Arabian Society In The Middle Ages Part 3

[49] ?ur. xxvii. 17; x.x.xviii. 35.

[50] Modern Egyptians, ch. x.

[51] Ibid.

[52] El-?azweenee.

[53] El-Ja?iz ('Amr Ibn-Ba?r).

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

[55] El-?azweenee.

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

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

[58] El-?azweenee, and Mir-at ez-Zeman.

[59] El-?azweenee. In my MS. of Ibn-El-Wardee, I find the name written "Dahlan." He mentions an island called by this name, in the Sea of 'Oman; and describes its inhabitants as cannibal Shey?ans, like men in form, and riding on birds resembling ostriches. There is also an inferior cla.s.s of the Jinn, termed El-Ghowwa?ah, that is, the Divers or Plungers in the seas.

[60] El-?azweenee, in the khatimeh [or epilogue] of his work.

[61] Mir-at ez-Zeman.

[62] Ibn-El-Wardee.

[63] Idem.

CHAPTER III.

SAINTS.

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

Muslim Saints and devotees are known by the common appellation of Welees, or particular favourites of G.o.d. The more eminent among them compose a mysterious hierarchical body, whose government respects the whole human race, infidels as well as believers, but whose power is often exercised in such a manner that the subjects influenced by it know not from what person or persons its effects proceed. The general governor or coryphaeus of these holy beings is commonly called the ?u?b, 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 ?u?b of the saints is distinguished by other appellations: he is called ?u?b el-Ghos, or ?u?b el-Ghoth (the ?u?b of Invocation for Help), etc.; and simply, El-Ghos.[64] The orders under the rule of this chief are called 'Omud (or Owtad), Akhyar, Abdal, Nujaba, and Nu?aba: I name them according to their precedence.[65] Perhaps to these should be added an inferior order called A??ab ed-Darak, _i.e._ "Watchmen," or "Overseers." The members are not known as such to their inferior unenlightened fellow-creatures, and are often invisible to them. This is more frequently the case with the ?u?b, who, though generally stationed at Mekkeh, on the roof of the Ka?beh, 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 astonis.h.i.+ng miracles, such as flying in the air, pa.s.sing unhurt through fire, swallowing fire, gla.s.s, etc., walking upon water, transporting themselves in a moment of time to immense distances, and supplying themselves and others with food in desert places. Their supernatural power they are supposed to obtain by a life of the most exalted piety, and especially by constant self-denial, accompanied with the most implicit reliance upon G.o.d, by the services of good genii, and, as many believe, by the knowledge and utterance of "the most great name" of G.o.d.

A miracle performed by a saint is distinguished by the term "karameh"

from one performed by a prophet, which is called "mo?jizeh."

El-Khi?r and Ilyas (Elias), are both believed to have been ?u?bs, and the latter is called in the ?ur-an 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 Ilyas is commonly believed to invest the successive ?u?bs. The similarity of the miracles ascribed to the ?u?bs to those performed by Elias or Elijah, I have remarked in a former work.[66] Another miracle, reminding us of the mantle of Elijah in the hands of his successor, may here be mentioned.--A saint who was the ?u?b of his time, dying at Tunis, left his clothes in trust to his attendant, Mo?ammad El-Ashwam, a native of the neighbouring regency of Tripoli, who desired to sell these relics, but was counselled to retain them, and accordingly, though high prices were bidden for them, made them his own by purchase. As soon as they became his property, he was affected, we are told, with a divine ecstasy, and endowed with miraculous powers.[67]

Innumerable miracles are related to have been performed by Muslim saints, and large volumes are filled with the histories of their wonderful lives. The author of the work from which the above story is taken, mentions, as a fact to be relied on, in an account of one of his ancestors, that, his lamp happening to go out one night while he was reading alone in the riwa? 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 na?eeb had trimmed and lighted another lamp.[68]

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, Ibraheem El-Khowwa?.--"I entered the desert [on pilgrimage to Mekkeh from El-'Ira?], 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d and that Mo?ammad is G.o.d's Apostle: the other, that I said, O G.o.d, 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-Ma?la." "And G.o.d," says the author from whom I take this story, "is all-knowing:" _i.e._ He alone knoweth whether it be strictly true: but this is often added to the narration of traditions resting upon high authority.[69]

