup, when full, was generally called "kás:" when empty, "ḳadaḥ," or "jám." The name of kás is now given to a small glass used for brandy and liqueurs, and similar to our liqueur-glass: the glass or cup used for wine is called, when so used, "koobeh:" it is the same as that used for sherbet; but in the latter case it is called "ḳulleh."[173]Es-Suyooṭee, account of the fruits of Egypt, in his history of that country (MS.)[174]Es-Suyooṭee.[175]Ibid.[176]El-Ḳazweenee, MS.[177]Ibid.[178]Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.[179]Ibid.[180]The Arabic names of these fruits are, tuffáḥ (vulgo, tiffáḥ), kummetrè, safarjal, mishmish, khókh, teen, jummeyz (vulgo, jemmeyz), ´eneb, nabḳ or sidr, ´onnáb (vulgo, ´annáb), ijjás or barḳooḳ, józ, lóz, bunduḳ, fustuḳ, burtuḳán, nárinj, leymoon, utrujj or turunj, kebbád, toot, zeytoon, and ḳaṣab es-sukkar.[181]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.; and Es-Suyooṭee, account of the flowers of Egypt, in his history of that country.[182]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.[183]Ibid.[184]Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.[185]The night of the Prophet's Ascension [in dream, into Heaven].[186]Gabriel, who accompanied the Prophet.[187]The beast on which Moḥammad dreamed he rode from Mekkeh to Jerusalem previously to his ascension. These traditions are from Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.[188]This flower is called "fághiyeh," and more commonly "temer el-ḥennà;" or, according to some, the fághiyeh is the flower produced by a slip of temer el-hennà, planted upside down, and superior to the flower of the latter planted in the natural way![189]Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.[190]Ibid.[191]Es-Suyooṭee.[192]Shaḳáïḳ. The "adhriyoon," or "ádharyoon," is said to be a variety of the anemone.[193]From the former, or from "noạmán," signifying "blood," the anemone was named "shaḳáïḳ en-noạmán."[194]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.[195]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt; Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra; and El-Ḳazweenee.[196]The Arabic names of these flowers are, yásameen, nisreen, zahr (or zahr nárinj), soosan, reeḥán (or ḥobaḳ), nemám, bahár, uḳḥowán, neelófar, beshneen, jullanár or julnár, khashkhásh, khiṭmee, zaạfarán, ´oṣfur, kettán, báḳillà, and lebláb, and lóz.[197]Bán, and khiláf or khaláf. Both these names are applied to the same tree (which, according to Forskál, differs slightly from the salix Ægyptiaca of Linnæus) by the author of the Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt and by the modern Egyptians.[198]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.[199]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xi.[200]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 425.[201]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.[202]Soft boots, worn inside the slippers or shoes.[203]Halbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.[204]I am not sure of the orthography of this name, particularly with respect to the first and last vowels; having never found it written with the vowel points. It is sometimes written with ḥ for kh, and f for ḳ.[205]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, 1.1.[206]He was born inA.H.125, and died in 213, or 188.[207]He was bornA.H.150, and died in 235.[208]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 231. He died in this year.[209]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. vii.[210]Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil.[211]Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section vii.[212]See Sir John Malcolm's "Sketches in Persia," i. ch. v.[213]Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, i. 220, ff.

[150]A pious Muslim generally sits at his meals with the right knee raised, after the example of the Prophet, who adopted this custom in order to avoid too comfortable a posture in eating, as tempting to unnecessary gratification.

[151]Hist. Aegypt. Compend. 180-182. (Oxon. 1800.)

[152]El-Maḳreezee's Khiṭaṭ: Account of the Khaleefehs' Palaces.

[153]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 329.

[154]Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, 8vo. ed. i. 178, 179.

[155]Price's Retrospect of Mahom. History, ii. 229.

[156]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 339.

[157]De Sacy, Chrestomathie Arabe, i. 125-131, Arabic text.

[158]That is, a race-course for sallies of wit and eloquence on the subject of wine: the word "kumeyt" being used, in preference to more than a hundred others that might have been employed, to signify "wine," because it bears also the meaning of "a deep red horse." The book has been already quoted in these pages.

