Mukháriḳ appears to have rivalled his master Ibráheem. 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 sereer [a kind of couch], and gave me thirty thousand dirhems."[248]

The following anecdote (which I abridge a little in translation) shews

his excellence in the art which he professed, and the effect of melody

on an Arab:--"After drinking with the Khaleefeh[249] a whole night, I

asked his permission," says he, "to take the air in the Ruṣáfeh,[250]

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 house thinking that I was their companion, and

they imagining that I was one of his friends. A repast was brought, 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 female 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, 'Seedee[251]

Mukháriḳ's.' She then sang another air, which, also, she said was 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, from ecstasy. The master of the house, after asking his guests,

and being told by them that 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 to me, a

hundred thousand; and I kissed his feet, and departed."[252]

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. Ibráheem, 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 work before us, these slaves are commonly described

as standing or sitting unveiled in the presence of male guests; but,

from several descriptions of musical entertainments that I have 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. Of the hired

performers, any further mention is not here required; but of the slaves

and free ladies who supplied their place, a few words must be added, as

very necessary to illustrate the preceding and many other tales in this

work.

To a person acquainted with modern Arabian manners, it must appear

inconsistent with truth to describe such females 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 females at the present period. 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 prostitutes, and walk in the sooḳs (or market-streets), like

female warriours against the religion, and uncover their faces and hands

before 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 [i.e. 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, &c.

&c.... I have undertaken the composition of this volume."[253] 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. (See also Note 26, below.)

The Arab music is generally of a soft and plaintive character, and

particularly that of the most refined description, which is

distinguished by a remarkable peculiarity, the division of tones into

thirds. 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.

NOTE 23. This is often said to a person whose presence is disagreeable

to his companions.

NOTE 24.--_On the_ Ḳalenderees. In the old translation, these three

strangers are called "Calenders;" that is, "Ḳalenderees:" but in the

Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, and the edition of

Breslau, they are designated as "Ḳarendelees," "miserable or ridiculous

beggars;" and in that of Cairo, the term applied to them is "ṣa'áleek,"

or, simply, "paupers," or "mendicants." Some may suppose the right

reading to be "Ḳalenderees;" for it was a custom of this order of

Darweeshes to shave their beards: they were forbidden to do so in the

year of the Flight 761,[254] by the Sulṭán of Egypt (El-Melik en-Náṣir

El-Ḥasan); but whether they afterwards reverted to this habit, I do not

know. The order of the Ḳalenderees, however, was not founded until about

the commencement of the fifth century of the Flight,[255] a period long

posterior to that to which the tale relates.

NOTE 25. In the edition of Cairo, they are said to have arrived from

Greece.

NOTE 26.--_On the Persian Harp._ This instrument is called in Arabic

"junk," from the Persian "chang." It has almost fallen into disuse, and

I have never seen it: I am enabled, however, to give two sketches of its

form through the kindness of the [late] Right Honourable Sir Gore

Ouseley, who has favoured me with drawings made from two of the most

satisfactory representations of it in his rich collection of Oriental

MSS.; the first, about 350 years old; the second 410. The number of

strings, he informs me, vary from 20 to 27.

[Illustration]

NOTE 27.--_On the Title and Office of_ Khaleefeh. As most of our best

authors on Oriental subjects have for some years past deviated from our

old general mode of writing this title, substituting (for "Caliph")

"Khalif," "Khalífah," &c., I have taken the same liberty. It cannot be

correctly written, at the same time congenially with our language and

with its orthography in Arabic characters, otherwise than "Khaleefeh" or

"Khaleefah;" and of these two modes I adopt the one which agrees with

the manner in which the title is most generally pronounced by the Arabs.

The meaning of this title is "Successor," or "Vicar;" and it was

originally given to the universal sovereigns of the Muslim Arabs, as

signifying "Successor of the Prophet;" but afterwards, in a more exalted

sense, as "Vicar of God:" the Khaleefeh being the head of the religion

as well as the supreme political governor, or at least arrogating to

himself the right to possess such supremacy, throughout the whole Muslim

world. [The last of the Khaleefehs died in Egypt shortly after the

Turkish conquest of that country, or in the year of the Flight, 950.

After the overthrow of the house of El-'Abbás by Hulágù, certain of its

members obtained an asylum at the court of the Memlook Sulṭáns, and

continued the line of the Khaleefehs, with spiritual, but no temporal,

authority until it ceased in the person of El-Mutawekkil, who delegated

his office to the Sulṭán Seleem I.; it is consequently held by the

Sulṭán of Turkey. The Emperors of Morocco, being descendants of the

Prophet, also claim and receive from their subjects the title of

Khaleefeh.[256]--ED.]

NOTE 28. The stories in which this justly-celebrated man is mentioned

will, I think, be more agreeable to those readers who are unacquainted

with his history, of which, therefore, I shall say nothing.

NOTE 29. Mesroor was a black eunuch, and a favourite servant of

Er-Rasheed. The name signifies "happy."

NOTE 30. "Ṭabareeyeh" is the modern name for Tiberias.

NOTE 31.--_Description_ of Kháns, or Wekálehs. A Khán is a building

chiefly designed for the accommodation of merchants, and for the

reception of their goods. In Egypt, a building of this kind is generally

called a Wekáleh. I have described it, in a former work, as surrounding

a square or oblong court, and having, on the ground-floor, vaulted

magazines for merchandise, which face the court, and are sometimes used

as shops. Above these are generally lodgings, which are entered from a

gallery extending along each of the four sides of the court; or, in the

place of these lodgings, there are other magazines: and in many kháns or

wekálehs which have apartments designed as lodgings, these apartments

are used as magazines. In general, the building has only one common

entrance; the door of which is closed at night, and kept by a porter.

NOTE 32. It is customary for a guest or visiter to ask permission of the

host, or master of the house, before taking his departure. A common form

of speech used on this occasion is, "With your permission, I rise."

NOTE 33. Many Muslims perform the pilgrimage with the view of expiating

their offences, and, at the Kaạbeh, or at the tomb of the Prophet, make

a vow to abstain from any glaring infringement of the law of which they

may before have been guilty.

NOTE 34. I learn, from a marginal note in my copy of the original, by

the sheykh Moḥammad Eṭ-Tanṭáwee, that these verses are the composition

of Ibn-Sahl El-Ishbee-lee. Three concluding verses of the same ode, and

a second poetical quotation immediately following, I have passed over.

