The schoolfellows of the muttáhir, all dressed in their best clothes, or in borrowed clothes if they have none of their own good enough, which is generally the case, repair, a little before noon, to one of the principal mosques, as that of the Hasaneyn, or the Azhar, or that of the seyyideh Zeyneb. Thither also go the men and the women and many of the female friends of the family of the muttáhir, with the muttáhir himself; and sometimes about six sháweeshes (or sergeants) of the Nakeeb el-Ashráf. The barber who is to perform the operation also attends, with a servant bearing his “heml” (or sign), which has been described in the account of the more common ceremonies of circumcision. All these persons, with some others who will presently be mentioned, having assembled in the mosque, wait there until after the noon-prayers, and then depart in procession through the streets to the house of the muttáhir’s parents. The first person in the procession is the barber’s servant, with his heml. He is sometimes followed by five or six fikees, chanting a lyric ode (“muweshshah”) in praise of the Prophet. Then follow the schoolboys, two, three, or four abreast. The foremost of these boys, or half their number, chant, as they pass along,—“O nights of pleasure! O nights of joy!”—The other boys then take up the strain, adding,—“Pleasure and desire, with friends assembled!”—Then, again, the former,—“Favour, O our Lord, the Perspicuous Light!”—then the latter, “Ahmad,[[601]] the Elect, the chief of Apostles!”—Thus the boys continue to chant the whole of the way. Behind them walk the male relations of the muttáhir. These are followed by about six boys; three of them bearing each a silver scent-bottle (“kumkum”) full of rose-water or orange-flower-water, which they occasionally sprinkle on some of the spectators; and each of the others bearing a silver perfuming-vessel (“mibkhar′ah”) in which benzoin, frankincense, or some other odoriferous substance, is burning. With these boys walks a sakka, bearing, on his back, a skin of water covered with an embroidered napkin: he gives water, now and then, in brass cups, to passengers in the street. Next follow three servants: one of these carries a silver pot of coffee, in a silver “’áz’kee” (or chafing-dish suspended by three chains): another bears a silver tray, with ten or eleven coffee-cups, and “zarfs” of silver: the third carries nothing; it is his office, when the procession passes by a well-dressed person (one sitting at a shop, for instance), to fill, and present to him, a cup of coffee: the person thus honoured gives the servant something in return: half a piaster is considered amply sufficient. The sháweeshes occupy the next place in the order of the procession. Sometimes they are followed by another group of boys with kumkums and mibkhar′ahs. Next follows a boy bearing the writing tablet of the muttáhir, hung to his neck by a handkerchief: it is ornamented for the occasion by the school-master. Behind the boy who bears it walks the muttáhir, between two others. He is dressed either as in the zeffeh before described (that is, in girl’s clothes, with the exception of the turban, and decked with women’s ornaments), or simply as a boy; and holds a folded embroidered handkerchief to his mouth. The women follow him, raising their shrill cries of joy (the “zagháreet”); and one of them is constantly employed in sprinkling salt behind him, to prevent any ill effects from an evil eye, which, it is thought, some person may cast at the lad from envy. In this order and manner, the procession arrives at the house.—On halting before the door, the foremost of the schoolboys sing,—“Thou art a sun! Thou art a moon! Thou art a light above light!”—The others add,—“O Mohammad! O my friend! O thou with black eyes!”—They enter the house repeating this address to the Prophet; and repeat it again after entering. The young boys go upstairs: the others remain below. The former, as they go up, repeat,—“O thou his paternal aunt! O thou his maternal aunt! Come! prepare his siráfeh.”—On entering the “ká’ah,” or principal apartment of the hareem, a Kashmeer shawl is given them to hold: they hold it all round; and the ornamented writing-tablet is placed in the middle of it. The “’areef,” or head boy of the school, who (together with the muttáhir and the women) stands by while they do this, then recites what is termed “khutbet es-siráfeh:” each clause of this is chanted by him first, and then repeated by the other boys. It is in unmeasured rhyme; and to the following effect:—