The saint above mentioned was called "El-Khowwa?" (or the maker of palm-leaf baskets, etc.) from the following circ.u.mstance, 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 [?uffehs], and to throw them into the river, for my amus.e.m.e.nt, as if I were obliged to do so. My time was so pa.s.sed for many days: at length, one day, I thought I would walk after the baskets, and see whither they had gone: so I proceeded awhile along the bank of the river, and found an old woman sitting sorrowful. On that day I had made nothing. I said to her, 'Wherefore do I see thee sorrowful?' She answered, 'I am a widow: my husband died leaving five daughters, and nothing to maintain them; and it is my custom to repair every day to this river, and there come to me, upon the surface of the water, five baskets, which I sell, and by means of them I procure food; but to-day they have not come, and I know not what to do.' Upon hearing this, I raised my head towards heaven, and said, 'O my G.o.d, had I known that I had more than five children to maintain, I had laboured more diligently.'" He then took the old woman to his house, and gave her money and flour, and said to her, "Whenever thou wantest anything, come hither and take what may suffice thee."[70]

An irresistible influence has often been exercised over the minds of princes and other great men by reputed saints. Many a Muslim Monarch has thus been incited (as the Kings of Christendom were by Peter the Hermit) to undertake religious wars, or urged to acts of piety and charity, or restrained from tyranny, by threats of Divine vengeance to be called down upon his head by the imprecations of a welee. 'Alee, the favourite son of the Khaleefeh El-Ma-moon, was induced for the sake of religion to flee from the splendour and luxuries of his father's court, and after the example of a self-denying devotee to follow the occupation of a porter in a state of the most abject poverty at El-Ba?rah, fasting all the day, remaining without sleep at night in a mosque, and walking barefooted, until, under an acc.u.mulation 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 Baghdad.[71]

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

Shah El-Karmanee, another celebrated saint, had a beautiful daughter, whom the Sul?an 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 ?ur-an, 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 Shah the son of Shuja? El-Karmanee: 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 izar, and went out. Her husband said, "Now I perceive that the daughter of Shah El-Karmanee is displeased with my poverty." She answered, "I did not withdraw from fear of poverty, but on account of the weakness of thy faith, seeing how thou layest by a cake of bread for the morrow."[73]

One of my friends in Cairo, Abu-l-?asim of Jeelan, 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 dest.i.tution 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 gra.s.s 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 l.u.s.ty. Bronzed by the sun, and with his black hair hanging over his shoulders (for he had abjured the use of the razor), he presented in his nudity a wild and frightful appearance, and on his first approaching a town, was surrounded and pelted by a crowd of boys; he therefore retreated, and, after the example of our first parents, made himself a partial covering of leaves; and this he always afterwards did on similar occasions, never remaining long enough in a town for his leafy ap.r.o.n to wither. The abodes of mankind he always pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sing over a parched and desolate tract, where for three days he had found nothing to eat, not even a blade of gra.s.s, nor a spring from which to refresh his tongue, he became overpowered with thirst, and prayed that G.o.d would send him a messenger with a pitcher of water. "But," said he, "let the water be in a green Baghdadee pitcher, that I may know it to be from Thee, and not from the Devil; and when I ask the bearer to give me to drink, let him pour it over my head, that I may not too much gratify my carnal desire."--"I looked behind me," he continued, "and saw a man bearing a green Baghdadee 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 wilayeh (or saints.h.i.+p), and refreshed by the water, he continued his way over the desert, more firm than ever in his course of self-denial, which, though imperfectly followed, had been the means of his being thus distinguished. But the burning thirst returned shortly after, and he felt himself at the point of sinking under it, when he beheld before him a high hill, with a rivulet running by its base. To the summit of this hill he determined to ascend, by way of mortification, before he would taste the water, and this point, with much difficulty, he reached at the close of day. Here standing, he saw approaching, below, a troop of hors.e.m.e.n, who paused at the foot of the hill, when their chief, who was foremost, called out to him by name, "O Abu-l-?asim! O Jeelanee! 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 pa.s.sed 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, 'La ilaha illa-llah' (There is no deity but G.o.d); 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 a.s.sisting 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 nor drinking, yet increasing in strength both of body and of spirit; and on the third day, I saw written upon the whitewashed walls of the tomb, and on the ground, and in the air, wherever I turned my eyes, 'La ilaha illa-llah;' and whenever a fly entered the tomb, it formed these words in its flight. By Allah it was so! My object was now fully attained: I felt myself endowed with supernatural knowledge: thoughts of my friends and acquaintances troubled me not; but I knew where each one of them was, in Persia, India, Arabia, and Turkey, and what each was doing. I experienced an indescribable happiness. This state lasted several years; but at length I was insensibly enticed back to worldly objects: I came to this country; my fame as a calligraphist drew me into the service of the government; and now see what I am, decked with pelisses and shawls, and with this thing [a diamond order] on my breast; too old, I fear, to undergo again the self-denial necessary to restore me to true happiness, though I have almost resolved to make the attempt."