NOTE 35. In the original there are some errors in this part of the

story, which the sequel requires me to correct. The cateress is

described as having sung three successive songs, accompanying them with

her lute. After the first song, the mistress of the house is said to

have been affected in the manner described in the translation, and to

have exposed to view the marks of beating. The second lady (namely, the

portress) is represented as similarly excited by the second song; and

the third lady (the cateress herself), by the third song. The last also

is said to have exhibited upon her person those marks which, as the

sequel shews, were borne by the second.

NOTE 36. The "miḳra'ah," vulgarly called "maḳra'ah," is a portion of the

thicker end of a palm-branch stripped of the leaves. It is often used to

beat a person in sport; but in this case, two or three splits are

usually made in the thicker part of it, to increase the sound of the

blows.

NOTE 37. In the original, "the portress." See Note 35, above.

NOTE 38. Perhaps it is needless to explain that the wish here expressed,

for a protractive trial on the day of judgment, is occasioned by the

longing for reunion, and the fear of separation after that day. The

Muslims usually pray for an easy (and, consequently, a short) reckoning.

NOTE 39. I have omitted the third song of the cateress, and the

description of its effects, mentioned in Note 35.

NOTE 40. See Note 47 to Chapter II.

NOTE 41. It seems to be implied that the lady discovered her guests,

notwithstanding their disguise, to be persons of rank.

NOTE 42. I read "fuḳaráü aạjám" for "fuḳaráü-l-hojjám:" the former,

carelessly written (in Arabic characters), might easily be mistaken for

the latter.

NOTE 43. This phrase is used to signify "Recover thy senses;" alluding

to a person's drawing his hand over his head or face after a sleep or

fit.

NOTE 44. The burial-grounds of Eastern cities are generally so

extensive, that, with the varied structures which they contain, they may

aptly be called "Cities of the Dead." It was with difficulty that I

recognised the tomb of the lamented Burckhardt, in the great cemetery on

the north of Cairo, even after I had carefully noticed its place on a

former visit.

NOTE 45. I have ventured to make a slight alteration here; but it is one

which does not in the least affect the consistency of the tale. Marriage

with a foster-sister is as expressly forbidden by the Mohammadan law as

that with a natural sister.

NOTE 46. "The Truth" is one of the ninety-nine names or epithets of God.

NOTE 47. Many an Arab would rather risk the loss of his head than part

with his beard; for the latter is regarded by almost all Muslims with a

superstitious respect; and to shave it off, at least after it has been

suffered to grow for many days, they consider as sinful: this, however,

is sometimes done by religious mendicants, as it is also by some of

those persons who seek, or enjoy, the reputation of sanctity, and who

are, or pretend to be, insane.

NOTE 48. By "the seven readings," we are to understand seven slightly

different modes of reading the Ḳur-án, seldom differing essentially as

to the sense.

NOTE 49. Astrology (not astronomy) is here meant. Though a forbidden

science, it is studied by many Muslims.

NOTE 50. A misplaced diacritical point occasions a wrong reading here,

in the original, which I have corrected.

NOTE 51. The Mohammadan law requires that every man be acquainted with

some art or occupation by which he may, in case of necessity, at least

be able to obtain the means of supporting himself and such of his family

as are dependant upon him, and of fulfilling all his religious as well

as moral duties. Hence it has been a common custom of Muslim princes, in

every age, to learn some useful art; and many of them have distinguished

themselves by displaying exquisite skill in the work of their hands, and

especially in caligraphy, of which the Orientals in general are great

admirers.

NOTE 52. The 'Efreet (as we are told in some editions of the original)

had taken this lady against the consent of his family, and therefore

could not more frequently visit her.

NOTE 53. The term "ḳubbeh" is often applied to a closet or small chamber

adjoining a saloon; and in this sense it appears to be here used.

NOTE 54.--_On Sherbets._ The Arabs have various kinds of sherbets, or

sweet drinks; the most common of which is merely sugar and water, made

very sweet. The most esteemed kind is prepared from a hard conserve of

violets, made by pounding violet-flowers, and then boiling them with

sugar. Other kinds are prepared from conserves of fruits, &c. The

sherbet is served in covered glass cups, containing from two-thirds to

three-quarters of an English pint; the same which I have described in a

former note as used for wine. These are placed on a round tray, and

covered with a round piece of embroidered silk, or cloth of gold; and on

the right arm of the person who presents the sherbet, is hung a long

napkin with a deep embroidered border of gold and coloured silks at each

end, which is ostensibly offered for the purpose of wiping the lips

after drinking, though the lips are scarcely touched with it.

NOTE 55. The Arabs are very fond of having their feet, and especially

the soles, slowly rubbed with the hand; and this operation, which is one

of the services commonly required of a wife or female slave, is a usual

mode of waking a person.

NOTE 56. Here, and again in the same and a subsequent sentence, for

"kheiyáṭeen," I read "ḥaṭṭábeen." In the Breslau edition, "khaṭṭábeen"

is put for the latter. The right reading is obvious.

NOTE 57. Falsehood was _commended_ by the Prophet when it tended to

reconcile persons at enmity with each other, and when practised in order

to please one's wife, or to obtain any advantage in a war with infidels,

though strongly reprobated in other cases.

NOTE 58. Four verses here inserted in the original appear to me to be a

corruption of a couplet which better expresses the same meaning, and

which I have therefore translated in the place of the former. As the

lines to which I allude are particularly pleasing, I may perhaps be

excused if I here introduce the original words, which are as follow:--

"Isháratunà fi-l-ḥobbi remzu 'oyooninà: wa-kullu lebeebin

bi-l-ishárati yefhamu,

Ḥawájibunà teḳḍi-l-ḥawáïjà beynenà: fa-naḥnu sukootun wa-l-hawà

yetekellemu."

NOTE 59. This is not meant to disparage the individual lady here

mentioned, but is a saying of the Prophet applied to the sex in general.

NOTE 60. In the edition of Cairo, this story is omitted. I translate it

from the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights.

NOTE 61. "Faḳeer" (which signifies "poor," and is particularly used in

the sense of "poor in the sight of God," or rather, "in need of the

mercy of God") is an appellation commonly given to poor persons who

especially occupy themselves in religious exercises.

NOTE 62. The performances called "zikrs" will be briefly described

towards the close of the next note.

