The term ′efreet is commonly applied rather to an evil ginnee than any other being; but the ghosts of dead persons are also called by this name; and many absurd stories are related of them; and great are the fears which they inspire. There are some persons, however, who hold them in no degree of dread.—I had once a humorous cook, who was somewhat addicted to the intoxicating hasheesh: soon after he had entered my service, I heard him, one evening, muttering and exclaiming on the stairs, as if in surprise at some event; and then politely saying, “But why are you sitting here in the draught?—Do me the favour to come up into the kitchen, and amuse me with your conversation a little.” The civil address, not being answered, was repeated and varied several times; till I called out to the man, and asked him to whom he was speaking. “The ′efreet of a Turkish soldier,” he replied, “is sitting on the stairs, smoking his pipe, and refuses to move: he came up from the well below: pray step and see him.” On my going to the stairs, and telling the servant that I could see nothing, he only remarked that it was because I had a clear conscience. He was told, afterwards, that the house had long been haunted; but asserted that he had not been previously informed of the supposed cause; which was the fact of a Turkish soldier having been murdered there. My cook professed to see this ′efreet frequently after.
The existence of “Ghools” likewise obtains almost universal credence among the modern Egyptians, in common with several other Eastern nations. These beings are generally believed to be a class of evil ginnees, and are said to appear in the forms of various animals, and in many monstrous shapes; to haunt burial-grounds, and other sequestered spots; to feed upon dead bodies; and to kill and devour every human creature who has the misfortune to fall in their way. Hence, the term “ghool” is applied, in general, to any cannibal.
That fancies such as these should exist in the minds of a people so ignorant as those who are the subject of these pages cannot reasonably excite our surprise. But the Egyptians pay a superstitious reverence not to imaginary beings alone: they extend it to certain individuals of their own species; and often to those who are justly the least entitled to such respect.[[349]] An idiot or a fool is vulgarly regarded by them as a being whose mind is in heaven, while his grosser part mingles among ordinary mortals; consequently, he is considered an especial favourite of heaven. Whatever enormities a reputed saint may commit (and there are many who are constantly infringing precepts of their religion), such acts do not affect his fame for sanctity: for they are considered as the results of the abstraction of his mind from worldly things; his soul, or reasoning faculties, being wholly absorbed in devotion; so that his passions are left without control. Lunatics who are dangerous to society are kept in confinement; but those who are harmless are generally regarded as saints. Most of the reputed saints of Egypt are either lunatics, or idiots, or impostors. Some of them go about perfectly naked, and are so highly venerated, that the women, instead of avoiding them, sometimes suffer these wretches to take any liberty with them in the public street; and, by the lower orders, are not considered as disgraced by such actions, which, however, are of very rare occurrence. Others are seen clad in a cloak or long coat composed of patches of various coloured cloths, which is called a “dilk,”[[350]] adorned with numerous strings of beads, wearing a ragged turban, and bearing a staff with shreds of cloth of various colours attached to the top. Some of them eat straw, or a mixture of chopped straw and broken glass; and attract observation by a variety of absurd actions. During my first visit to this country, I often met, in the streets of Cairo, a deformed man, almost naked, with long matted hair, and riding upon an ass, led by another man. On these occasions, he always stopped his beast directly before me, so as to intercept my way, recited the Fat′hah (or opening chapter of the Kur-án), and then held out his hand for an alms. The first time that he thus crossed me, I endeavoured to avoid him; but a person passing by remonstrated with me, observing that the man before me was a saint, and that I ought to respect him, and comply with his demand, lest some misfortune should befall me. Men of this class are supported by alms, which they often receive without asking for them. A reputed saint is commonly called “sheykh,” “murábit,” or “welee.” If affected with lunacy or idiotcy, or of weak intellect, he is also, and more properly, termed “megzoob,” or “mesloob.” “Welee” is an appellation correctly given only to an eminent and very devout saint; and signifies “a favourite of heaven;” but it is so commonly applied to real or pretended idiots, that some wit has given it a new interpretation, as equivalent to “beleed,” which means “a fool” or “simpleton;” remarking that these two terms are equivalent both in sense and in the numerical value of the letters composing them: for “welee” is written with the letters “wä′w,” “lám,” and “yé,” of which the numerical values are 6, 30, and 10, or, together, 46; and “beleed” is written with “bé,” “lám,” “yé,” and “dál,” which are 2, 30, 10, and 4, or, added together, 46. A simpleton is often jestingly called a welee.
The Muslims of Egypt, in common with those of other countries, entertain very curious superstitions respecting the persons whom they call welees. I have often endeavoured to obtain information on the most mysterious of these superstitions; and have generally been answered, “You are meddling with the matters of the ‘tareekah,’” or the religious course of the darweeshes; but I have been freely acquainted with general opinions on these subjects, and such are perhaps all that may be required to be stated in a work like the present: I shall, however, also relate what I have been told by learned persons, and by darweeshes, in elucidation of the popular belief.
