LETTER XXXI.
The use of periodical stated times of devotion is universally admitted, and the necessity of adopting them makes a part of the Christian Code. The Mahomedan Religion, however, exceeds it far in the rigid attention to, and frequency of, devotion. There are no less than five stated times of prayer in every twenty-four hours, fixed as indispensable, at none of which a true Believer fails; and the fervency of their praying exceeds even the frequency. I have heard it asserted, that if the house was to take fire while they are at their devotion, they would not break off; and so rigidly intent do they conceive it their duty to be during the time of prayer, that if in the midst of it they were interrupted by a fit of sneezing or coughing, they consider all already done as gone for nothing, and always begin them again.—And to tell a truth of them, if the Christians curse them, they are pretty even with them in return, never failing to pray for discord, enmity, and dissension among their enemies, as well as health and prosperity to themselves; and to the efficacy of those prayers they fondly attribute all the wars and dissensions which incessantly harass Christendom. A bell tolls as a public notice of prayer; and when a true Mahomedan hears it, let him be where he will, whether at home or abroad, in the highway or in the market, be the place dirty or clean, wet or dry, he immediately falls down and worships.
As subsidiary to prayer they have their ablutions, in which they are full as scrupulously punctual as in their prayers. One is preparatory to prayer, another after cohabitation with women, a third before eating, and another again incidental. Those they never neglect to perform, unless some insuperable obstacle lies in the way. Charity, that most glorious doctrine of any Religion, is enjoined by the Koran under the most heavy denunciation of heavenly vengeance, in case of neglect; and by it they are charged to regard no bounds in liberality to the poor. Many Mussulmen in their zeal to discharge this duty have given a fourth, many a third, and some one half of their property. Nay, the instances are not infrequent of men giving away their all, and living afterwards themselves upon alms. To do strict justice it must be said, that poverty is no where so respectfully attended to, honoured, or reverenced, as among the Mahomedans; who have a saying among them, “that the fear of want is a mark of the judgment of God.”
Abstinence is considered as a virtue among them, and very strictly enjoined as a religious duty. The great Fast appointed by the Koran continues for the month of Ramedan, during which time they neither eat, drink, nor converse with their wives, from sun-rise till the stars appear, or the lamps are hung out at the Mosques. Any man who breaks it is punished with death; but the worst of it is, that they will not allow even travellers, the sick or the wounded, to plead a right to exemption: some of the Turks, however, and all the Christians, have hit upon expedients to pass the month without much mortification; that is, sleeping in bed all day, and sitting up and carousing all night, to evade the restraint.
The last and greatest ordinance of their religion is the pilgrimage to Mecca, which when once accomplished is supposed to be a direct passport to Heaven; and there are few of them who do not at one time or other of their lives take that painful and hazardous journey. As this is a very interesting journey, however, to travel in the closet, as it includes the description of a caravan, and serves to shew to what extremities enthusiasm can influence men, I will give you a description of it as handed to me by a very accurate and ingenious person, on whose precise veracity I can rely; first making some remarks upon the preceding part of this letter.
You will observe from what I have already said, that, excepting the mere points of religious faith, the moral ordinances of Mahomedanism comprehend most of those parts of the Christian religion, on the practice of which the reputation of piety is founded; and that for strict obedience to those ordinances the Mahomedans are more remarkable than we are. Adultery is not frequent among them; wine is seldom or never used; theft is little known; so is murder. Then in the practical parts of devotion, there are in the first place prayers; secondly, abstinence or fasting; thirdly, charity. Those are all Christian doctrines, more zealously observed by them than by us. Their ablutions are at least no injury to the cause of morality or piety; but rather, being done as a religious exercise, serve to keep up the series of intercourse which should subsist between the Creature and his Creator: besides, I cannot help thinking with our inimitable poet Thomson, that
——-from the body’s purity, the mind
Receives a secret sympathetic aid.
Seasons—Summer.
And as to the pilgrimage to Mecca, however irrational it may appear to us, it is at least recommended by sincerity and zeal, and is doubtless in the eye of an all-seeing Providence meritorious. He, we are to suppose, will judge not by the value of the act but the purity of the motive; and will accept it as the offering of a frail, blind mortal, bending in obedience to that which he conceives to be the will of Heaven. Besides, for the life of me I cannot see why a pilgrimage to Mecca is at all more culpable than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; not to mention the thousand other holy places to which well-meaning Christians go, for their soul’s sake, at imminent hazard of their lives, and certain mortification and hardship to their bodies.
