On the first three days of “Showwál” (the tenth month, the next after Ramadán) is celebrated the minor of the two grand festivals which are ordained, by the religion of the Muslims, to be observed with general rejoicing. It is commonly called “el-’Eed es-Sugheiyir;” but more properly “el-’Eed es-Sagheer.”[[562]] The expiration of the fast of Ramadán is the occasion of this festival. Soon after sunrise on the first day, the people having all dressed in new or in their best clothes, the men assemble in the mosques, and perform the prayers of two rek’ahs, a sunneh ordinance of the ’eed; after which, the Khateeb delivers an exhortation. Friends, meeting in the mosque, or in the street, or in each other’s houses, congratulate and embrace and kiss each other. They generally visit each other for this purpose. Some, even of the lower classes, dress themselves entirely in a new suit of clothes; and almost every one wears something new, if it be only a pair of shoes. The servant is presented with one or more new articles of clothing by the master, and receives a few piasters from each of his master’s friends, if they visit the house; or even goes to those friends, to congratulate them, and receives his present: if he have served a former master, he also visits him, and is in like manner rewarded for his trouble; and sometimes he brings a present of a dish of “kahk” (or sweet cakes), and obtains, in return, money of twice the value, or more. On the days of this ’eed, most of the people of Cairo eat “feseekh” (or salted fish) and “kahks,” “fateerehs” (or thin, folded pancakes), and “shureyks” (a kind of bun). Some families also prepare a dish called “mumezzezeh,” consisting of stewed meat, with onions, and a quantity of treacle, vinegar, and coarse flour; and the master usually procures dried fruits (“nukl”), such as nuts, raisins, etc., for his family. Most of the shops in the metropolis are closed, excepting those at which eatables and sherbet are sold; but the streets present a gay appearance, from the crowds of passengers in their holiday-clothes.
On one or more days of this festival, some or all of the members of most families, but chiefly the women, visit the tombs of their relatives. This they also do on the occasion of the other grand festival, of which an account will be given hereafter. The visitors, or their servants, carry palm-branches, and sometimes sweet basil (“reehán”), to lay upon the tomb which they go to visit. The palm-branch is broken into several pieces, and these, or the leaves only, are placed on the tomb. Numerous groups of women are seen on these occasions, bearing palm-branches, on their way to the cemeteries in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. They are also provided, according to their circumstances, with kahks, shureyks, fateerehs, bread, dates, or some other kind of food, to distribute to the poor who resort to the burial-grounds on these days. Sometimes tents are pitched for them: the tent surrounds the tomb which is the object of the visit.[[563]] The visitors recite the Fát’hah; or, if they can afford it, employ a person to recite first the Soorat Yá-Seen, or a larger portion of the Kur-án. Often a khatmeh (or recital of the whole of the Kur-án) is performed at the tomb, or in the house, by several fikees. The men generally return immediately after these rites have been performed, and the fragments or leaves of the palm-branch laid on the tomb: the women usually go to the tomb early in the morning, and do not return until the afternoon: some of them (but these are not generally esteemed women of correct conduct), if they have a tent, pass the night in it, and remain until the end of the festival, or until the afternoon of the following Friday: so also do the women of a family possessed of a private, enclosed burial-ground, with a house within it; for there are many such enclosures, and not a few with houses for the accommodation of the females, in the midst of the public cemeteries of Cairo. Intrigues are said to be not uncommon with the females who spend the night in tents among the tombs. The great cemetery of Báb en-Nasr, in the desert tract immediately on the north of the metropolis, presents a remarkable scene on the two ’eeds. In a part next the city-gate from which the burial-ground takes its name, many swings and whirligigs are erected, and several large tents; in some of which, dancers, reciters of Aboo-Zeyd, and other performers, amuse a dense crowd of spectators; and throughout the burial ground are seen numerous tents for the reception of the visitors of the tombs.
About two or three days after the ’eed above described, the “Kisweh,” or covering of the Kaabeh, which is sent annually with the great caravan of pilgrims, is conveyed in procession from the Citadel of the metropolis, where it is manufactured at the Sultán’s expense, to the mosque of the Hasaneyn, to be sewed together, and lined, preparatively to the approaching pilgrimage. It is of a coarse, black brocade, covered with inscriptions[[564]] of passages from the Kur-án, etc., which are interwoven with silk of the same colour; and having a broad band across each side, ornamented with similar inscriptions worked in gold.[[565]] The following account of the procession of the Kisweh I write on my return from witnessing it, on the 6th of Showwál 1249 (or 15th of February, 1834).