“Praise be to God, the Mighty Creator!—the Sole, the Forgiver, the Conservator!—He knoweth the past and futurity,—and veileth things in obscurity.—He knoweth the tread of the black ant,—and its work when in darkness vigilant.—He formed and exalted heaven’s vault,—and spread the earth o’er the ocean salt.—May He grant this boy long life and happiness,—to read the Kur-án with attentiveness;—to read the Kur-án, and history’s pages,—the stories of ancient and modern ages.—This youth has learned to write and read,—to spell, and cast up accounts with speed:—his father, therefore, should not withhold—a reward of money, silver and gold.—Of my learning, O father, thou hast paid the price:—God give thee a place in Paradise:—and thou, my mother, my thanks receive—for thine anxious care of me, morn and eve:—God grant I may see thee in Paradise seated,—and by Maryam[[602]] and Zeyneb[[603]] and Fátimeh[[604]] greeted.—Our fakeeh[[605]] has taught us the alphabet:—may he have every grateful epithet.—Our fakeeh has taught us as far as ‘The News:’[[606]]—may he never his present blessings lose.—Our fakeeh has taught us as far as ‘The Dominion:’—may he ever be blest with the world’s good opinion.—Our fakeeh has taught us as far as ‘The Compassionate:’—may he ever enjoy rewards proportionate.—Our fakeeh has taught us as far as ‘Yá-Seen:’—may his days and years be ever serene.—Our fakeeh has taught as far as ‘The Cave:’—may he ever the blessings of Providence have.—Our fakeeh has taught us as far as ‘The Cattle:’—may he ne’er be the subject of scandalous tattle.—Our fakeeh has taught us as far as ‘The Cow:’—may he ever be honoured, in future and now.—Our fakeeh amply merits of you—a coat of green, and a turban too.—O ye surrounding virgin lasses!—I commend you to God’s care by the eye-paint and the glasses![[607]]—O ye married ladies here collected!—I pray, by the Chapter of ‘The Ranks,’[[608]] that ye be protected!—O ye old women standing about!—Ye ought to be beaten with old shoes, and turned out!—To old women, however, we should rather say—Take the basin and ewer; wash and pray.”
During the chanting of these absurd expressions, the women drop, upon the ornamented writing-tablet, their nukoot; which are afterwards collected in a handkerchief. The boys then go down, and give the nukoot to the fikee below.[[609]]—Here, the muttáhir is now placed on a seat. The barber stands on one side of him, and the servant who holds the heml on the other. The heml is rested on the floor; and on the top of it is placed a cup, into which the guests put their nukoot for the barber.—The female visitors dine in the hareem; and then leave the house. The boys dine below; and go to their homes. The men also dine; and all of them, excepting those of the family, and the barber and his servant, take their leave. The barber then conducts the muttáhir, with[with] one or two of his male relations, to a private apartment; and there performs the operation; or sometimes this is done on the following day. About a week after, he takes the boy to the bath.
The next occasion of festivity in a family (if not the marriage of a son or daughter) is generally when a son is admitted a member of some body of tradesmen or artisans. On this occasion, a ceremony which I am about to describe is performed in certain cases; but not on admission to every trade: it is customary only among carpenters, turners, barbers, tailors, book-binders, and a few others. The young man having become an adept in the business of his intended trade, his father goes to the sheykh of that trade, and signifies his wish that his son should be admitted a member. The sheykh sends an officer, called the “nakeeb,” to invite the masters of the trade, and sometimes a few friends of the candidate, to be present at the admission. The nakeeb, taking in his hand a bunch of sprigs of any green herb, or flowers, goes to each of these persons, hands to him a sprig or little piece of green, or a flower, or leaf, and says—“For the Prophet, the Fát’hah:”—that is “Repeat the Fát’hah for the Prophet.” Both having done this together, the nakeeb adds,—“On such a day and hour, come to such a house or place, and drink a cup of coffee.”—The guests thus invited meet (generally at the house of the father of the young man, but sometimes in the country), take coffee, and dine. After this, the nakeeb leads the young man before the sheykh: states his qualifications; and then desires the persons present to recite the Fát’hah for the Prophet; which done, he girds the young man with a shawl over his outer coat; and ties a knot with the ends of this girdle. The Fát’hah is then recited again, generally for the seyyid El-Bedawee, or some other great saint; and a second knot is tied. Then, a third time the Fát’hah is recited; and a bow is tied. The young man is thus completely admitted. He kisses the hand of the sheykh, and that of his fellow-tradesmen; and gives the nakeeb a small fee.—This ceremony is called “shedd el-weled” (the binding of the youth), and the person thus admitted is termed “meshdood,” or bound.