NOTE 63.--_On Muslin Saints, or Devotees._ The tale of the Envied

Sheykh, and several other stories in this work, require that the reader

should be acquainted with the remarkable opinions which the Arabs

entertain with respect to the offices and supernatural powers of their

saints. Such matters form an important part of the mysteries of the

Darweeshes, and are but imperfectly known to the generality of Muslims.

The distinguished individuals above mentioned are known by the common

appellation of "Welees," or particular favourites of God. The more

eminent among them compose a mysterious hierarchical body, whose

government respects the whole human race, infidels as well as believers;

but whose power is often exercised in such a manner that the subjects

influenced by it know not from what person or persons its effects

proceed. The general governor or coryphæus of these holy beings is

commonly called the "Ḳuṭb," which literally signifies a "pole," or an

"axis," and is metaphorically used to signify a "chief," either in a

civil or political, or in a spiritual sense. The Ḳuṭb of the saints is

distinguished by other appellations: he is called "Ḳuṭb el-Ghós," or

"---- el-Ghóth" ("the Ḳuṭb of Invocation for Help"), &c.; and simply

"El-Ghós."[257] The orders under the rule of this chief are called

"'Omud (or Owtád), Akhyár, Abdál, Nujabà, and Nuḳabà:" I name them

according to their precedence.[258] Perhaps to these should be added an

inferior order called "Aṣ-ḥáb ed-Darak," which is said to mean

"Watchmen," or "Overseers." The members are not known as such to their

inferior, unenlightened fellow-creatures; and are often invisible to

them. This is more frequently the case with the Ḳuṭb, who, though

generally stationed at Mekkeh, on the roof of the Kaạbeh, is never

visible there, nor at any of his other favourite stations or places of

resort; yet his voice is often heard at these places. Whenever he and

the saints under his authority mingle among ordinary men, they are not

distinguished by a dignified appearance, but are always humbly clad.

These, and even inferior saints, are said to perform astonishing

miracles, such as flying in the air, passing unhurt through fire,

swallowing fire, glass, &c., walking upon water, transporting themselves

in a moment of time to immense distances, and supplying themselves and

others with food in desert places. Their supernatural power they are

supposed to obtain by a life of the most exalted piety, and especially

by constant self-denial, accompanied with the most implicit reliance

upon God; by the services of good genii; and, as many believe, by the

knowledge and utterance of "the most great name" of God. A miracle

performed by a saint is distinguished by the term "karámeh" from one

performed by a prophet, which is called "moạjizeh."

El-Khiḍr and Ilyás (or Elias), of whom I have before had occasion to

speak, are both believed to have been Ḳuṭbs, and the latter is called in

the Ḳur-án an apostle; but it is disputed whether the former was a

prophet or merely a welee. Both are said to have drunk of the Fountain

of Life, and to be in consequence still living; and Ilyás is commonly

believed to invest the successive Ḳuṭbs. The similarity of the miracles

ascribed to the Ḳuṭbs and those performed by Elias or Elijah I have

remarked in a former work. Another miracle, reminding us of the mantle

of Elijah in the hands of his successor, may here be mentioned.--A saint

who was the Ḳuṭb of his time, dying at Toonis (or Tunis), left his

clothes in trust to his attendant, Moḥammad El-Ashwam, a native of the

neighbouring regency of Tripoli (now called Ṭarábulus), who desired to

sell these relics, but was counselled to retain them, and accordingly,

though high prices were bidden for them, made them his own by purchase.

As soon as they became his property, he was affected, we are told, with

a divine ecstasy, and endowed with miraculous powers.[259]

Innumerable miracles are related to have been performed by Muslim

saints, and large volumes are filled with the histories of their

wonderful lives. The author of the work from which the above story is

taken, mentions, as a fact to be relied on, in an account of one of his

ancestors, that, his lamp happening to go out one night while he was

reading alone in the riwáḳ of the Jabart (of which he was the sheykh),

in the great mosque El-Azhar, the forefinger of his right hand emitted a

light which enabled him to continue his reading until his naḳeeb had

trimmed and lighted another lamp.[260]

From many stories of a similar kind that I have read, I select the

following as a fair specimen: it is related by a very celebrated saint,

Ibráheem El-Khowwáṣ.--"I entered the desert [on pilgrimage to Mekkeh

from El-'Eráḳ], and there joined me a man having a belt round his waist,

and I said, 'Who art thou?'--He answered, 'A Christian; and I desire thy

company.' We walked together for seven days, eating nothing; after which

he said to me, 'O monk of the Muslims, produce what thou hast in the way

of refreshment; for we are hungry:' so I said, 'O my God, disgrace me

not before this infidel:' and lo, a tray, upon which were bread and

broiled meat and fresh dates and a mug of water. We ate, and continued

our journey seven days more; and I then said to him, 'O monk of the

Christians, produce what thou hast in the way of refreshment; for the

turn is come to thee:' whereupon he leaned upon his staff; and prayed;

and lo, two trays, containing double that which was on my tray. I was

confounded, and refused to eat: he urged me, saying, 'Eat;' but I did it

not. Then said he, 'Be glad; for I give thee two pieces of good news:

one of them is, that I testify that there is no deity but God, and that

Moḥammad is God's Apostle: the other, that I said, O God, if there be

worth in this servant, supply me with two trays:--so this is through thy

blessing.' We ate, and the man put on the dress of pilgrimage, and so

entered Mekkeh, where he remained with me a year as a student; after

which he died, and I buried him in [the cemetery] El-Maạlà." "And God,"

says the author from whom I take this story, "is all-knowing:" _i.e._ He

alone knoweth whether it be strictly true: but this is often added to

the narration of traditions resting upon high authority.[261]--The saint

above mentioned was called "El-Khowwáṣ" (or the maker of palm-leaf

baskets, &c.) from the following circumstance, related by himself.--"I

used," said he, "to go out of the town [Er-Rei] and sit by a river on

the banks of which was abundance of palm-leaves; and it occurred to my

mind to make every day five baskets [ḳuffehs], and to throw them into

the river, for my amusement, as if I were obliged to do so. My time was

so passed for many days: at length, one day, I thought I would walk

after the baskets, and see whither they had gone: so I proceeded a while

along the bank of the river, and found an old woman sitting sorrowful.