Banish, then, my Frederick! banish from your heart all illiberal and uncharitable prejudices, if any have yet found their way to it. Revere and cling to your Religion as the best and most conducive to eternal and temporal happiness; and the more good because it enjoins us to be charitable even to the Jews as well as to the Gentiles: but never think that you advance the cause of that Religion, or do service to your God, by waging war against your fellow-creatures for opinions they can no more help entertaining than you can help having yours, or by denouncing against them that eternal sentence which rests with the Almighty alone to judge of or to pronounce.
To a benevolent mind the animosities of mankind present a most afflicting picture; and the frivolous pretexts upon which those animosities are grounded render it only the more horrible. One would think that the substantial traffic of life, and the struggle of mankind for the superfluities of it, of themselves afforded ample materials for scuffle, without resorting to the shadows of speculation for contention. Yet experience has shewn us that opinion is a much more copious source of animosity and warfare; and that for one man who has been cursed, murdered, or destroyed by his fellow-creatures in a contest for property, there are a thousand who have fallen sacrifices to the vengeance of hostile opinion:
Ταρασσει τους ανθρωπους ου τα πραγματα, αλλα τα περι των πραγματων δογματα.
Were it possible that I could obtain from the bounty of Heaven a grant of the first wish of my heart, that wish should be to see all mankind in harmony and mutual good will, ranging without distinction under the one great name of Man and Brother. As those who foment the disunion between them are the most pernicious monsters of society, so he who endeavours to bring them one step nearer to a general accommodation of sentiment, who strives to inculcate the principles of mutual toleration, and encourage the growth of reciprocal affection between men as fellow beings, may be justly ranked among the best friends of mankind, and the most faithful servants of Him who gave being to all.
Among the gross misrepresentations of which I complain, and which for the sake of mankind I lament, is that general falsehood, the infidelity of the Turkish women. The respectable author whom I have before taken the freedom of quoting, I mean Dr. Russel, declares that in twenty years residence at Aleppo, he did not remember a public instance of adultery; and that in the private walks of scandal those he heard of were among the lowest class, and did not in number exceed a dozen. “In respect to the Franks (continues he) the undertaking is attended not only with such risk to the individual, but may in its consequences so seriously involve the whole settlement, that it is either never attempted, or is concealed with a secrecy unexampled in other matters. I have reason to believe that European travellers have sometimes had a Greek courtesan imposed on them for a Sultana; and after having been heartily frightened, have been induced to pay smartly, in order to preserve a secret which the day after was known to half the sisterhood in town.” He remarks, however, that at Constantinople the state of gallantry is different.
On the subject of the Turkish moral character, I have endeavoured to be as concise as justice would allow me to be; and yet I find that I have gone to some length. I cannot however dismiss it without giving you a trait to which the most obstinate polemical prejudice, and the most inveterate hatred, must in spite of them pay the tribute of applause. Their treatment to their slaves is beyond all example among us humane, tender, and generous, and such as may well bring a blush in the faces of Christian dealers in human flesh. When young slaves, male or female, are bought by a Turk, they seem to be introduced into the family rather in the condition of an adopted child; they receive the same education, perform nearly the same offices, and are bound to no greater marks of respect than their master’s own children—and in fact feel none of the galling circumstances of a state of servility; the very worst treatment they ever receive is to be put on a footing with the menial domestics, or ordered to the same duty as a valet or a page. It often happens, on the other hand, that they are married into the family, and very frequently are promoted to high offices in the State. If they adopt the Religion of their masters, it is always spontaneously; and even to slaves taken in war, no compulsion is used to make then change their Faith.
The following is the best description I am able to give you of an Eastern Caravan. It exactly coincides with my own observations, and with the various accounts I have had from others. I owe it, as well as the account of the proceedings of the pilgrims at Mecca, to the kind offices of a friend, who took the pains to procure them for me.
DESCRIPTION OF A CARAVAN.
Inclosed in the preceding Letter.