[159]His name is not mentioned in my copy; but D'Herbelot states it to have been Shems-ed-Deen Moḥammad ibn-Bedr-ed-Deen Ḥasan el-Ḳáḍee; and writes his surname "Naouagi," or "Naouahi."

[160][Mr. Lane followed the usual custom of travellers of his day who wished to be intimate with the Egyptians, and took the name of Manṣoor Effendee. A letter from Bonomi to him, under this name, exists in the British Museum (25,658, f. 67), and has led the compilers of the Index to the Catalogue of Additions to the MSS., published in 1880, into the pardonable error of inventing an "Edward Mansoor Lane." S. L-P.]

[161]Ḳur. ii. 216.

[162]Ḳur. iv. 46.

[163]Lev. x. 9.

[164]Ḳur. v. 92.

[165]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. ix.

[166]Ibid, khátimeh.

[167]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, 1. 1.

[168]Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy, Chrest. Arabe.

[169]"While tears of blood trickle from the strainer, the ewer beneath it giggles." (Eṣ-Ṣadr Ibn-El-Wekeel, quoted in the Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiii.)—The strainer is called "ráwooḳ."

[170]The Moḥtesib is inspector of the markets, the weights and measures, and provisions, etc.

[171]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 295.

[172]The cup, when full, was generally called "kás:" when empty, "ḳadaḥ," or "jám." The name of kás is now given to a small glass used for brandy and liqueurs, and similar to our liqueur-glass: the glass or cup used for wine is called, when so used, "koobeh:" it is the same as that used for sherbet; but in the latter case it is called "ḳulleh."

[173]Es-Suyooṭee, account of the fruits of Egypt, in his history of that country (MS.)

[174]Es-Suyooṭee.

[175]Ibid.

[176]El-Ḳazweenee, MS.

[177]Ibid.

[178]Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.

[179]Ibid.

[180]The Arabic names of these fruits are, tuffáḥ (vulgo, tiffáḥ), kummetrè, safarjal, mishmish, khókh, teen, jummeyz (vulgo, jemmeyz), ´eneb, nabḳ or sidr, ´onnáb (vulgo, ´annáb), ijjás or barḳooḳ, józ, lóz, bunduḳ, fustuḳ, burtuḳán, nárinj, leymoon, utrujj or turunj, kebbád, toot, zeytoon, and ḳaṣab es-sukkar.

[181]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.; and Es-Suyooṭee, account of the flowers of Egypt, in his history of that country.

[182]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.

[183]Ibid.

[184]Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.

[185]The night of the Prophet's Ascension [in dream, into Heaven].

[186]Gabriel, who accompanied the Prophet.

[187]The beast on which Moḥammad dreamed he rode from Mekkeh to Jerusalem previously to his ascension. These traditions are from Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.

[188]This flower is called "fághiyeh," and more commonly "temer el-ḥennà;" or, according to some, the fághiyeh is the flower produced by a slip of temer el-hennà, planted upside down, and superior to the flower of the latter planted in the natural way!

[189]Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.

[190]Ibid.

[191]Es-Suyooṭee.

[192]Shaḳáïḳ. The "adhriyoon," or "ádharyoon," is said to be a variety of the anemone.

[193]From the former, or from "noạmán," signifying "blood," the anemone was named "shaḳáïḳ en-noạmán."

[194]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.

[195]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt; Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra; and El-Ḳazweenee.

[196]The Arabic names of these flowers are, yásameen, nisreen, zahr (or zahr nárinj), soosan, reeḥán (or ḥobaḳ), nemám, bahár, uḳḥowán, neelófar, beshneen, jullanár or julnár, khashkhásh, khiṭmee, zaạfarán, ´oṣfur, kettán, báḳillà, and lebláb, and lóz.

[197]Bán, and khiláf or khaláf. Both these names are applied to the same tree (which, according to Forskál, differs slightly from the salix Ægyptiaca of Linnæus) by the author of the Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt and by the modern Egyptians.