On that day I had made nothing. I said to her, 'Wherefore do I see thee

sorrowful?' She answered, 'I am a widow: my husband died leaving five

daughters, and nothing to maintain them; and it is my custom to repair

every day to this river, and there come to me, upon the surface of the

water, five baskets, which I sell, and by means of them I procure food;

but to-day they have not come, and I know not what to do.' Upon hearing

this, I raised my head towards heaven, and said, 'O my God, had I known

that I had more than five children to maintain, I had laboured more

diligently!'" He then took the old woman to his house, and gave her

money and flour, and said to her, "Whenever thou wantest anything, come

hither and take what may suffice you."[262]

An irresistible influence has often been exercised over the minds of

princes and other great men by reputed saints. Many a Muslim Monarch has

thus been incited (as the Kings of Christendom were by Peter the Hermit)

to undertake religious wars, or urged to acts of piety and charity; or

restrained from tyranny by threats of Divine vengeance to be called down

upon his head by the imprecations of a welee. 'Alee, the favourite son

of the Khaleefeh El-Ma-moon, was induced, for the sake of religion, to

flee from the splendour and luxuries of his father's court, and, after

the example of a self-denying devotee, to follow the occupation of a

porter, in a state of the most abject poverty, at El-Baṣrah, fasting all

the day, remaining without sleep at night in a mosque, and walking

barefooted, until, under an accumulation of severe sufferings, he

prematurely ended his days, dying on a mat. The honours which he refused

to receive in life were paid to him after his death: his rank being

discovered by a ring and paper which he left, his corpse was anointed

with camphor and musk and aloes, wrapped in fine linen of Egypt, and so

conveyed to his distressed father at Baghdád.[263]

Self-denial I have before mentioned as one of the most important means

by which to attain the dignity of a welee. A very famous saint,

Esh-Shiblee, is said to have received from his father an inheritance of

sixty millions of deenárs (a sum incredible, and probably a mistake for

sixty thousand, or for sixty million dirhems), besides landed property,

and to have expended it all in charity: also, to have thrown into the

Tigris seventy hundred-weight of books, written by his own hand during a

period of twenty years.[264]

Sháh El-Karmánee, another celebrated saint, had a beautiful daughter,

whom the Sulṭán of his country sought in marriage. The holy man required

three days to consider his sovereign's proposal, and in the mean time

visited several mosques, in one of which he saw a young man humbly

occupied in prayer. Having waited till he had finished, he accosted him,

saying, "My son, hast thou a wife?" Being answered, "No," he said, "I

have a maiden, a virtuous devotee, who hath learned the whole of the

Ḳur-án, and is amply endowed with beauty. Dost thou desire her?"--"Who,"

said the young man, "will marry me to such a one as thou hast described,

when I possess no more than three dirhems?"--"_I_ will marry thee to

her," answered the saint: "she is my daughter, and I am Sháh the son of

Shujáạ El-Karmánee: give me the dirhems that thou hast, that I may buy a

dirhem's worth of bread, and a dirhem's worth of something savoury, and

a dirhem's worth of perfume." The marriage-contract was performed; but

when the bride came to the young man, she saw a stale cake of bread

placed upon the top of his mug; upon which she put on her izár, and went

out. Her husband said, "Now I perceive that the daughter of Sháh

El-Karmánee is displeased with my poverty." She answered, "I did not

withdraw from fear of poverty, but on account of the weakness of thy

faith, seeing how thou layest by a cake of bread for the morrow."[265]

One of my friends in Cairo, Abu-l-Ḳásim of Geelán, mentioned in a former

note, entertained me with a long relation of the mortifications and

other means which he employed to attain the rank of a welee. These were

chiefly self-denial and a perfect reliance upon Providence. He left his

home in a state of voluntary destitution and complete nudity, to travel

through Persia and the surrounding countries, and yet more distant

regions if necessary, in search of a spiritual guide. For many days he

avoided the habitations of men, fasting from daybreak till sunset, and

then eating nothing but a little grass or a few leaves or wild fruits,

till by degrees he habituated himself to almost total abstinence from

every kind of nourishment. His feet, at first blistered, and cut by

sharp stones, soon became callous; and in proportion to his reduction of

food, his frame, contrary to the common course of nature, became

(according to his own account) more stout and lusty. Bronzed by the sun,

and with his black hair hanging over his shoulders (for he had abjured

the use of the razor), he presented, in his nudity, a wild and frightful

appearance; and on his first approaching a town, was surrounded and

pelted by a crowd of boys; he therefore retreated, and, after the

example of our first parents, made himself a partial covering of leaves;

and this he always after did on similar occasions; never remaining long

enough in a town for his leafy apron to wither. The abodes of mankind he

always passed at a distance, excepting when several days' fast, while

traversing an arid desert, compelled him to obtain a morsel of bread or

a cup of water from the hand of some charitable fellow-creature. One

thing that he particularly dreaded was, to receive relief from a sinful

man, or from a demon in the human form. In passing over a parched and

desolate tract, where for three days he had found nothing to eat, not

even a blade of grass, nor a spring from which to refresh his tongue, he

became overpowered with thirst, and prayed that God would send him a

messenger with a pitcher of water. "But," said he, "let the water be in

a green Baghdáhee pitcher, that I may know it be from Thee, and not from

the Devil; and when I ask the bearer to give me to drink, let him pour

it over my head, that I may not too much gratify my carnal desire."--"I

looked behind me," he continued, "and saw a man bearing a green

Baghdáhee pitcher of water, and said to him, 'Give me to drink;' and he

came up to me, and poured the contents over my head, and departed! By

Allah it was so!"--Rejoicing in this miracle, as a proof of his having

attained to a degree of wiláyeh (or saintship), and refreshed by the

water, he continued his way over the desert, more firm than ever in his

course of self-denial, which, though imperfectly followed, had been the

means of his being thus distinguished. But the burning thirst returned

shortly after, and he felt himself at the point of sinking under it,

when he beheld before him a high hill, with a rivulet running by its

base. To the summit of this hill he determined to ascend, by way of

mortification, before he would taste the water, and this point, with

much difficulty, he reached at the close of the day. Here standing, he

saw approaching, below, a troop of horsemen, who paused at the foot of

the hill, when their chief, who was foremost, called out to him by name,

"O Abu-l-Ḳásim! O Geelánee! Come down and drink!"--but, persuaded by

this that he was Iblees with a troop of his sons, the evil Genii, he

withstood the temptation, and remained stationary until the deceiver

with his attendants had passed on, and were out of sight. The sun had

then set; his thirst had somewhat abated; and he only drank a few drops.