There remain only to be described the ceremonies occasioned by a death. These will be the subject of a separate chapter, here following, and concluding my account of the manners and customs of the Muslims of Egypt.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DEATH, AND FUNERAL RITES.
When a learned or pious Muslim feels that he is about to die, he sometimes performs the ordinary ablution, as before prayer, that he may depart from life in a state of bodily purity; and generally he repeats the profession of the faith, “There is no deity but God: Mohammad is God’s Apostle.” It is common, also, for a Muslim, on a military expedition, or during a long journey, especially in the desert, to carry his grave-linen with him. Not unfrequently does it happen that a traveller, in such circumstances, has even to make his own grave: completely overcome by fatigue or privation, or sinking under a fatal disease, in the desert, when his companions, if he have any, cannot wait for his recovery or death, he performs the ablution (with water, if possible, or, if not, with sand or dust, which is allowable in such case), and then, having made a trench in the sand, as his grave, lies down in it, wrapped in his grave-clothes, and covers himself, with the exception of his face, with the sand taken up in making the trench; thus he waits for death to relieve him, trusting to the wind to complete his burial.
When any one of the eminent ’Ulama of Cairo dies, the muëddins of the Azhar, and those of several other mosques, announce the event by chanting from the mád’nehs the cry called the “Abrár;” the words of which I have given in the account of the customs observed during Ramadán, in the second of the chapters on periodical public festivals, etc.
The ceremonies attendant upon death and burial are nearly the same in the cases of men and women. When the rattles in the throat, or other symptoms, show that a man is at the point of death, an attendant (his wife, or some other person) turns him round to place his face in the direction of Mekkeh,[[610]] and closes his eyes. Even before the spirit has departed, or the moment after, the male attendants generally exclaim, “Alláh! There is no strength nor power but in God! To God we belong; and to Him we must return! God have mercy on him!” while the women of the family raise the cries of lamentation called “welwel’eh” or “wilwál;” uttering the most piercing shrieks, and calling upon the name of the deceased. The most common cries that are heard on the death of the master of a family, from the lips of his wife, or wives, and children, are “O my master!” “O my camel!” (that is, “O thou who broughtest my provisions, and hast carried my burdens,”) “O my lion!” “O camel of the house!” “O my glory!” “O my resource!” “O my father!” “O my misfortune!”—The clothes of the deceased are taken off as soon as he has ceased to breathe; and he is attired in another suit, placed on his bed or mattress, and covered over with a sheet. The women continue their lamentations; and many of the females of the neighbourhood, hearing the conclamation, come to unite with them in this melancholy task. Generally, also, the family of the deceased send for two or more “neddábehs” (or public wailing women[[611]]); but some persons disapprove of this custom; and many, to avoid unnecessary expense, do not conform with it. Each neddábeh brings with her a “tár” (or tambourine), which is without the tinkling plates of metal which are attached to the hoop of the common tár. The neddábehs, beating their társ, exclaim, several times, “Alas for him!”—and praise his turban, his handsome person, etc.; and the female relations, domestics, and friends of the deceased (with their tresses dishevelled, and sometimes with rent clothes), beating their own faces, cry in like manner, “Alas for him!”—This wailing is generally continued at least an hour.