[198]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.

[199]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xi.

[200]Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 425.

[201]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.

[202]Soft boots, worn inside the slippers or shoes.

[203]Halbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.

[204]I am not sure of the orthography of this name, particularly with respect to the first and last vowels; having never found it written with the vowel points. It is sometimes written with ḥ for kh, and f for ḳ.

[205]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, 1.1.

[206]He was born inA.H.125, and died in 213, or 188.

[207]He was bornA.H.150, and died in 235.

[208]Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 231. He died in this year.

[209]Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. vii.

[210]Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil.

[211]Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section vii.

[212]See Sir John Malcolm's "Sketches in Persia," i. ch. v.

[213]Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, i. 220, ff.

In few cases are the Mohammadans so much fettered by the directions of their Prophet and other religious instructors as in the rearing and education of their children. In matters of the most trivial nature, religious precedents direct their management of the young. One of the first duties is to wrap the new-born child in clean white linen, or in linen of some other colour, but not yellow. After this some person (not a female) should pronounce the adán[214]in the ear of the infant, because the Prophet did so in the ear of El-Ḥasan when Fáṭimeh gave birth to him; or he should pronounce the adán in the right ear, and the iḳámeh (which is nearly the same) in the left.[215]

Itwas formerly a custom of many of the Arabs, and perhaps is still among some, for the father to give a feast to his friends on seven successive days after the birth of a son; but that of a daughter was observed with less rejoicing. The general modern custom is to give an entertainment only on the seventh day, which is called Yóm es-Subooạ.

On this occasion, in the families of the higher classes, professional female singers are hired to entertain a party of ladies, friends of the infant's mother, who visit her on this occasion, in the ḥareem; or a concert of instrumental music, or a recitation of the whole of the Ḳur-án, is performed below by men. The mother, attended by the midwife, being seated in a chair which is the property of the latter, the child is brought, wrapped in a handsome shawl or something costly; and, to accustom it to noise, that it may not be frightened afterwards by the music and other sounds of mirth, one of the women takes a brass mortar and strikes it repeatedly with the pestle, as if pounding. After this, the child is put into a sieve and shaken, it being supposed that this operation is beneficial to its stomach. Next, it is carried through all the apartments of the ḥareem, accompanied by several women or girls, each of whom bears a number of wax candles, sometimes of various colours, cut in two, lighted, and stuck into small lumps of paste of ḥennà, upon a small round tray. At the same timethe midwife, or another female, sprinkles upon the floor of each room a mixture of salt with seed of the fennel-flower, or salt alone, which has been placed during the preceding night at the infant's head; saying as she does this, "The salt be in the eye of the person who doth not bless the Prophet!" or, "The foul salt be in the eye of the envier!" This ceremony of the sprinkling of salt is considered a preservative for the child and mother from the evil eye; and each person present should say, "O God, bless our lord Moḥammad!" The child, wrapped up and placed on a fine mattress, which is sometimes laid on a silver tray, is shewn to each of the women present, who looks at its face, says, "O God, bless our lord Moḥammad! God give thee long life!" etc., and usually puts an embroidered handkerchief, with a gold coin (if pretty or old, the more esteemed) tied up in one of the corners, on the child's head, or by its side. This giving of handkerchiefs and gold is considered as imposing a debt, to be repaid by the mother, if the donor should give her the same occasion; or as the discharge of a debt for a similar offering. The coins are generally used for some years to decorate the head-dress of the child. After these presents for the child, others are given for the midwife. During the night before the seventh-day's festivity, a water-bottle full of water (a dóraḳ in the case of a boy, and a ḳulleh[216]in that of a girl), with an embroidered handkerchief tiedround the neck, is placed at the child's head while it sleeps. This, with the water it contains, the midwife takes and puts upon a tray and presents it to each of the women; who put presents of money for her into the tray. In the evening, the husband generally entertains a party of his friends.[217]