Continuing his wanderings in the desert, he found, upon a pebbly plain,

an old man with a long white beard, who accosted him, asking of what he

was in search. "I am seeking," he answered, "a spiritual guide; and my

heart tells me that thou art the guide I seek." "My son," said the old

man, "thou seest yonder a saint's tomb: it is a place where prayer is

answered: go thither, enter it, and seat thyself: neither eat nor drink

nor sleep; but occupy thyself solely, day and night, in repeating

silently, 'Lá iláha illa-lláh' (There is no deity but God); and

let not any living creature see thy lips move in doing so; for

among the peculiar virtues of these words is this, that they may

be uttered without any motion of the lips. Go, and peace be on

thee."--"Accordingly," said my friend, "I went thither. It was a small

square building, crowned by a cupola; and the door was open. I entered,

and seated myself, facing the niche, and the oblong monument over the

grave. It was evening, and I commenced my silent professions of the

Unity, as directed by my guide; and at dusk I saw a white figure seated

beside me, as if assisting in my devotional task. I stretched forth my

hand to touch it; but found that it was not a material substance; yet

there it was: I saw it distinctly. Encouraged by this vision, I

continued my task for three nights and days without intermission,

neither eating not drinking, yet increasing in strength both of body and

of spirit; and on the third day, I saw written upon the whitewashed

walls of the tomb, and on the ground, and in the air, wherever I turned

my eyes, 'Lá iláha illa-lláh;' and whenever a fly entered the tomb, it

formed these words in its flight. By Allah it was so! My object was now

fully attained: I felt myself endowed with supernatural knowledge:

thoughts of my friends and acquaintances troubled me not; but I knew

where each of them was, in Persia, India, Arabia, and Turkey, and what

each was doing. I experienced an indescribable happiness. This state

lasted several years; but at length I was insensibly enticed back to

worldly objects: I came to this country; my fame as a caligraphist drew

me into the service of the government; and now see what I am, decked

with pelisses and shawls, and with this thing [a diamond order] on my

breast; too old, I fear, to undergo again the self-denial necessary to

restore me to true happiness, though I have almost resolved to make the

attempt."--Soon after this conversation, he was deprived of his office,

and died of the plague. He was well known to have passed several years

as a wandering devotee; and his sufferings, combined with enthusiasm,

perhaps disordered his imagination, and made him believe that he really

saw the strange sights which he described to me; for there was an

appearance of earnestness and sincerity in his manner, such as I thought

could hardly be assumed by a conscious impostor.

Insanity, however, if not of a very violent and dangerous nature, is

commonly regarded by Muslims as a quality that entitles the subject of

it to be esteemed as a saint; being supposed to be the abstraction of

the mind from worldly affairs, and its total devotion to God. This

popular superstition is a fertile source of imposture; for, a reputation

for sanctity being so easily obtained and supported, there are numbers

of persons who lay claim to it from motives of indolence and

licentiousness, eager to receive alms merely for performing the tricks

of madmen, and greedy of indulging in pleasures forbidden by the law;

such indulgences not being considered in their case as transgressions by

the common people, but rather as indications of holy frenzy. From my own

observation I should say that lunatics or idiots, or impostors,

constitute the majority of the persons reputed to be saints among the

Muslims of the present day; and most of those who are not more than

slightly tinged with insanity are darweeshes.

A reputed saint of this description, in Cairo, in whom persons of some

education put great faith, affected to have a particular regard for me.

He several times accosted me in an abrupt manner, acquainted me with the

state of my family in England, and uttered incoherent predictions

respecting me, all of which communications, excepting one which he

qualified with an "in sháa-lláh" (or "if it be the will of God"), I must

confess, proved to be true; but I must also state that he was acquainted

with two of my friends who might have materially assisted him to frame

these predictions, though they protested to me that they had not done

so. The following extract from a journal which I kept in Cairo during my

second visit to Egypt, will convey some idea of this person, who will

serve as a picture of many of his fraternity.--To-day (Nov. 6th, 1834),

as I was sitting in the shop of the Báshà's booksellers, a reputed

saint, whom I have often seen here, came and seated himself by me, and

began, in a series of abrupt sentences, to relate to me various matters

respecting me, past, present, and to come. He is called the sheykh 'Alee

El-Leysee. He is a poor man, supported by alms; tall and thin and very

dark, about thirty years of age, and wears nothing at present but a blue

shirt and a girdle, and a padded red cap. "O Efendee," he said, "thou

hast been very anxious for some days. There is a grain of anxiety

remaining in thee yet. Do not fear. There is a letter coming to thee by

sea, that will bring thee good news." He then proceeded to tell me of

the state of my family, and that all were well excepting one, whom he

particularized by description, and who he stated to be then suffering

from an intermittent fever. [This proved to be exactly true.] "This

affliction," he continued, "may be removed by prayer; and the

excellences of the next night, the night of [_i. e._ preceding] the

first Friday of the month of Regeb, of Regeb, the holy Regeb, are very

great. I wanted to ask thee for something to-day; but I feared: I feared

greatly. Thou must be invested with the wiláyeh [_i. e._ be made a

welee]: the welees love thee; and the Prophet loves thee. Thou must go

to the sheykh Muṣṭafà El-Munádee, and the sheykh El-Baháee.[266] Thou

must be a welee." He then took my right hand, in the manner commonly

practised in the ceremony which admits a person a darweesh, and repeated

the Fáteḥah (commonly pronounced Fát'ḥah);[267] after which he added, "I

have admitted thee my darweesh." Having next told me of several

circumstances relating to my family--matters of an unusual nature--with

singular minuteness and truth, he added, "To-night, if it be the will of

God, thou shalt see the Prophet in thy sleep, and El-Khiḍr and the

seyyid El-Bedawee. This is Regeb, and I wanted to ask of thee--but I

feared--I wanted to ask of thee four piastres, to buy meat and bread and

oil and radishes. Regeb! Regeb! I have great offices to do for thee

to-night."--Less than a shilling for all he promised was little enough:

I gave it him 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, &c. 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; but common 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.[268]--Of reputed saints of this kind, thus writes an

enlightened poet, El-Bedree El-Ḥejázee:--

"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 and body), 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 persevered for 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 a while 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

forbade him 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 visiters, 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[269] 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

hands to 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.[270]--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 every

year. 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 visiter, 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

visiters also often take with them palm-branches, or sprigs of myrtle,

or roses or other flowers, to lay upon the monument, as they do when

they visit the tombs of their relations. The visiter 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 Fát'ḥah)

standing before one or each of its four sides. Some visiters 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 visiter

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

visiter, 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 visiters. 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, employ themselves during the night in performing

zikrs, which consist in repeating the name of God, or the profession of

his unity, &c., 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 sweatmeats, 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 visiters 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

Sultán 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.[271] Some eminent doctors, however, have

contended for the lawfulness of these practices.[272]

Of the various orders of darweeshes, to which so many of the reputed

saints belong, it is unnecessary here to say more than that they differ

chiefly in unimportant regulations and rites, such as particular forms

of prayer, and modes of zikr; that some distinguish themselves by

peculiar dresses; and that a few pursue a wandering life, and subsist on

alms.