A caravan, which is so often mentioned in the history and description of the East, and in all the tales and stories of those countries, is an assemblage of travellers, partly pilgrims, partly merchants, who collect together in order to consolidate a sufficient force to protect them, in travelling through the hideous wilds and burning deserts over which they are constrained to pass for commercial and other purposes; those wilds being infested with Arabs, who make a profession of pillage, and rob in most formidable bodies, some almost as large as small armies. As the collection of such a number requires time, and the embodying of them is a serious concern, it is concerted with great care and preparation, and is never attempted without the permission of the Prince in whose dominions it is to be formed, and of those also through whose dominions it is to pass, expressed in writing. The exact number of men and carriages, mules, horses, and other beasts of burthen, are specified in the license; and the merchants to whom the caravan belongs, regulate and direct every thing appertaining to its government and police during the journey, and appoint the various officers necessary for conducting it.
Each caravan has four principal officers: the first, the Caravanbachi, or head of the caravan; the second, the Captain of the march; the third, the Captain of the stop or rest; and the fourth, the Captain of the distribution. The first has the uncontroulable authority and command over all the others, and gives them his orders: the second is absolute during the march; but his authority immediately ceases on the stopping or encamping of the caravan, when the third assumes his share of the authority, and exerts it during the time of its remaining at rest: and the fourth orders the disposition of every part of the caravan, in case of an attack or battle. This last officer has also during the march the inspection and direction of the distribution of provisions, which is conducted under his management by several inferior officers, who are obliged to give security to the master of the caravan; each of them having the care of a certain number of men, elephants, dromedaries, camels, &c. &c. which they undertake to conduct and furnish with provisions at their own risque, according to an agreement stipulated between them.
A fifth officer of the caravan is the pay-master or treasurer, who has under him a great many clerks and interpreters, appointed to keep accurate journals of all the material incidents that occur upon the journey. And it is by these journals, signed by the superior officers, that the owners of the caravan judge whether they have been well or ill served or conducted.
Another kind of officers are the Mathematicians, without whom no caravan will presume to set out. There are commonly three of them attached to a caravan of large size; and they perform the offices both of quarter-masters and aides-de-camp, leading the troops when the caravan is attacked, and assigning the quarters where the caravan is appointed to encamp.
There are no less than five distinct sorts of caravans: first, the heavy caravans, which are composed of elephants, dromedaries, camels, and horses; secondly, the light caravans, which have but few elephants; thirdly, the common caravans, where there are none of those animals; fourthly, the horse caravans, where there are neither dromedaries nor camels; and lastly, sea caravans, consisting of vessels; from whence you will observe that the word caravan is not confined to the land, but extends to the water also.
The proportion observed in the heavy caravan is as follows: When there are five hundred elephants, they add a thousand dromedaries and two thousand horses at the least; and then the escort is composed of four thousand men on horseback. Two men are required for leading one elephant, five for three dromedaries, and seven for eleven camels. This multitude of servants, together with the officers and passengers, whose number is uncertain, serve to support the escort in case of a fight, and render the caravan more formidable and secure. The passengers are not absolutely obliged to fight; but according to the laws and usages of the caravans, if they refuse to do so, they are not entitled to any provisions whatever from the caravan, even though they should agree to pay an extravagant price for them.
Every elephant is mounted by what they call a Nick; that is to say, a young lad of nine or ten years old, brought up to the business, who drives the elephant, and pricks it with a pointed iron to animate it in the fight: the same lad also loads the fire-arms of the two soldiers who mount the elephant with him.
The day of the caravan setting out being once fixed, is never altered or postponed; so that no disappointment can possibly ensue to any one.
One would suppose that so enormous and powerful a body, so well armed, might be certain of moving forward without fear of being robbed; but as most of the Arabian Princes have no other means to subsist but by their robberies, they keep spies in all parts, who give them notice when the caravans set out, which they way-lay; and sometimes attack with superior force, overpower them, plunder them of all their treasure, and make slaves of the whole convoy—foreigners excepted, to whom they generally shew more mercy. If they are repulsed, they generally come to some agreement; the conditions of which are pretty well observed, especially if the assailants are native Arabians. The carrying on of robberies with such armies may appear astonishing; but when the temptation is considered, and when it is known that one caravan only is sometimes enough to enrich those Princes, much of our surprise vanishes.