On this day, or on the fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, or thirty-fifth day after the birth, several religious ceremonies are required to be performed; but they are most approved if observed on the seventh day. One of these is the naming. I believe, however, that it is a more common custom to give the name almost immediately after the birth, or about three hours after. Astrologers were often consulted on this occasion; but the following directions are given on higher authority, and are generally followed.—"The father should give his son a good name, ... not a name of self-praise, as Rasheed [Orthodox], Emeen [Faithful], etc.... The Prophet said, 'The names most approved by God are ´Abd-Allah [Servant of God] and ´Abd-Er-Raḥmán [Servant of the Compassionate], and such like.' He also said, 'Give my name, but do not distinguish by my surname of relationship:' but this precept, they say, respects his own lifetime, ... because he was addressed, 'O Abu-l-Ḳásim!' and now it is not disapproved; but somedisapprove of uniting the name and surname, so as to call a person Moḥammad and Abu-l-Ḳásim. And if a son be called by the name of a prophet it is not allowable to abuse or vilify him, unless the person so named be facing his reproacher, who should say, 'Thou' [without mentioning his name]: and a child named Moḥammad or Aḥmad should be [especially] honoured.... The Prophet said, 'There is no people holding a consultation at which there is present one whose name is Moḥammad or Aḥmad, but God blesseth all that assembly:' and again he said, 'Whoever nameth his child by my name, or by that of any of my children or my companions, from affection to me or to them, God (whose name be exalted) will give him in Paradise what eye hath not seen nor ear heard.' And a son should not be named King of kings, or Lord of lords; nor should a man take a surname of relationship from the name of the eldest of his children; nor take any such surname before a child is born to him."[218]The custom of naming children after prophets, or after relations or companions of Moḥammad, is very common. No ceremony is observed on account of the naming.

On the same day, however, two practices which I am about to mention are prescribed to be observed; though, as far as my observations and inquiries allow me to judge, they are generally neglected by the modern Muslims. The first of these is a sacrifice. The victim is called´aḳeeḳah. It should be a ram or goat; or two such animals should be sacrificed for a son, and one for a daughter. This rite is regarded by Ibn-Ḥambal as absolutely obligatory: he said, "If a father sacrifice not for his son, and he [the son] die, that son will not intercede for him on the day of judgment." The founders of the three other principal sects regard it in different and less important lights, though Moḥammad slew an ´aḳeeḳah for himself after his prophetic mission. The person should say, on slaying the victim, "O God, verily this ´aḳeeḳah is a ransom for my son such a one; its blood for his blood, and its flesh for his flesh, and its bone for his bone, and its skin for his skin, and its hair for his hair. O God, make it a ransom for my son from hell fire." A bone of the victim should not be broken.[219]The midwife should receive a leg of it. It should be cooked without previously cutting off any portion of it; and part of it should be given in alms.

After this should be performed the other ceremony above alluded to, which is this:—It is a sunneh ordinance, incumbent on the father, to shave or cause to be shaved the head of the child, and to give in alms to the poor the weight of the hair in gold or silver. This should also be done for a proselyte.[220]On the subsequent occasions of shaving the head of a male child (for the head of the male is frequently shaven), atuft of hair is generally left on the crown, and commonly for several years another also over the forehead.

Circumcision is most approved if performed on the same day;[221]but the observance of this rite is generally delayed until the child has attained the age of five or six years, and sometimes several years later. (See p.200).

The Muslims regard a child as a trust committed by God to its parents, who, they hold, are responsible for the manner in which they bring it up, and will be examined on this subject on the day of judgment. But they further venture to say, that "the first who will lay hold of a man on the day of judgment will be his wife and children, who [if he have been deficient in his duty to them] will present themselves before God, and say, 'O our Lord, take for us our due from him; for he taught us not that of which we were ignorant, and he fed us with forbidden food, and we knew not:' and their due will be taken from him."[222]By this is meant, that a certain proportion of the good works which the man may have done, and his children and wife neglected, will be set down to their account: or that a similar proportion of their evil works will be transferred tohisaccount.