NOTE 64. The reason of this strange proceeding is not stated in the

Cairo edition, but it is in the two other editions which I have before

me.

NOTE 65. Arab etiquette requires that a person should sit upon his knees

and feet in the presence of one of much higher rank, or of one to whom

he would pay especial honour. He should also, in these cases, cover his

hands with his sleeves.

NOTE 66. Kunáfeh is a kind of pastry resembling vermicelli, made of

wheat-flour. It is moistened with clarified butter--then baked, and

sweetened with honey or sugar.

NOTE 67. Chess is played somewhat differently in different parts of the

East. The pieces are generally of very simple forms, as the Muslim is

forbidden by his religion to make an image of anything that has life.

NOTE 68. In my original, and in the Breslau edition, the ape is said to

have been the son of the King of the Ebony Islands; but this is a

mistake; for the latter, as before stated, was the father of the lady

who was carried off by Jarjarees.

NOTE 69. The term "leewán" has been explained in No. 12 of the notes to

this chapter.

NOTE 70. This was, and I believe still is, a common battle-cry of the

Arabs, and more commonly used on the occasion of a victory.

NOTE 71. "Dár es-Selám," "the Abode of Peace," or "of Safety," is a name

often given to Baghdád, as it is also to one of the seven stories or

stages of Paradise.

NOTE 72.--_The Mountain of Loadstone._ Several Arab writers describe

this mountain of loadstone. El Ḳazweenee, in his account of minerals,

says that the mine of loadstone is on the shore of the Indian Ocean, and

that if the ships which navigate this sea approach the said mine, and

contain anything of iron, it flies from them like a bird, and adheres to

the mountain; for which reason, it is the general custom to make use of

no iron in the construction of the vessels employed in this

navigation.[273] I think that I have met with a similar story in some

Latin author.

NOTE 73. For an explanation of this term, see what I have said on the

subject of prayer in the first of the notes to the Introduction.

NOTE 74. "Khaṣeeb" signifies "endowed with plenty."

NOTE 75. The remainder of the story of the Third Royal Mendicant is

almost wholly omitted in the Cairo edition. I translate it chiefly from

the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights.

NOTE 76.--_On Dreams._ That Dreams are regarded by the Muslims as being

often true warnings or indications of future events I have mentioned in

a former note. This belief, sanctioned by the Prophet, 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, dreamt,

during the plague above mentioned, that eleven persons were carried out

from his house to be buried, victims of this disease. He awoke in a

state of the greatest 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 foreshewn, 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, and to see if I be dead, and, when dead, that

I be properly buried; for I have no one with me 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 his

experiencing 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

every moment 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 the foot 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.

NOTE 77. "'Ajeeb" signifies "a wonder," or "anything strange or

admirable."

NOTE 78. Blue is the colour of mourning, as before mentioned, in No. 52

of the notes to the second chapter.

NOTE 79. Smearing the face and slapping the cheeks are common practices

of Arab women, especially of the lower orders, on following to the

grave the corpse of a near relation or a husband.

NOTE 80.--_On the_ Rukh'. This fabulous bird is described by many Arab

writers, some of whom assert that it can carry a rhinoceros, while

others ascribe to it powers still more extraordinary. I shall have

occasion to speak of it again in my notes to this work.

NOTE 81. This is explained by No. 30 of the notes to the Introduction.

NOTE 82. I here return to the Cairo edition.

NOTE 83. Some of the incidents described in this story, as the

shipwrecks caused by the image, and the opening of the forbidden closet,

&c., appear to be taken from the romance of Seyf Zu-l-Yezen, of which I

possess a copy, purchased during my second visit to Egypt. This romance,

which has become extremely scarce, is filled with stories of genii and

enchantments of the most extravagant kind. Some of the public

story-tellers in Cairo used, a few years since, to amuse their audiences

by recitations from it. I was not able to discover the period at which

it was composed; but it is said to have been written long before the

Tales of a Thousand and One Nights. I saw once a portion of a copy of

which it appeared, from the hand-writing and the paper, to be three or

four centuries old.

NOTE 84. So in the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights, and

in the edition of Breslau.

NOTE 85. Those decrees which are written with "the Pen" on the

"Preserved Tablet" are believed to be unchangeable. "The Pen" is also

the title of one of the chapters of the Ḳur-án, the 68th.

NOTE 86. In all the copies of the original which I have by me, El-Baṣrah

is said to have been the place to which the lady designed to voyage; but

this is inconsistent with the sequel of the story.

NOTE 87. In the old version, two strange errors occur in the passage

corresponding with this: two words in the original, "nár" and "doon,"

having been mistaken for a proper name; and the word "jebbár," which,

applied to God, signifies "almighty," or rather the "Compeller of his

creatures to do whatsoever He willeth," being taken in the sense of

"giant," which it bears in many other cases.

NOTE 88.--_On Martyrs._ The Mohammadan law distinguishes several

different descriptions of martyrs. This honourable title is given to the

soldier who dies in fighting for the faith, or on his way to do so, or

who dies almost immediately after his having been wounded when so

engaged; to a person who innocently meets with his death from the hand

of another; to a victim of the plague, who does not flee from the

disease, or of dysentery; to a person who is drowned; and to one who is

killed by the falling of a wall or any building. It is said that the

souls of martyrs, after quitting their bodies, reside, until the day of

resurrection, in the crops of green birds, which eat of the fruits, and

drink of the waters, of Paradise. Such we are to consider as the first

and lowest state of felicity to which the young prince in this tale was

introduced as the reward of his virtue.