They are obliged to use great precautions to prevent the caravan from introducing that dreadful distemper, the plague, into the places through which they pass, or from being themselves infected with it. When therefore they arrive near a town, the inhabitants of the town and the people of the caravan hold a solemn conference concerning the state of their health, and very sincerely communicate to each other the state of the case, candidly informing each other whether there be danger on either side.—When there is reason to suspect any contagious distemper, they amicably agree that no communication whatever shall take place between them; and if the caravan stands in need of provisions, they are conveyed to them with the utmost caution over the walls of the town.
The fatigues, hardships, and hazards, attending those caravans, are so great, that they certainly would never be undertaken, if the amazing profits did not in some measure counterbalance them.—The merchant who travels in them must be content with such provisions as he can get, must part with all his delicacies, and give up all hope of ease; he must submit to the frightful confusion of languages and nations; the fatigues of long marches over sands, and under a climate almost sufficiently hot to reduce him to a cinder: he must submit cheerfully to exorbitant duties fraudulently levied, and audacious robberies and subtle tricks practised by the herd of vagabonds who follow the caravans—for preventing which, the merchants have a variety of well contrived locks, that can only be opened by those who know the knack of them.
But in some tracks of caravans there are dangers, and horrible ones, against which no human foresight or power can provide, and beneath which whole caravans sink, and are never after heard of.
The Egyptian caravans are particularly subject to hazards in the horrid tracks they are necessarily obliged to take through sandy deserts, where, for boundless extents, nature has denied one single circumstance of favour; where a blade of grass never grew, nor a drop of water ever ran; where the scorching fire of the sun has banished the kindly influence of the other elements; where, for several days journey, no object meets the eye to guide the parched traveller in his way; and where the casual track of one caravan is closed by the moving sands, before another can come to take advantage of it. In those vast plains of burning sands, if the guide should happen to lose his way, the provision of water, so necessary to carry them to the place where they are to find more, must infallibly fail them: in such a case the mules and horses die with fatigue and thirst; and even the camels, notwithstanding their extraordinary power to subsist without water, soon perish in the same manner, together with the people of the caravan, wandering in those frightful deserts.
But more dreadful still, and still more inevitable, is the danger when a south wind happens to rise in those sandy deserts. The least mischief it occasions is, to dry up the leathern bags which contain the provision of water for the journey. This wind, to which the Arabs give the epithet of poisoned, often stifles in a moment those who have the misfortune to meet it; to prevent which, they are obliged to throw themselves immediately on the ground, putting their faces close to the burning sands which surround them on all sides, and covering their mouths with some linen cloth, lest by breathing they should swallow instantaneous death, which this wind carries with it wherever it extends.—Besides which, whole caravans are often buried under moving hills of burning sand, raised by the agitation of the winds.
All those horrors and dangers are so exquisitely described by our charming bard Thomson, that I cannot refrain from transcribing the passage, as bringing them more immediately home to the understanding and the heart, than volumes of common description could do.
———— Breathed hot
From all the boundless furnace of the sky,
And the wide glittering waste of burning sand,
A suffocating wind the pilgrim smites
With instant death. Patient of thirst and toil,
Son of the Desert! even the camel feels,
Shot through his withered heart, the fiery blast.
Or from the black-red ether bursting broad
Sallies the sudden whirlwind. Straight the sands,
Commov’d around, in gathering eddies play;
Nearer and nearer still they darkening come;
Till, with the general all-involving storm
Swept up, the whole continuous wilds arise;
And by their noon-day fount dejected thrown,
Or sunk at night in sad disastrous sleep
Beneath descending hills, the caravan
Is buried deep. In Cairo’s crowded streets
Th’ impatient Merchant wondering waits in vain,
And Mecca saddens at the long delay.————
Yet, notwithstanding all those horrible circumstances of terror and danger—trade, and the desire of gain, on the one hand, induce multitudes of people to run the hazard:
Impiger extremos currit Mercator ad Indos,
Per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignes.
Horace.
And on the other hand, enthusiasm and religious zeal send thousands to tempt their fate, and take a passage to Heaven through those horrid regions. Thus we see in what various ways delusion operates.—The Merchant might find a livelihood, and the Bigot his way to divine favour, just as well by staying within the confines of their own native home.