The mother is enjoined by the law to give suck to her child two fullyears, unless she have her husband's consent to shorten the period, or to employ another nurse. "For suckling the child, a virtuous woman, who eateth only what is lawful, should be chosen; for the unlawful [food] will manifest its evil in the child; as the Prophet ... said, 'Giving suck altereth the tempers.' But it is recommended by the Sunneh that the mother herself suckle the child; for it is said in a tradition, 'There is nothing better for a child than its mother's milk.' 'If thou wouldst try,' it is added, 'whether the child be of an ingenuous disposition in its infancy or not, order a woman who is not its mother to suckle it after its mother has done so: and if it drink of the milk of the woman who is not its mother, it is not of an ingenuous disposition.'"[223]

Children, being regarded by Muslim parents as enviable blessings, are to them objects of the most anxious solicitude. To guard them from the supposed influence of the envious or evil eye, they have recourse to various expedients. When they are taken abroad, they are usually clad in a most slovenly manner, and left unwashed, or even purposely smeared with dirt; and as a further precaution a fantastic cap is often put upon the child's head, or its head-dress is decorated with one or more coins, a feather, a gay tassel, or a written charm or two sewed up in leather or encased in gold or silver, or some other appendage to attract the eye,that so the infant itself may pass unnoticed. If a person express his admiration of another's child otherwise than by some pious ejaculation, as for instance by praising its Creator (with the exclamation of "Subḥána-lláh!" or Má sháa-lláh!" etc.) or invoking a blessing on the Prophet, he fills the mind of the parent with apprehension; and recourse is had to some superstitious ceremony to counteract the dreaded influence of his envious glance. The children of the poor from their unattractive appearance are less exposed to this imaginary danger: they generally have little or no clothing and are extremely dirty. It is partly with the view of protecting them from the evil eye that those of the rich are so long confined to the ḥareem: there they are petted and pampered for several years, at least until they are of age to go to school; but most of them are instructed at home.

The children of the Muslims are taught to show to their fathers a degree of respect which might be deemed incompatible with the existence of a tender mutual affection; but I believe that this is not the case. The child greets the father in the morning by kissing his hand, and then usually stands before him in a respectful attitude, with the left hand covered by the right, to receive any order or to await his permission to depart; but after the respectful kiss, is often taken on the lap. After the period of infancy, the well-bred son seldom sits in the presence of hisfather; but during that period he is generally allowed much familiarity. A Syrian merchant, who was one of my near neighbours in Cairo, had a child of exquisite beauty, commonly supposed to be his daughter, whom, though he was a most bigoted Muslim, he daily took with him from his private house to his shop. The child followed him, seated upon an ass before a black slave, and until about six years old was dressed like most young ladies, but without a face-veil. The father then thinking that the appearance of taking about with him a daughter of that age was scandalous, dressed his pet as a boy, and told his friends that the female attire had been employed as a protection against the evil eye, girls being less coveted than boys. This indeed is sometimes done, and it is possible that such might have been the case in this instance; but I was led to believe that it was not so. A year after, I left Cairo: while I remained there, I continued to see the child pass my house as before, but always in boy's clothing.

It is not surprising that the natives of Eastern countries, where a very trifling expense is required to rear the young, should be generally desirous of a numerous offspring. A motive of self-interest conduces forcibly to cherish this feeling in a wife; for she is commonly esteemed by her husband in proportion to her fruitfulness, and a man is seldom willing to divorce a wife, or to sell a slave, who has borne hima child. A similar feeling also induces in both parents a desire to obtain offspring, and renders them at the same time resigned to the loss of such of their children as die in tender age. This feeling arises from their belief of certain services, of greater moment than the richest blessings this world can bestow, which children who die in infancy are to render to their parents.

