On the following day, the last and chief day of the festival, the mosque of the Hasaneyn and its neighbourhood were much more thronged than on the days previous; and in every sook, and before every wekáleh, and even before the doors of most private houses of the middle and higher classes of Muslims throughout the city, lamps were hung, to be lighted in the ensuing night, the night of the Moolid. The number of beggars in the streets this day, imploring alms for the sake of “seyyidna-l-Hoseyn,” was surprising: sitting for about an hour in the afternoon at a shop in the main street, I was quite wearied with saying, “God help thee!” “God sustain thee!” etc. Almost all the inhabitants of the metropolis seemed to be in the streets; and almost all the Turks residing here appeared to be congregated in the neighbourhood of the Hasaneyn. This was the grand day for visiting the shrine of El-Hoseyn: it is believed that the Prophet is present there all this day and the ensuing night, witnessing his followers’ pious visits to his grandson. Yet most of the great people prefer going on the preceding day, or on any of the days of the festival but the last, on account of the excessive crowding on this day: I, however, went on this occasion for the very reason that deterred them. I entered the kubbeh a little before sunset; and was surprised to find a way made for me to advance easily to the shrine. A servant of the mosque placed me before the door of the maksoorah; dictated to me the same recitals as on the day of ’A′shoora; and gave me a handful of the bread of the seyyid El-Bedawee; consisting of fourteen of the little balls into which it is formed. But no sooner was this done than I was squeezed till I was almost breathless by applicants for presents. The man who had dictated the prayer to me asked me for his present (a piaster); another said, “I have recited the chapter of Yá-Seen for thee, O A′gha:” a third, “O Efendee, I am a servant of the maksoorah:” most of the others were common beggars. I saw now that the Turks had good reason to prefer another day. The more importunate of those to whom nothing was due followed me through the crowd in the mosque, and into the street: for I had given away all that I had in my pocket, and more than was customary. I was invited to seat myself on the mastab′ah of a shop opposite the mosque, to deliver myself from their jostling. In the mosque I saw nothing to remark but crowding and confusion, and swarms of beggars; men, women, and children. In the evening the mosque was still crowded to excess; and no ceremonies were performed there but visiting the shrine, recitations of the Kur-án, and two or three zikrs. The streets were then more crowded than ever, till long after midnight; and the illuminations gave them a very gay appearance. The Góhargeeyeh (or jewellers’ bázár) was illuminated with a great profusion of chandeliers, and curtained over. The mád’nehs of the larger mosques were also illuminated. Many shops were open besides those at which eatables, coffee, and sherbet were sold; and in some of them were seated fikees (two or more together) reciting khatmehs (or the whole of the Kur-án). There were Shá’ers, Mohaddits, Musicians, and Singers, in various places, as on the former nights.
In about the middle of “Regeb”[[547]] (the seventh month) is celebrated the Moolid of the “seyyideh Zeyneb,” the daughter of the Imám ’Alee, and grand-daughter of the Prophet; always on the eve of a Wednesday. The festival generally commences two weeks before: the principal day is the last, or Tuesday. The scene of the festivities is the neighbourhood of the mosque in which the seyyideh is commonly believed to be buried; a gaudily ornamented, but not very handsome building, in the south-western quarter of the metropolis.[[548]] The supposed tomb, over which is an oblong monument, covered with embroidered silk, and surrounded by a bronze screen, with a wooden canopy, similar to those of El-Hoseyn, is in a small but lofty apartment of the mosque, crowned by a dome. Into this apartment, on the occasion of the Moolid, visitors are admitted to pray and perform their circuits round the monument. I have just been to visit it, on the last or great day of the festival. In a street near the mosque I saw several Reciters of Aboo-Zeyd, Háwees, Kureydátees, and Dancers, and a few swings and whirligigs. In the mosque, the prayer usual on such occasions, after the Fát’hah, was dictated to me; and I received two of the little balls of the bread of the seyyid El-Bedawee. The door of the sacred enclosure was open; but I had been told that only women were allowed to enter, it being regarded in the same light as a hareem: so I contented myself with making the circuit; which, owing to the crowding of the visitors, and there being but a very narrow space between three sides of the bronze enclosure and the walls of the apartment, was rather difficult to accomplish. A respectable-looking woman, in a state which rendered it rather dangerous for her to be present in such a crowded place, cried out to me to make room for her with a coarseness of language common to Arab females. Many persons there begged me to employ them to recite a chapter of the Kur-án for the seyyideh, urging the proposal with the prayer of “God give thee thy desire!” for the visitors to the tombs or cenotaphs of saints generally have some special petition to offer. There was a group of blind paupers sitting on the floor, and soliciting alms. The mats were removed throughout the mosque, and only idle loungers were to be seen there. On going out, I was importuned by a number of hemalees and sakkas to give them money to distribute water for the sake of “the daughter of Imám.” It is customary to give a few faddahs to one or more servants of the maksoorah; and to a fikee, to recite a chapter; and also to the beggars in the mosque; and to one of the hemalees or sakkas. The chief ceremonies performed in the mosque in the evenings were zikrs. Each evening of the festival, darweeshes of one or more orders repaired thither.
