The women of Egypt, and particularly of Cairo, entertain some curious superstitions respecting the first ten days of Moharram. They believe that “ginn” (or genii) visit some people by night during this period; and say that, on this occasion, a ginnee appears sometimes in the form of a sakka (or water-carrier), and sometimes in that of a mule. In the former case the mysterious visitor is called “sakka el-’ashr” (or “the water-carrier of the ’ashr”); in the latter, “baghlet el-’ashr” (“the mule of the ’ashr”). When the ginnee, they say, comes in the form of a sakka, he knocks at the chamber-door of a person sleeping, who asks, “Who is there?” The ginnee answers, “I, the sakka; where shall I empty [the skin]?” The person within, as sakkas do not come at night, knows who his visitor is, and says, “Empty into the water-jar;” and, going out afterwards, finds the jar full of gold.—The ginnee in the form of a mule is described in a more remarkable manner. He bears a pair of saddle-bags filled with gold; a dead man’s head is placed upon his back, and round his neck is hung a string of little round bells, which he shakes at the door of the chamber of the person whom he comes to enrich. This person comes out, takes off the dead man’s head, empties the saddle-bags of their valuable contents, then fills them with straw or bran or anything else, replaces them, and says to the mule, “Go, O blessed!”—Such are the modes in which the good genii pay their zekah. During the first ten days of Moharram, many an ignorant woman ejaculates this petition: “O my Lord, send me the water-carrier of the ’ashr!” or, “Send me the mule of the ’ashr!” The men, in general, laugh at these superstitions.
Some of the people of Cairo say that a party of genii, in the forms and garbs of ordinary mortals, used to hold a midnight “sook” (or market) during the first ten days of Moharram, in a street called Es-Saleebeh, in the southern part of the metropolis, before an ancient sarcophagus, which was called “el-Hód el-Marsood” (or “the Enchanted Trough”). This sarcophagus was in a recess under a flight of steps leading up to the door of a mosque adjacent to the old palace called Kal’at el-Kebsh: it was removed by the French during their occupation of Egypt, and is now in the British Museum. Since its removal, the sook of the genii, it is said, has been discontinued. Very few persons, I am told, were aware of this custom of the genii. Whoever happened to pass through the street where they were assembled and bought anything of them, whether dates or other fruit, cakes, bread, etc., immediately after found his purchase converted into gold.
The tenth day of Moharram is called “Yóm ’A′shoora.” It is held sacred on many accounts: because it is believed to be the day on which the first meeting of Adam and Eve took place after they were cast out of Paradise; and that on which Noah went out from the ark; also, because several other great events are said to have happened on this day; and because the ancient Arabs, before the time of the Prophet, observed it by fasting. But what, in the opinion of most modern Muslims, and especially the Persians, confers the greatest sanctity on the day of ’A′shoora, is the fact of its being that on which El-Hoseyn, the Prophet’s grandson, was slain, a martyr, at the battle of the plain of Karbal′a. Many Muslims fast on this day, and some also on the day preceding.
As I am now writing on the day of ’A′shoora, I shall mention the customs peculiar to it which I have witnessed on the present occasion.—I had to provide myself with a number of five-faddah pieces before I went out this day for the alms of the ’ashr, already mentioned. In the streets of the town I saw many young children, from about three to six or seven years of age, chiefly girls, walking about alone, or two or three together, or carried by women, and begging these alms.—In the course of the morning, a small group of blind fakeers, one of whom bore a half-furled red flag, with the names of El-Hoseyn and other worthies worked upon it in white, stopped in the street before my door, and chanted a petition for an alms. One of them began, “O thou who hast alms to bestow on the blessed day of ’A′shoora!”—the others then continued, in chorus, “A couple of grains of wheat! A couple of grains of rice! O Hasan! O Hoseyn!” The same words were repeated by them several times. As soon as they had received a small piece of money, they passed on, and then performed the same chant before other houses, but only where appearances led them to expect a reward. Numerous groups of fakeers go about the town in different quarters during this day, soliciting alms in the same manner.
On my paying a visit to a friend a little before noon, a dish, which it is the custom of the people of Cairo to prepare on the day of ’A′shoora, was set before me. It is called “hoboob,” and is prepared with wheat steeped in water for two or three days, then freed from the husks, boiled, and sweetened over the fire with honey or treacle; or it is composed of rice instead of wheat: generally, nuts, almonds, raisins, etc., are added to it. In most houses this dish is prepared, or sweetmeats of various kinds are procured or made, in accordance with one of the traditions of the Prophet; which is—“Whoso giveth plenty to his household on the day of ’A’shoora, God will bestow plenty upon him throughout the remainder of the year.”