ACCOUNT OF THE CEREMONIES OBSERVED BY PILGRIMS
ON THEIR ARRIVAL AT MECCA.
The caravans are generally so ordered as to arrive at Mecca about forty days after the Fast of Ramedan, and immediately previous to the Corban, or Great Sacrifice. Five or six days before that Festival, the three great caravans, viz. that from Europe, that from Asia Minor, and that from Arabia, unite; and all, consisting of about two hundred thousand men, and three hundred thousand beasts of burthen, encamp at some miles from Mecca. The pilgrims form themselves into small detachments, and enter the town to arrange the ceremonies preparatory to the Great Sacrifice. They are led through a street of continual ascent, till they arrive at a gate on an eminence, called the Gate of Health. From thence they see the great Mosque which incloses the House of Abraham. They salute it with the most profound respect and devotion, repeating twice, “Salam Alek Irusoul Allah!” that is to say, “Peace be with the Ambassador of God!” Thence, at some distance, they mount five steps to a large platform faced with stone, where they offer up their prayers; they then descend on the other side of it, and advance towards two arches, of the same kind of dimensions, but at some distance from each other, through which they pass with great silence and devotion. This ceremony must be performed seven times.
From hence proceeding to the great Mosque which incloses the House of Abraham, they enter the Mosque, and walk seven times round the little building contained within it, saying, “This is the House of God, and of his servant Abraham.” Then kissing with great veneration a black stone, said to have descended white from Heaven, they go to the famous Well called Zun Zun, which the Angel shewed to Hagar when she was distressed in the desert, and could find no water for her son Ishmael, and which the Arabs call Zem Zem. Into this Well they plunge with all their clothes, repeating “Toba Alla, Toba Alla!” that is to say, “Forgiveness, God! Forgiveness, God!” They then drink a draught of that fœtid, turbid water, and depart.
The duty of bathing and drinking they are obliged to pass through once; but those who would gain Paradise before the others, must repeat it once a day during the stay of the Caravan at Mecca.
At fifteen miles from the town of Mecca there is a hill called “Ghiabal Arafata,” or “the Mount of Forgiveness.” It is about two miles in circumference—a most delicious spot. On it Adam and Eve met, after the Lord had, for their transgressions, separated them forty years. Here they cohabited and lived in excess of happiness, having built a house on it, called “Beith Adam,” that is to say, “the House of Adam.” On the eve of the day of Sacrifice, the three caravans, ranged in a triangular form, surround this mountain—during the whole night the people rejoice, clamour and riot—firing off cannon, muskets, pistols, and fire-works, with an incessant sound of drums and trumpets. As soon as day breaks, a profound silence succeeds—they slay their sheep and offer up their sacrifice on the mountain with every demonstration of the most profound devotion.
On a sudden a Scheik (or Head of a Temple), a kind of Prelate, rushes from amidst them, mounted on a camel—he ascends five steps, rendered practicable for the purpose, and in a studied sermon preaches thus to the people:
“Return praise and thanks for the infinite and immense benefits granted by God to Mahomedans, through the mediation of his most beloved friend and prophet, Mahomet: for that he has delivered them from the slavery and bondage of sin and idolatry, in which they were plunged; has given them the House of Abraham, from whence they can be heard, and their petitions granted; also the Mountain of forgiveness, by which they can implore Him, and obtain a pardon and remission of all their sins.
“For that the blessed, pious, and merciful God, giver of all good gifts, commanded his secretary, Abraham, to build himself a house at Mecca, whence his descendants might pray to the Almighty, and their desires be fulfilled.
“On this command all the mountains in the world ran, as it were, each ambitious to assist the Secretary of the Lord, and to furnish a stone towards erecting the holy house; all, except this poor little Mountain, which, through mere indigence, could not contribute a stone. It continued therefore thirty years grievously afflicted: at length the Eternal GOD observed its anguish, and, moved with pity at its long suffering, broke forth, saying, I can forbear no longer, my child! your bitter lamentations have reached my ears; and I now declare, that all those who go to visit the house of my friend Abraham shall not be absolved of their sins, if they do not first reverence you, and celebrate on you the holy Sacrifice, which I have enjoined my people through the mouth of my prophet Mahomet! Love God! Pray! Give Alms!”
After this sermon the people salute the Mountain, and depart.