The night or eve of the twenty-seventh of Regeb is the anniversary of the “Leylet el-Mearág,” or the night of the Prophet’s miraculous ascension to heaven; in commemoration of which a festival is celebrated in a part of the northern suburb of Cairo, outside the gate called Báb El-’Adawee. For three days before, the Sheykh El-Bekree entertains numerous persons in a house belonging to him in this quarter; and zikrs are performed there in his house. In addition to the amusement afforded in the streets by Háwees, Reciters of Aboo-Zeyd, etc., as on similar festivals, the public witness on this occasion that extraordinary performance called the “Dóseh,” which I have described in my account of the Moolid en-Nebee. This is performed in a short, but rather wide street of the suburb above mentioned, in front of the mosque of a saint called Et-Tashtooshee, on the twenty-sixth day of the month, which is the last and chief day of the festival. I have just been one of its spectators. The day being Friday, the Sheykh of the Saadeeyeh (the only person who is believed to be able to perform this reputed miracle) had to fulfil his usual duty of praying and preaching in the mosque of the Hasaneyn, at noon. From that mosque he rode in procession to the scene of the Dóseh, preceded by a long train of his darweeshes, with their banners, and some with the little drums which they often use. I was at this spot a little after midday, and took my place on a mastab′ah which extends along the foot of the front of the mosque of Et-Tashtooshee.
While sitting here, and amusing myself with observing the crowds attracted by the same curiosity that brought me hither, a reputed saint, who, a few days ago, begged of me a few piasters to feed some fakeers on this occasion, passed by, and, seeing me, came and sat down by my side. To pass away the time during which we had to wait before the Dóseh, he related to me a tale connected with the cause of the festivities of this day. A certain Sultán,[[549]] he said, had openly ridiculed the story of the Mearág; asserting it to be impossible that the Prophet could have got out of his bed by night, have been carried[carried] from Mekkeh to Jerusalem by the beast Burák, have ascended thence with the angel to the Seventh Heaven, and returned to Jerusalem and Mekkeh, and found his bed still warm. He was playing at chess one day with his Wezeer, when the saint Et-Tashtooshee came in to him, and asked to be allowed to play with him; making this condition, that the Sultán, if overcome, should do what the saint should order. The proposal was accepted. The Sultán lost the game; and was ordered by the saint to plunge in a tank of water. He did so; and found himself in a magnificent palace, and converted into a woman of great beauty, with long hair, and every female attraction. He, or now she, was married to the son of a king; gave birth to three children successively, and then returned to the tank, and, emerging from it, informed the Wezeer of what had happened to him. The saint reminding him, now, of his incredulity on the subject of the Mearág, he declared his belief in the miracle, and became an orthodox Muslim. Hence, the festival of the Mearág is always celebrated in the neighbourhood of the mosque in which Et-Tashtooshee is buried; and his Moolid is celebrated at the same time.
Not long after the above tale was finished, an hour and a quarter after mid-day, the procession of the Sheykh es-Saadeeyeh arrived. The foremost persons, chiefly his own darweeshes, apparently considerably more than a hundred (but I found it impossible to count them), were laid down in the street, as close as possible together, in the same manner as at the Moolid en-Nebee. They incessantly repeated the word “Alláh!” A number of darweeshes, most with their shoes off, ran over them; several beating their little drums; some carrying the black flags of the order of the Rifá’ees (the parent order of the Saadees); and two carrying a “sháleesh” (a pole about twenty feet in length, like a large flag-staff, the chief banner of the Saadeeyeh, with a large conical ornament of brass on the top): then came the sheykh, on the same grey horse that he rode at the Moolid en-Nebee: he was dressed in a light-blue pelisse, lined with ermine, and wore a black, or almost black, mukleh; which is a large, formal turban, peculiar to persons of religious and learned professions. He rode over the prostrate men, mumbling all the while. Two persons led his horse; and they, also, trod upon the prostrate men; sometimes on the legs, and on the heads. Once the horse pranced and curveted, and nearly trod upon several heads: he passed over the men with a high and hard pace. The sheykh entered the house of the Sheykh El-Bekree, before mentioned, adjoining the mosque. None of the men who were ridden over appeared to be hurt, and many got up laughing: but one appeared to be “melboos,” or overcome by excitement; and, though he did not put his hand to his back, as if injured by the tread of the horse, seemed near fainting; and tears rolled down his face. It is possible, however, that this man was hurt by the horse, and that he endeavoured to conceal the cause.
After the Dóseh, my friend the saint insisted on my coming to his house, which was near by, with three fikees. He conducted us to a small upper room, furnished with an old carpet and cushions. Here the three fikees sat down with me, and recited the Fát’hah together, in a very loud voice. Then one of them chanted about half of the second chapter of the Kur-án, very musically: another finished it. Our host afterwards brought a stool, and placed upon it a tray with three large dishes of “’eysh bilahm.” This is minced meat, fried with butter, and seasoned with some taheeneh (or sesame from which oil has been pressed), vinegar, and chopped onions; then put upon cakes of leavened dough, and baked. To this meal I sat down, with the three fikees, our host waiting upon us. A fourth fikee came in, and joined us at dinner. After we had eaten, the fikees recited the Fát’hah for the host, and then for myself, and went away. I soon after followed their example.