The Prophet is related to have said, "The infant children [of the Muslims] shall assemble at the scene of judgment on the day of the general resurrection, when all creatures shall appear for the reckoning, and it will be said to the angels, 'Go ye with these into Paradise:' and they will halt at the gate of Paradise, and it will be said to them, 'Welcome to the offspring of the Muslims! enter ye Paradise: there is no reckoning to be made with you:' and they will reply, 'Yea, and our fathers and our mothers:' but the guardians of Paradise will say, 'Verily your fathers and your mothers are not with you because they have committed faults and sins for which they must be reckoned with and inquired of.' Then they will shriek and cry at the gate of Paradise with a great cry; and God (whose name be exalted, and who is all-knowing respecting them) will say, 'What is this cry?' It will be answered, 'O our Lord, the children of the Muslims say, We will not enter Paradise but with our fathers and our mothers.' Whereupon God (whose name be exalted) will say, 'Pass among them all, and take thehands of your parents, and introduce them into Paradise.'" The children who are to have this power are such as are born of believers, and die without having attained to the knowledge of sin; and according to one tradition, one such child will introduce his two parents into Paradise. Such infants only are to enter Paradise; for of the children who die in infancy, those of believers alone are they who would believe if they grew to years of discretion. On the same authority it is said, "When a child of the servant [of God] dies, God (whose name be exalted) saith to the angels, 'Have ye taken the child of my servant?' They answer, 'Yea.' He saith, 'Have ye taken the child of his heart?' They reply, 'Yea.' He asketh them, 'What did my servant say?' They answer, 'He praised thee, and said, Verily to God we belong, and verily unto Him we return!' Then God will say, 'Build for my servant a house in Paradise, and name it the House of Praise.'"

To these traditions, which I find related as proofs of the advantages of marriage, the following anecdote, which is of a similar nature, is added. A certain man who would not take a wife awoke one day from his sleep, and demanded to be married, saying as his reason, "I dreamed that the resurrection had taken place, and that I was among the beings collected at the scene of judgment, but was suffering a thirst that stopped up the passage of my stomach;and lo, there were youths passing through the assembly, having in their hands ewers of silver, and cups of gold, and giving drink to one person after another; so I stretched forth my hand to one of them, and said, 'Give me to drink; for thirst overpowereth me;' but they answered, 'Thou hast no child among us; we give drink only to our fathers.' I asked them, 'Who are ye?' They replied, 'We are the deceased infant children of the Muslims.'"[224]Especial rewards in heaven are promised to mothers. "When a woman conceives by her husband," said the Prophet, "she is called in heaven a martyr [i.e.she is ranked, as a martyr in dignity]; and her labour in childbed and her care for her children protect her from hell fire."[225]

"When the child begins to speak, the father should teach him first the kelimeh [or profession of faith], 'There is no deity but God: [Moḥammad is God's apostle]'—he should dictate this to him seven times. Then he should instruct him to say, 'Wherefore exalted be God, the King, the Truth! There is no deity but He, the Lord of the honourable throne.'[226]He should teach him also the Throne-verse,[227]and the closing words of the Ḥashr, 'He is God, beside whom there is no deity, the King, the Holy,'" etc.[228]

As soon as a son is old enough, his father should teach him the mostimportant rules of decent behaviour: placing some food before him, he should order him to take it with the right hand (the left being employed for unclean purposes), and to say, on commencing, "In the name of God;" to eat what is next to him, and not to hurry or spill any of the food upon his person or dress. He should teach him that it is disgusting to eat much. He should particularly condemn to him the love of gold and silver, and caution him against covetousness as he would against serpents and scorpions; and forbid his spitting in an assembly and every similar breach of good manners, from talking much, turning his back upon another, standing in an indolent attitude, and speaking ill of any person to another. He should keep him from bad companions, teach him the Ḳur-án and all requisite divine and prophetic ordinances, and instruct him in the arts of swimming and archery, and in some virtuous trade; for trade is a security from poverty. He should also command him to endure patiently the chastisements of his teacher. In one tradition it is said, "When a boy attains the age of six years he should be disciplined, and when he attains to nine years he should be put in a separate bed, and when he attains to ten years he should be beaten for [neglecting] prayer:" and in another tradition, "Order your children to pray at seven [years], and beat them for [neglecting] it at ten, and put them in separate beds."[229]

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