NOTE 89. The share inherited, according to the law, by the wife, or by

the wives conjointly when there are more than one, is one-eighth of what

remains of the property of the deceased after the discharge of his debts

and legacies, if he have left issue; and one-fourth, if he have left no

issue.

NOTE 90. The Arabs, fond of hyperbole, often thus describe a lofty

building.

NOTE 91.--_On the Magnificence of Arab Palaces, &c._ After remarking

upon the preceding sentence as presenting an instance of Oriental

hyperbole, it may be necessary to inform the reader that he needs not

regard this in the same light. The magnificence of the palaces of

Baghdád in the times of the Khaleefehs almost exceeds belief.

In the beginning of the year of the Flight 305 (June, A.D. 917), two

ambassadors from the Greek Emperor (Constantine IX., Porphyrogenitus)

arrived in Baghdád on a mission to the Khaleefeh El-Muḳtedir, bringing

an abundance of costly presents; and the scenes which they witnessed are

thus described; apparently, however, not without some exaggeration. They

were first received by the Wezeer, who, at the audience which he granted

to them in his garden-palace, displayed on this occasion a degree of

magnificence that had never before been manifested by any of his rank;

pages, memlooks, and soldiers, crowded the avenues and courts of his

mansion, the apartments of which were hung with tapestry of the value of

thirty thousand deenárs; and the Wezeer himself was surrounded by

generals and other officers on his right and left and behind his seat,

when the two ambassadors approached him, dazzled by the splendour that

surrounded them, to beg for an interview with the Khaleefeh.

El-Muḳtedir, having appointed a day on which he would receive them,

ordered that the courts and passages and avenues of his palace should be

filled with armed men, and that all the apartments should be furnished

with the utmost magnificence. A hundred and sixty thousand armed

soldiers were arranged in ranks in the approach to the palace; next to

these were the pages of the closets, and chief eunuchs, clad in silk and

with belts set with jewels, in number seven thousand; four thousand

white, and three thousand black: there were also seven hundred

chamberlains; and beautifully ornamented boats of various kinds were

seen floating upon the Tigris, hard by. The two ambassadors passed first

by the palace of the chief chamberlain, and, astonished at the splendid

ornaments and pages and arms which they there beheld, imagined that this

was the palace of the Khaleefeh; but what they had seen here was

eclipsed by what they beheld in the latter, where they were amazed by

the sight of thirty-eight thousand pieces of tapestry of

gold-embroidered silk brocade, and twenty-two thousand magnificent

carpets. Here also were two menageries of beasts by nature wild, but

tamed by art, and eating from the hands of men: among them were a

hundred lions; each lion with its keeper. They then entered the Palace

of the Tree, enclosing a pond from which rose the Tree: this had

eighteen branches, with leaves of various colours (being artificial),

and with birds of gold and silver (or gilt and silvered) of every

variety of kind and size, perched upon its branches, so constructed that

each of them sang. Thence they passed into the garden, in which were

furniture and utensils not to be enumerated: in the passages leading to

it were suspended ten thousand gilt coats of mail. Being at length

conducted before El-Muḳtedir, they found him seated on a couch of ebony

inlaid with gold and silver, to the right of which were hung nine

necklaces of jewels, and the like to the left, the jewels of which

outshone the light of day. The two ambassadors paused at the distance of

about a hundred cubits from the Khaleefeh, with the interpreter. Having

left the presence, they were conducted through the palace, and were

shewn splendidly-caparisoned elephants, a giraffe, lynxes, and other

beasts. They were then clad with robes of honour, and to each of them

was brought fifty thousand dirhems, together with dresses and other

presents. It is added, that the ambassadors approached the palace

through a street called "the Street of the Menárehs," in which were a

thousand menárehs, or menarets. It was at the hour of noon; and as they

passed, the muëddins from all these menárehs chanted the call to prayer

at the same time, so that the earth almost quaked at the sound, and the

ambassadors were struck with fear.[274]

The Orientals well understand how to give the most striking effect to

the jewels which they display on their dress, &c., on occasions of

state. Sir John Malcolm, describing his reception by the late King of

Persia, says, "His dress baffled all description. The ground of his

robes was white; but he was so covered with jewels of an extraordinary

size, and their splendour, from his being seated where the rays of the

sun played upon them, was so dazzling, that it was impossible to

distinguish the minute parts which combined to give such amazing

brilliancy to his whole figure."[275]

NOTE 92. As this marriage is described as conducted in an irregular

manner, I need say nothing at present of the ceremonies usually

practised on such an occasion.

NOTE 93. Every person who has visited Eastern cities will bear testimony

to the plausibility of this excuse. I have several times been thrown

down by the wide load of a camel in the streets of Cairo, and seen loads

of firewood scraping the houses on both sides of a street at the same

time.

NOTE 94. Women suspected of infidelity to their husbands have not

unfrequently been thus punished in Egypt in modern times, in violation

of the law.

NOTE 95. "Saạd" signifies "happiness," or "prosperity," and also

"happy," or "prosperous."

NOTE 96. Pity is of more important service to the Muslim after death

than during life; for the prayers which it inspires increase his

happiness in futurity, or diminish his misery.

NOTE 97. This allusion to religious faith is peculiarly apt in the mouth

of a Muslim; for the chief dogma of his creed is the denial of any

partnership in the Divine essence. He calls persons of all other

religions "mushriks," or those who attribute partners to God.

NOTE 98. In the original, she is here called an 'Efreeteh, which is an

improper term.

NOTE 99. This salutation and its reply are only to be given by and to

Muslims.

NOTE 100. It is implied by this ejaculation that the two ladies were

admirable beauties, evidences of the perfection of their Creator.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

[175] See Ḳur-án, ch. ii. v. 96.

[176] See Ḳur-án, ch. ii. v. 96.

[177] El-Ḳazweenee, account of the well of Bábil, in "'Ajáïb

el-Makhlooḳát."

[178] Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 339.

[179] De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i. pp. 125-131,

Arabic text, 2nd ed.

[180] 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, as signifying "wine," because it bears also the

meaning of "a dark bay horse."

[181] 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."

[182] Ch. ii. v. 216.

[183] Ch. iv. v. 46.

[184] Leviticus, ch. x. v. 9.

[185] Ḳur-án, ch. v. v. 92.

[186] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. ix.

[187] Idem, khátimeh, or conclusion.

[188] Ibid.

[189] Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i.

p. 23, Arabic text, 2nd ed.