After the call to noon-prayers, I went to the mosque of the Hasaneyn, which, being the reputed burial-place of the head of the martyr El-Hoseyn, is the scene of the most remarkable of the ceremonies that, in Cairo, distinguish the day of ’A′shoora. The avenues to this mosque, near the Kádee’s court, were thronged with passengers; and in them I saw several groups of dancing-girls (Gházeeyehs); some dancing, and others, sitting in a ring in the public thoroughfare, eating their dinner, and (with the exclamation of “bi-smi-llah!”) inviting each well-dressed man who passed by to eat with them. One of them struggled hard with me to prevent my passing without giving them a present. The sight of these unveiled girls, some of them very handsome, and with their dress alluringly disposed to display to advantage their fine forms, was but ill calculated to prepare men who passed by them for witnessing religious ceremonies; but so it is, that, on the occasions of all the great religious festivals in Cairo, and at many other towns in Egypt, these female warrers against modesty (not always seductive, I must confess) are sure to be seen. On my way to the mosque, I had occasion to rid myself of some of the small coins which I had provided, to give them to children. My next occasion for disbursing was on arriving before the mosque, when several water-carriers, of the class who supply passengers in the streets, surrounded me; I gave two of them twenty faddahs, for which each of them was to distribute the contents of the earthen vessel which he bore on his back to poor passengers, for the sake of “our lord El-Hoseyn.”
On entering the mosque, I was much surprised at the scene which presented itself in the great hall, or portico. This, which is the principal part of the mosque, was crowded with visitors, mostly women of the middle and lower orders, with many children; and there was a confusion of noises like what may be heard in a large schoolroom where several hundred boys are engaged in play: there were children bawling and crying, men and women calling to each other, and, amid all this bustle, mothers and children were importuning every man of respectable appearance for the alms of the ’ashr. Seldom have I witnessed a scene more unlike that which the interior of a mosque generally presents; and in this instance I was the more surprised, as the Gámë’ el-Hasaneyn is the most sacred of all the mosques in Cairo. The mats which are usually spread upon the pavement had been removed; some pieces of old matting were put in their stead, leaving many parts of the floor uncovered; and these, and every part, were covered with dust and dirt brought in by the feet of many shoeless persons: for on this occasion, as it is impossible to perform the ordinary prayers in the mosque, people enter without having performed the usual ablution, and without repairing first to the tank to do this; though every person takes off his, or her, shoes, as at other times, on entering the mosque, many leaving them, as I did mine, with a door-keeper. Several parts of the floor were wetted (by children too young to be conscious of the sanctity of the place); and though I avoided these parts, I had not been many minutes in the mosque before my feet were almost black with the dirt upon which I had trodden, and with that from other persons’ feet which had trodden upon mine. The heat, too, was very oppressive; like that of a vapour-bath, but more heavy; though there is a very large square aperture in the roof, with a malkaf[[520]] of equal width over it, to introduce the northern breezes. The pulpit-stairs and the gallery of the muballigheen were crowded with women; and in the assemblage below the women were far more numerous than the men. Why this should be the case I know not, unless it be because the women are more superstitious, and have a greater respect for the day of ’A’shoora, and a greater desire to honour El-Hoseyn by visiting his shrine on this day.
It is commonly said by the people of Cairo, that no man goes to the mosque of the Hasaneyn on the day of ’A’shoora but for the sake of the women; that is, to be jostled among them; and this jostling he may indeed enjoy to the utmost of his desire, as I experienced in pressing forward to witness the principal ceremonies which contribute with the sanctity of the day to attract such swarms of people. By the back-wall, to the right of the pulpit, were seated, in two rows, face to face, about fifty darweeshes, of various orders. They had not yet begun their performances, or “zikrs,” in concert; but one old darweesh, standing between the two rows, was performing a zikr alone, repeating the name of God (Alláh), and bowing his head each time that he uttered the word, alternately to the right and left. In pushing forward to see them, I found myself in a situation rather odd in a country where it is deemed improper for a man even to touch a woman who is not his wife or slave or a near relation. I was so compressed in the midst of four women, that, for some minutes, I could not move in any direction, and pressed so hard against one young woman, face to face, that, but for her veil, our cheeks had been almost in contact: from her panting, it seemed that the situation was not quite easy to her; though a smile, expressed at the same time by her large black eyes, showed that it was amusing: she could not, however, bear it long, for she soon cried out, “My eye![[521]] do not squeeze me so violently.” Another woman called out to me, “O Efendee! by thy head! push on to the front, and make way for me to follow thee.” With considerable difficulty I attained the desired place, but in getting thither I had almost lost my sword and the hanging sleeves of my jacket: some person’s dress had caught the guard of the sword, and had nearly drawn the blade from the scabbard before I could get hold of the hilt. Like all around me, I was in a profuse perspiration.