I took my seat, soon after sunrise, in the shop of the Básha’s booksellers, in the main street of the city, nearly opposite the entrance to the bázár called Khán El-Khaleelee. This and almost every shop in the street were crowded with persons attracted by the desire of witnessing the procession, old and young; for the Egyptians of every class and rank and age take great pleasure in viewing public spectacles; but the streets were not so much thronged as they usually are on the occasions of the processions of the Mahmal. About two hours after sun-rise, the four portions which form each one side of the “Kisweh” were borne past the spot where I had taken my post; each of the four pieces placed on an ass, with the ropes by which they were to be attached. The asses were not ornamented in any way, nor neatly caparisoned; and their conductors were common felláhs, in the usual blue shirt. There was then an interval of about three-quarters of an hour; and nothing to relieve the dulness of this long pause but the passing of a few darweeshes, and two buffoons, who stopped occasionally before a shop where they saw any well-dressed persons sitting, and, for the sake of obtaining a present of about five faddahs (or a little more than a farthing), engaged in a sham quarrel, abused each other in loud and gross words, and violently slapped each other on the face.
After this interval came about twenty ill-dressed men, bearing on their shoulders a long frame of wood, upon which was extended one quarter of the “Hezám” (that is, the belt or band above mentioned). The Hezám is in four pieces, which, when sewed together to the Kisweh, form one continuous band, so as to surround the Kaabeh entirely, at about two-thirds of its height. It is of the same kind of black brocade as the Kisweh itself. The inscriptions in gold are well worked in large and beautiful characters, and surrounded by a border of gold; and at each end, where the upper and lower borders unite, the Hezám is ornamented in a tasteful manner, with green and red silk, sewed on, and embroidered with gold. One or other of the bearers frequently went aside to ask for a present from some respectably dressed spectator. There was an interval of about a quarter of an hour after the first quarter of the Hezám passed by: the other three portions were then borne along, one immediately after another, in the same manner. Then there was another interval, of about half an hour; after which there came several tall camels, slightly stained with the red dye of the henna, and having high, ornamented saddles, such as I have described in my account of the return of the Mahmal: upon each of these were one or two boys or girls; and upon some were cats. These were followed by a company of Baltageeyeh (or Pioneers), a very good military band (the instruments of various kinds, but mostly trumpets, and all European), and the Básha’s guard, a regiment of infantry, of picked young men, in uniforms of a dark blueish brown, with new red shoes, and with stockings.
The “Burko’” (or Veil),[[566]] which is the curtain that is hung before the door of the Kaabeh, was next borne along, stretched upon a high, flattish frame of wood, fixed on the back of a fine camel. It was of black brocade, embroidered in the same manner as the Hezám, with inscriptions from the Kur-án in letters of gold, but more richly and more highly ornamented, and was lined with green silk. The face of the Burko’ was extended on the right side of the frame; and the green silk lining on the left. It was followed by numerous companies of darweeshes, with their banners; among which were several sháleeshes (such as I have described in my account of the Dóseh at the festival of the Mearág), which are the banners of the principal orders of darweeshes. Many of them bore flags, inscribed with the profession of the faith (“There is no deity but God: Mohammad is God’s Apostle”), or with words from the Kur-án, and the names of God, the Prophet, and the founders of their orders. Several Kádiree darweeshes bore nets, of various colours, each extended upon a framework of hoops upon a pole: these were fishermen. Some of the darweeshes were employed in repeating, as in a common zikr, the name and attributes of God. Two men, armed with swords and shields, engaged each other in a mock combat. One other, mounted on a horse, was fantastically dressed in sheepskins, and wore a high skin cap, and a grotesque false beard, composed of short pieces of cord or twist, apparently of wool, with mustaches formed of two long brown feathers: he occasionally pretended to write “fetwas” (or judicial decisions), upon scraps of paper given to him by spectators, with a piece of stick, which he feigned to charge with a substitute for ink by applying it to his horse as though it were intended for a goad. But the most remarkable group in this part of the procession consisted of several darweeshes of the sect of the Rifá’ees, called Owlád-’Ilwán, each of whom bore in his hand an iron spike, about a foot in length, with a ball of the same metal at the thick end, having a number of small and short chains attached to it. Several of these darweeshes, in appearance, thrust the spike with violence into their eyes, and withdrew it, without showing any mark of injury: it seemed to enter to the depth of about an inch. This trick was very well performed. Five faddahs, or even a pipeful of tobacco, seemed to be considered a sufficient recompense to the religious juggler for this display of his pretended miraculous power. The spectators near me seemed to entertain no suspicion of any fraud in this singular performance; and I was reproached by one who sat by me, a man of very superior information, for expressing my opinion that it was a very clever piece of deception. Most of the darweeshes in the procession were Rifá’ees: their sheykh, on horseback, followed them.