On the Leylet el-Mearág, between two and three hours after sunset, the Sheykh El-Bekree returns in procession, preceded by numerous persons bearing mesh’als, and by a number of darweeshes, to his house in the Ezbekeeyeh. During this night, the mád’nehs of the larger mosques are illuminated.
On the first or second Wednesday in “Shaabán” (the eighth month), generally on the former day, unless that be the first or second day of the month, the celebration of the Moolid of the “Imám Esh-Sháfe’ee” commences. It ends on the eve of the Thursday in the next week. The great cemetery called the Karáfeh, in the desert tract on the south of the metropolis, where the Imám is buried, and the southern part of the town, are the scenes of the festivities. As this Imám was the founder of the sect to which most of the people of Cairo belong, his Moolid attracts many visitors. The festivities are similar to those of other great Moolids. On the Saturday before the last or chief day, the ceremony of the Dóseh is performed. On the last day, Wednesday, the visitors are most numerous; and during the ensuing night, zikrs, etc., are performed in the sepulchral mosque of the Imám. Above the dome of this mosque, upon its point, is fixed a metal boat, in which there used to be placed, on the occasion of the Moolid, an ardebb (or about five bushels) of wheat, and a camel-load of water for the birds. The boat is said to turn sometimes when there is no wind to move it, and, according to the position which it takes, to foretoken various events, good and evil; such as plenty or scarcity, the death of some great man, etc.
Several other Moolids follow that of the Imám; but those already described are the most famous; and the ceremonies of all are nearly the same.
The “Night of the Middle of Shaabán,” or “Leylet en-Nusf min Shaabán,” which is the night of the fifteenth (that is preceding the fifteenth day) of that month, is held in great reverence by the Muslims, as the period when the fate of every living man is confirmed for the ensuing year. The Sidr (or lote-tree) of Paradise, which is more commonly called Shegeret el-Muntah′a (or the Tree of the Extremity), probably for several reasons, but chiefly (as is generally supposed) because it is said to be at the extremity,[[550]] or on the most elevated spot, in Paradise, is believed to have as many leaves as there are living human beings in the world; and the leaves are said to be inscribed with the names of all those beings; each leaf bearing the name of one person, and those of his father and mother. The tree, we are taught, is shaken on the night above mentioned, a little after sunset; and when a person is destined to die in the ensuing year, his leaf, upon which his name is written, falls on this occasion: if he be to die very soon, his leaf is almost wholly withered, a very small portion only remaining green: if he be to die later in the year, a larger portion remains green: according to the time he has yet to live, so is the proportion of the part of the leaf yet green. This, therefore, is a very awful night to the serious and considerate Muslims; who, accordingly, observe it with solemnity and earnest prayer. A particular form of prayer is used on the occasion, immediately after the ordinary evening-prayers which are said soon after sunset. Those who are able recite it without being prompted to do so; and generally in a mosque: others assemble in the mosques for this purpose, and hire a fikee to assist them; and many fikees, therefore, resort to the mosques to perform this office. Each fikee officiates for a group of persons. He first recites the “Soorat Yá-Seen”[Yá-Seen”] (or 36th chapter of the Kur-án); and then, raising his hands before his face, as in the ordinary supplications, and the other worshippers doing the same, he recites the “do’a” (or prayer); repeating one, two, three, or more words, which the others then repeat after him. The prayer is as follows.—“O God! O Thou Gracious! and who art not an object of grace! O Thou Lord of Dignity and Honour, and of Beneficence and Favour! There is no deity but Thou, the Support of those who seek to Thee for refuge, and the Helper of those who have recourse to Thee for help, and the Trust of those who fear! O God, if Thou have recorded me in Thy abode, upon the ‘Original of the Book,’[[551]] miserable, or unfortunate, or scanted in my sustenance, cancel, O God, of Thy goodness, my misery, and misfortune, and scanty allowance of sustenance, and confirm me in thy abode, upon the Original of the Book, as happy, and provided for, and directed to good: for Thou hast said (and Thy saying is true) in Thy Book revealed by the tongue of Thy commissioned Prophet, ‘God will cancel what He pleaseth, and confirm; and with Him is the Original of the Book.’[[552]] O my God! by the very great revelation [which is made] on the night of the middle of the month of Shaabán the honoured, ‘in which every determined decree is dispensed’[[553]] and confirmed, remove from me whatever affliction I know, and what I know not, and what Thou best knowest; for Thou art the most Mighty, the most Bountiful. And favour, O God, our lord Mohammed, the Illiterate[[554]] Prophet, and his Family and Companions, and preserve them.”—After having repeated this prayer, the worshippers offer up any private supplication.