Two other calls to prayer are made during the night, to rouse those persons who desire to perform supererogatory acts of devotion.[[122]] A little after midnight, the muëddins of the great royal mosques in Cairo (i.e., of each of the great mosques founded by a Sultán, which is called “Gámë, Sultánee”), and of some other large mosques, ascend the mád’nehs, and chant the following call, which, being one of the two night-calls not at the regular periods of obligatory prayers, is called the “Oola,” a term signifying merely the “First.” Having commenced by chanting the common adán, with those words which are introduced in the call to morning-prayer (“Prayer is better than sleep”), he adds, “There is no deity but God” (three times) “alone: He hath no companion: to Him belongeth the dominion; and to Him belongeth praise. He giveth life, and causeth death; and He is living, and shall never die. In His hand is blessing [or good]; and He is Almighty.—There is no deity but God!” (three times) “and we will not worship any beside Him, ‘serving Him with sincerity of religion,’[[123]] ‘though the infidels be averse’[[124]] [thereto]. There is no deity but God! Mohammad is the most noble of the creation in the sight of God. Mohammad is the best prophet that hath been sent, and a lord by whom his companions became lords; comely; liberal of gifts; perfect; pleasant to the taste; sweet; soft to the throat [or to be drunk]. Pardon, O Lord, Thy servant and Thy poor dependent, the endower of this place, and him who watcheth it with goodness and beneficence, and its neighbours, and those who frequent it at the times of prayers and good acts, O Thou Bountiful!—O Lord!”[[125]] (three times.) “Thou art He who ceaseth not to be distinguished by mercy: Thou art liberal of Thy clemency towards the rebellious; and protectest him; and concealest what is foul; and makest manifest every virtuous action; and Thou bestowest Thy beneficence upon the servant, and comfortest him, O Thou Bountiful!—O Lord!” (three times.) “My sins, when I think upon them, [I see to be] many; but the mercy of my Lord is more abundant than are my sins: I am not solicitous on account of good that I have done; but for the mercy of God I am most solicitous. Extolled be the Everlasting! He hath no companion in His great dominion. His perfection [I extol]: exalted be His name: [I extol] the perfection of God.”
About an hour before daybreak, the muëddins of most mosques chant the second call, named the “Ebed,” and so called from the occurrence of that word near the commencement.[[126]] This call is as follows: “[I extol] the perfection of God, the Existing for ever and ever” (three times): “the perfection of God, the Desired, the Existing, the Single, the Supreme: the perfection of God, the One, the Sole: the perfection of Him who taketh to Himself, in His great dominion, neither female companion, nor male partner, nor any like unto Him, nor any that is disobedient, nor any deputy, nor any equal, nor any offspring. His perfection [I extol]: and exalted be His name! He is a Deity who knew what hath been before it was, and called into existence what hath been; and He is now existing as He was [at the first]. His perfection [I extol]: and exalted be His name! He is a Deity unto whom there is none like existing. There is none like unto God, the Bountiful, existing. There is none like unto God, the Clement, existing. There is none like unto God, the Great, existing. And there is no deity but Thou, O our Lord, to be worshipped and to be praised and to be desired and to be glorified. [I extol] the perfection of Him who created all creatures, and numbered them, and distributed their sustenance, and decreed the terms of the lives of His servants: and our Lord, the Bountiful, the Clement, the Great, forgetteth not one of them. [I extol] the perfection of Him who, of His power and greatness, caused the pure water to flow from the solid stone, the mass of rock: the perfection of Him who spake with our lord Moosa [or Moses] upon the mountain;[[127]] whereupon the mountain was reduced to dust,[[128]] through dread of God, whose name be exalted, the One, the Sole. There is no deity but God. He is a just Judge. [I extol] the perfection of the First. Blessing and peace be on thee, O comely of countenance! O Apostle of God! Blessing and peace be on thee, O first of the creatures of God! and seal of the apostles of God! Blessing and peace be on thee, O thou Prophet! on thee and on thy Family, and all thy Companions. God is most Great! God is most Great!” etc., to the end of the call to morning-prayer. “O God, favour and preserve and bless the blessed Prophet, our lord Mohammad! And may God, whose name be blessed and exalted, be well pleased with thee, O our lord El-Hasan, and with thee, O our lord El-Hoseyn, and with thee, O Aboo-Farrág,[[129]] O Sheykh of the Arabs, and with all the favourites [the “welees”] of God. Amen.”
The prayers which are performed daily at the five periods before mentioned are said to be of so many “rek’ahs,” or inclinations of the head.[[130]]
POSTURES OF PRAYER. (PART I.)
The worshipper, standing with his face towards the Kibleh (that is, towards Mekkeh), and his feet not quite close together, says, inaudibly, that he has purposed to recite the prayers of so many rek’ahs (sunneh or fard) the morning-prayers (or the noon, etc.) of the present day (or night); and then, raising his open hands on each side of his face, and touching the lobes of his ears with the ends of his thumbs, he says, “God is most Great!” (“Alláhu Akbar.”) This ejaculation is called the “tekbeer.” He then proceeds to recite the prayers of the prescribed number of rek’ahs,[[131]] thus:—
Still standing, and placing his hands before him, a little below his girdle, the left within the right, he recites (with his eyes directed towards the spot where his head will touch the ground in prostration) the Fát’hah, or opening chapter of the Kur-án,[[132]] and after it three or more other verses, or one of the short chapters, of the Kur-án—very commonly the 112th chapter—but without repeating the bismillah (in the name of God, etc.) before the second recitation. He then says, “God is most Great!” and makes, at the same time, an inclination of his head and body, placing his hands upon his knees, and separating his fingers a little. In this posture he says, “[I extol] the perfection of my Lord, the Great!” (three times), adding, “May God hear him who praiseth Him. Our Lord, praise be unto Thee!” Then, raising his head and body, he repeats, “God is most Great!” He next drops gently upon his knees, and, saying again, “God is most Great!” places his hands upon the ground, a little before his knees, and puts his nose and forehead also to the ground (the former first), between his two hands. During this prostration he says, “[I extol] the perfection of my Lord, the Most High!” (three times.) He raises his head and body (but his knees remain upon the ground), sinks backwards upon his heels, and places his hands upon his thighs, saying, at the same time, “God is most Great!” and this he repeats as he bends his head a second time to the ground. During this second prostration he repeats the same words as in the first, and in raising his head again, he utters the tekbeer as before. Thus are completed the prayers of one rek’ah. In all the changes of posture, the toes of the right foot must not be moved from the spot where they were first placed, and the left foot should be moved as little as possible.
POSTURES OF PRAYER. (PART II.)
Having finished the prayers of one rek’ah, the worshipper rises upon his feet (but without moving his toes from the spot where they were, particularly those of the right foot), and repeats the same; only he should recite some other chapter, or portion, after the Fát’hah, than that which he repeated before, as, for instance, the 108th chapter.[[133]]