Next came the “Mahmal,” which I have described in my account of its return to Cairo. It is added to the procession of the kisweh for the sake of increasing the show: the grand procession of the Mahmal previous to the departure of the great caravan of pilgrims takes place between two and three weeks after. Another black covering, of an oblong form, embroidered in like manner with gold, to be placed over the Makám Ibráheem, in the temple of Mekkeh, was borne after the Mahmal. Behind this rode a Turkish military officer, holding, upon an embroidered kerchief, a small case, or bag, of green silk, embroidered with gold, the receptacle of the key of the Kaabeh. Then followed the last person in the procession: this was the half-naked sheykh described in my account of the return of the Mahmal, who constantly follows this sacred object, and accompanies the caravan to and from Mekkeh, mounted on a camel, and incessantly rolling his head.[[567]]
In the latter part of Showwál, not always on the same day of the month, but generally on or about the twenty-third, the principal officers and escort of the great caravan of pilgrims pass, from the Citadel, through the metropolis, in grand procession, followed by the Mahmal. The procession is called that of the Mahmal. The various persons who take part in it, most of whom proceed with the caravan to Mekkeh, collect in the Kara Meydán and the Rumeyleh (two large open tracts) below the Citadel, and there take their places in the prescribed order. As this procession is conducted with less pomp in almost every successive year, I shall describe it as I first witnessed it, during my former visit to Egypt. The streets through which it passed were lined with spectators; some, seated on the mastab′ahs of the shops (which were all closed), and others, standing on the ground below. I obtained a good place at a shop in the main street, through which it passed towards the gate called Báb en-Nasr.
First, a cannon was drawn along, about three hours after sun-rise: it was a small field-piece, to be used for the purpose of firing signals for the departure of the caravan after each halt. Then followed two companies of irregular Turkish cavalry (Delees and Tufekjees), about five hundred men, most shabbily clad, and having altogether the appearance of banditti. Next, after an interval of about half an hour, came several men mounted on camels, and each beating a pair of the large copper kettle-drums called nakkárahs,[[568]] attached to the fore part of the saddle. Other camels, with large stuffed saddles, of the same kind as those described in my account of the return of the Mahmal, without riders, followed those above mentioned. These camels were all slightly tinged of a dingy orange red with henna. Some of them had a number of fresh, green palm-branches fixed upright upon the saddles, like enormous plumes; others were decorated with small flags, in the same manner as those above alluded to: several had a large bell hung on each side; some, again, bore water-skins; and one was laden with the “khazneh,” a square case, covered with red cloth, containing the treasure for defraying those expenses of the pilgrimage which fall upon the government. The baggage of the Emeer el-Hágg (or Chief of the Pilgrims) then followed, borne by camels. With his furniture and provisions, etc., was conveyed the new “Kisweh.” After this, there was another interval.
The next persons in the procession were several darweeshes, moving their heads from side to side, and repeating the name of God. With these were numerous camel-drivers, sakkas, sweepers, and others; some of them crying “’Arafát![[569]] O God!” and “God! God! [May the journey be] with safety!” Then, again, followed several camels; some, with palm-branches, and others, with large bells, as before described. Next, the takht‘rawán (or litter) of the Emeer el-Hágg, covered with red cloth, was borne along by two camels; the foremost of which had a saddle decorated with a number of small flags. Some Arabs, and the “Deleel el-Hágg” (or Guide of the Caravan), followed it; and next came several camels, and groups of darweeshes and others, as before. Then followed about fifty members of the Básha’s household, well dressed and mounted; a number of other officers, with silver-headed sticks, and guns; the chief of the Delees, with his officers; and another body of members of the household, mounted like the first, but persons of an inferior order. These were followed by several other officers of the court, on foot, dressed in kaftáns of cloth of gold. Next came two swordsmen, naked to the waist, and each having a small, round shield: they frequently stopped, and engaged each other in sport; and occasionally received remuneration from some of the spectators. These preceded a company of darweeshes, camel-drivers, and others; and the shouts before mentioned were repeated.