[190] "While tears of blood trickle from the strainer, the ewer

beneath it giggles." (Eṣ-Ṣadr Ibn-El-Wekeel, quoted in the

Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xiii.)--The strainer is called "ráwooḳ."

[191] The Moḥtesib is inspector of the markets, the weights and

measures, and provisions, &c.

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

[193] In Arabic, "báṭiyeh."

[194] "Baṭṭah."

[195] "Ḳinneeneh."

[196] "Ibreeḳs."

[197] 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."

[198] "Nuḳuldáns."

[199] "Nuḳl."

[200] "Belaḥ."

[201] "Ruṭab."

[202] Es-Suyooṭee, account of the fruits of Egypt, in his

history of that country (MS. in my possession)

[203] Ibid.

[204] Es-Suyooṭee, account of the fruits of Egypt, in his

history of that country (MS. in my possession).

[205] El-Ḳazweenee (MS. in my possession).

[206] "Jummár."

[207] "Biṭṭeekh," vulg., "baṭṭeekh."

[208] El-Ḳazweenee.

[209] "Móz."

[210] Es-Suyooṭee, _ubi suprà_.

[211] "Rummán".

[212] Es-Suyooṭee, _ubi suprà_.

[213] The Arabic names of these fruits are, tuffáḥ (vulg.,

tiffáḥ), kummetrè, safarjal, mishmish, khókh, teen, jummeyz

(vulg., jemmeyz), 'eneb, nabḳ or sidr, 'onnáb (vulg., 'annáb),

ijjás or barḳooḳ, józ, lóz, bunduḳ, fustuḳ, burtuḳán, nárinj,

leymoon, utrujj or turunj and kebbád, toot, zeytoon, and ḳaṣab

es-sukkar.

[214] "Ward."

[215] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xvii.; and Es-Suyooṭee, account of

the flowers of Egypt, in his history of that country.

[216] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xvii.

[217] Ibid.

[218] Ibid.

[219] Ibid.

[220] Es-Suyooṭee, _ubi suprà_.

[221] The night of the Ascension.

[222] Gabriel, who accompanied the Prophet.

[223] The beast on which he rode from Mekkeh to Jerusalem

previously to his ascension. These traditions are from

Es-Suyooṭee, _ubi suprà_.

[224] This flower is called "fághiyeh," and, more commonly,

"temer el-ḥennè;" or, according to some, the fághiyeh is the

flower produced by a slip of temer el-ḥennè planted upside

down, and superior to the flower of the latter planted in the

natural way.

[225] Es-Suyooṭee, _ubi suprà_.

[226] "Benefsej."

[227] Es-Suyootee.

[228] "Ás," or "narseen."

[229] Es-Suyooṭee.

[230] "Shaḳáïḳ." The "adhriyoon," or "ádharyoon," is said to be

a variety of the anemone.

[231] From the former, or from "noạmán" as signifying "blood,"

the anemone was named "shaḳáïḳ en-noạmán."

[232] "Menthoor," or "kheeree."

[233] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xvii.

[234] "Narjis."

[235] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, _ubi suprà_; Es-Suyooṭee, _ubi suprà_;

and El-Ḳazweenee.

[236] The Arabic names of these flowers are, yásemeen, nisreen,

zahr (or zahr nárinj), soosan, reeḥán (or ḥabaḳ), nemám, bahár,

uḳ-howán, neelófar, beshneen, jullanár or julnár, khashkhásh,

khiṭmee, zaạfarán, 'oṣfur, kettán, báḳillà and lebláb, and lóz.

[237] "Bán," and "khiláf" or "khaláf." Both these names are

applied to the same tree (which, according to Forskal, differs

slightly from the salix Ægyptiaca of Linnæus) by the author of

the Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, and by the modern Egyptians.

[238] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xiv.

[239] Idem, ch. xi.

[240] Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, vol. ii. p. 425.

[241] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xiv.

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

[243] This is so vaguely described by the Arab lexicographers

that I cannot obtain a definite notion of its form.

[244] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, _loco laudato_.

[245] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. xiv.

[246] He was born in the year of the Flight 125, and died in

213, or, according to some, 188.--Abulfedæ Annales, vol. ii.

pp. 150 and 675.

[247] He was born in the year of the Flight 150, and died in

235.--Idem, adnot., pp. 691 et seq.; and Mir-át ez-Zemán,

events of the year 235.

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

year.

[249] I believe this Khaleefeh was El-Ma-moon.

[250] A quarter in Baghdád.

[251] That is, "My master."--ED.

[252] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, ch. vii.

[253] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil wa-Murshid el-Mutaähhil.

[254] El-Maḳreezee, in De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i.

p. 265, 2nd ed.

[255] Ibid.

[256] El-Maḳreezee, in his "Khiṭaṭ," and his history of the

Memlook Sulṭáns, translated by Quatremère; El-Is-ḥáḳee; and

D'Ohsson, Tableau Général de l'Empire Othoman.

[257] D'Ohsson (vol. i. pp. 315 and 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.

[258] It is said that "the Nuḳabà are three hundred; the

Nujabà, seventy; the Abdál, forty; the Akhyár, seven; the

'Omud, four; the Ghós [as before mentioned,] is one. The Nuḳabà

reside in El-Gharb [Northern Africa to the west of Egypt]; the

Nujabà, 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 Nuḳabà implore

relief for the people; then, the Nujabà; 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-Is-ḥáḳee'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 the year above mentioned.)

[259] 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-Geelánee, the seyyid Aḥmad

El-Bedawee, and the seyyid Ibráheem Ed-Dasooḳee, the founders

of the four orders of darweeshes most celebrated among the

Arabs, called Rifá'eeyeh, Ḳádireeyeh, Aḥmedeeyeh, and

Baráhimeh.

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

1188.

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

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

[263] Idem, events of the year 218.

[264] Idem, events of the year 334.

[265] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, &c., sect. 4.

[266] These are two very celebrated welees.

[267] The opening chapter of the Ḳur-án.

[268] El-Jabartee's History, vol. iii., events of the month of

Shaạbán, 1215 (A.D. 1800-1801).

[269] Singers of religious odes.

[270] 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.

[271] El-Is-ḥáḳee, reign of El-Mutawekkil.

[272] De Sacy's Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i. pp. 122, 123, 2nd.

ed.

[273] "'Ajáïb el-Makhlooḳát."

[274] Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year above mentioned.

[275] Sketches of Persia, vol. ii. p. 129.