Soon after this conversation, he was deprived of his office, and died of the plague. He was well known to have pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sumed by a conscious impostor.

Insanity, however, if not of a very violent and dangerous nature, is commonly regarded by Muslims as a quality that ent.i.tles 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 G.o.d. This popular superst.i.tion is a fertile source of imposture; for, a reputation for sanct.i.ty 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, const.i.tute 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 shaa-llah" (or "if it be the will of G.o.d"), 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 a.s.sisted him to frame these predictions, though they protested to me that they had not done so. The following extract from a journal which I kept in Cairo during my last visit to Egypt, will convey some idea of this person, who will serve as a picture of many of his fraternity.--To-day (Nov. 6th, 1834), as I was sitting in the shop of the Pasha's booksellers, a reputed saint, whom I have often seen here, came and seated himself by me, and began, in a series of abrupt sentences, to relate to me various matters respecting me, past, present, and to come. He is called the sheykh 'Alee el-Leythee. He is a poor man, supported by alms; tall and thin and very dark, about thirty years of age, and wears nothing at present but a blue s.h.i.+rt 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 Rejeb, of Rejeb, the holy Rejeb, are very great.

I wanted to ask thee for something to-day; but I feared, I feared greatly. Thou must be invested with the wilayeh [_i.e._ be made a welee]: the welees love thee, and the Prophet loves thee. Thou must go to the sheykh Mu??afa El-Munadee and the sheykh El-Bahaee.[74]

Thou must be a welee." He then took my right hand, in the manner commonly practised in the ceremony which admits a person a darweesh, and repeated the Fati?ah; after which he added, "I have admitted thee my darweesh." Having next told me of several circ.u.mstances relating to my family--matters of an unusual nature--with singular minuteness and truth, he added, "To-night, if it be the will of G.o.d, thou shalt see the Prophet in thy sleep, and El-Khi?r and the Seyyid El-Bedawee. This is Rejeb, and I wanted to ask thee--but I feared--I wanted to ask of thee four piasters, to buy meat and bread and oil and radishes. Rejeb! Rejeb!

I have great offices to do for thee to-night."

Less than a s.h.i.+lling 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 Mo?ammad, nor El-Khi?r, nor the Seyyid El-Bedawee, unless, like Nebuchadnezzar, I was unable on awaking to remember my dreams.

Some reputed saints of the more respectable cla.s.s, 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 dil?) 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 gla.s.s, fire, serpents, etc. Some of those who are insane, and of those who feign to be so, go about, even in crowded cities, in a state of perfect nudity, and are allowed to commit with impunity acts of brutal sensuality which the law, when appealed to, should punish with death. Such practices are forbidden by the religion and law even in the cases of saints; but common and deeply-rooted superst.i.tion prevents their punishment.

During the occupation of Egypt by the French, the Commander-in-chief, Menou, applied to the sheykhs (or 'Ulama) 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 wilayeh, 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 Maristan (or hospital and lunatic asylum); and if not insane, to compel him either to relinquish his disgusting habits, or to leave the city.[75]

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

"Would that I had not lived to see every fool esteemed among men as a ?u?b!

Their learned men take him as a patron, nay, even as Lord, in place of the Possessor of Heaven's throne.

Forgetting G.o.d, 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 Rabee?

eth-Thanee, 1214). A brief history of this person will not be here misplaced, as it will present a good ill.u.s.tration 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 s.h.i.+rt 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 izar (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 ?areems, 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 pa.s.sing through the market-streets, s.n.a.t.c.hed 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.