The darweeshes I found to be of different nations, as well as of different orders. Some of them wore the ordinary turban and dress of Egypt; others wore the Turkish ká-ook, or padded cap; and others, again, wore high caps, or tartoors, mostly of the sugar-loaf shape. One of them had a white cap of the form last mentioned, upon which were worked, in black letters, invocations to the first four Khaleefehs, to El-Hasan and El-Hoseyn, and to other eminent saints, founders of different orders of darweeshes.[[522]] Most of the darweeshes were Egyptians; but there were among them many Turks and Persians. I had not waited many minutes before they began their exercises. Several of them first drove back the surrounding crowd with sticks; but as no stick was raised at me, I did not retire so far as I ought to have done; and before I was aware of what the darweeshes were about to do, forty of them, with extended arms and joined hands, had formed a large ring, in which I found myself enclosed. For a moment I felt half inclined to remain where I was, and join in the zikr; bow, and repeat the name of God; but another moment’s reflection on the absurdity of the performance, and the risk of my being discovered to be no darweesh, decided me otherwise; so, parting the hands of two of the darweeshes, I passed outside the ring. The darweeshes who formed the large ring (which enclosed four of the marble columns of the portico) now commenced their zikr, exclaiming over and over again, “Alláh!” and, at each exclamation, bowing the head and body, and taking a step to the right; so that the whole ring moved rapidly round. As soon as they commenced this exercise, another darweesh, a Turk, of the order of Mowlawees, in the middle of the circle, began to whirl; using both his feet to effect the motion, and extending his arms: the motion increased in velocity until his dress spread out like an umbrella. He continued whirling thus for about ten minutes, after which he bowed to his superior, who stood within the great ring; and then, without showing any signs of fatigue or giddiness, joined the darweeshes in the great ring; who had now begun to ejaculate the name of God with greater vehemence, and to jump to the right, instead of stepping. After the whirling, six other darweeshes, within the great ring, formed another ring, but a very small one; each placing his arms upon the shoulders of those next him; and thus disposed, they performed a revolution similar to that of the larger ring, excepting in being much more rapid; repeating, also, the same exclamation of “Alláh!” but with a rapidity proportionably greater. This motion they maintained for about the same length of time that the whirling of the single darweesh before had occupied; after which the whole party sat down to rest.—They rose again after the lapse of about a quarter of an hour; and performed the same exercise a second time.—I saw nothing more in the great portico that was worthy of remark, excepting two fakeers (who, a bystander told me, were “megázeeb,” or idiots), dancing, and repeating the name of God, and each beating a tambourine.
I was desirous of visiting the shrine of El-Hoseyn on this anniversary of his death, and of seeing if any particular ceremonies were performed there on this occasion. With difficulty I pushed through the crowd in the great portico to the door of the saloon of the tomb; but there I found comparatively few persons collected[collected]. On my entering, one of the servants of the mosque conducted me to an unoccupied corner of the bronze screen which surrounds the monument over the place where the martyr’s head is said to be buried, that I might there recite the Fát’hah: this duty performed, he dictated to me the following prayer; pausing after every two or three words, for me to repeat them, which I affected to do; and another person, who stood on my left, saying “A’meen” (or Amen), at the close of each pause. “O God, accept my visit, and perform my want, and cause me to attain my wish; for I come with desire and intent, and urge Thee by the seyyideh Zeyneb, and the Imám Esh-Sháfe’ee, and the Sultán Aboo-So’ood.”[[523]] After this followed similar words in Turkish; which were added in the supposition that I was a Turk, and perhaps did not understand the former words in Arabic. This short supplication has been often dictated to me at the tombs of saints in Cairo on festival days. On the occasion above described, before I proceeded to make the usual circuit round the screen which encloses the monument, I gave to the person who dictated the prayer a small piece of money, and he, in return, presented me with four little balls of bread, each about the size of a hazelnut. This was consecrated bread, made of very fine flour at the tomb of the seyyid Ahmad El-Bedawee; and brought hither, as it is to several saints’ tombs in Cairo on occasions of general visiting, to be given to the more respectable of the visitors. It is called “’Eysh es-seyyid El-Bedawee.” Many persons in Egypt keep a little piece of it (that is, one of the little balls into which it is formed) constantly in the pocket, as a charm; others eat it, as a valuable remedy against any disorder, or as a preventive of disease.