In the first place, if a person were to express a doubt as to the existence of true welees, he would be branded with infidelity; and the following passage of the Kur-án would be adduced to condemn him: “Verily, on the favourites[[351]] of God no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve.”[[352]] This is considered as sufficient to prove that there is a class of persons distinguished above ordinary human beings. The question then suggests itself, “Who, or of what description are these persons?” and we are answered, “They are persons wholly devoted to God, and possessed of extraordinary faith; and, according to their degree of faith, endowed with the power of performing miracles.”[[353]]
The most holy of the welees is termed the Kutb; or, according to some persons, there are two who have this title; and again, according to others, four. The term “kutb” signifies an axis; and hence is applied to a welee who rules over others: they depending upon him, and being subservient to him. For the same reason it is applied to temporal rulers, or any person of high authority. The opinion that there are four kutbs, I am told, is a vulgar error, originating from the frequent mention of “the four kutbs,” by which expression are meant the founders of the four most celebrated orders of darweeshes (the Rifá’eeyeh, Kádireeyeh, Ahmedeeyeh, and Baráhimeh); each of whom is believed to have been the kutb of his time. I have also generally been told, that the opinion of there being two kutbs is a vulgar error, founded upon two names, “Kutb el-Hakeekah” (or the Kutb of Truth), and “Kutb el-Ghós” (or the Kutb of Invocation for help), which properly belong to but one person. The term “el-Kutb el-Mutawellee” is applied, by those who believe in but one kutb, to the one ruling at the present time; and by those who believe in two, to the acting kutb. The kutb who exercises a superintendence over all other welees (whether or not there be another kutb—for if there be, he is inferior to the former) has, under his authority, welees of different ranks, to perform different offices; “Nakeebs,” “Negeebs,” “Bedeels,”[[354]] etc.; who are known only to each other, and perhaps to the rest of the welees, as holding such offices.
The Kutb, it is said, is often seen, but not known as such; and the same is said of all who hold authority under him. He always has a humble demeanour, and mean dress; and mildly reproves those whom he finds acting impiously; particularly such as have a false reputation for sanctity. Though he is unknown to the world, his favourite stations are well known; yet at these places he is seldom visible. It is asserted that he is almost constantly seated at Mekkeh, on the roof of the Kaabeh; and, though never seen there, is always heard at midnight to call twice, “O thou most merciful of those who show mercy!” which cry is then repeated from the mád’nehs of the temple, by the muëddins: but a respectable pilgrim, whom I have just questioned upon this matter, has confessed to me that he himself has witnessed that this cry is made by a regular minister of the mosque; yet that few pilgrims know this: he believes, however, that the roof of the Kaabeh is the chief “markaz” (or station) of the Kutb. Another favourite station of this revered and unknown person is the gate of Cairo called Báb Zuweyleh, which is at the southern extremity of that part of the metropolis which constituted the old city; though now in the heart of the town; for the capital has greatly increased towards the south, as it has also towards the west. From its being a supposed station of this mysterious being, the Báb Zuweyleh is commonly called “El-Mutawellee.”[[355]] One leaf of its great wooden door (which is never shut), turned back against the eastern side of the interior of the gateway, conceals a small vacant space, which is said to be the place of the Kutb. Many persons, on passing by it, recite the Fát’hah; and some give alms to a beggar who is generally seated there, and who is regarded by the vulgar as one of the servants of the Kutb. Numbers of persons afflicted with head-ache drive a nail into the door, to charm away the pain; and many sufferers from the tooth-ache extract a tooth, and insert it in a crevice of the door, or fix it in some other way, to insure their not being attacked again by the same malady. Some curious individuals often try to peep behind the door, in the vain hope of catching a glimpse of the Kutb, should he happen to be there, and not at the moment invisible. He has also many other stations, but of inferior celebrity, in Cairo; as well as one at the tomb of the seyyid Ahmad El-Bedawee, at Tanta; another at El-Mahalleh (which, as well as Tanta, is in the Delta); and others in other places. He is believed to transport himself from Mekkeh to Cairo in an instant; and so also from any one place to another. Though he has a number of favourite stations, he does not abide solely at these; but wanders throughout the whole world, among persons of every religion, whose appearance, dress, and language he assumes; and distributes to mankind, chiefly through the agency of the subordinate welees, evils and blessings, the awards of destiny. When a Kutb dies, he is immediately succeeded in his office by another.
Many of the Muslims say that Elijah, or Elias, whom the vulgar confound with El-Khidr,[[356]] was the Kutb of his time; and that he invests the successive kutbs: for they acknowledge that he has never died; asserting him to have drunk of the Fountain of Life. This particular in their superstitious notions respecting the kutbs, combined with some others which I have before mentioned, is very curious when compared with what we are told, in the Bible, of Elijah, of his being transported from place to place by the spirit of God; of his investing Elisha with his miraculous powers, and his offices; and of the subjection of the other prophets to him and to his immediate successor.[[357]] Some welees renounce the pleasures of the world, and the society of mankind; and, in a desert place, give themselves up to meditation upon heaven, and prayer; depending upon Divine Providence for their support; but their retreat becomes known; and the Arabs daily bring them food. This, again, reminds us of the history of Elijah: for, in the opinion of some critics, we should read, for the word “ravens,” in the fourth and sixth verses of the seventeenth chapter of the second book of Kings, “Arabs:” “I have commanded the Arabs to feed thee”—“And the Arabs brought him bread,” etc.
Certain welees are said to be commissioned by the Kutb to perform offices which, according to the accounts of my informants here, are far from being easy. These are termed “As-háb ed-Darak,” which is interpreted as signifying “watchmen,” or “overseers.” In illustration of their employments, the following anecdote was related to me a few days ago.—A devout tradesman in this city, who was ardently desirous of becoming a welee, applied to a person who was generally believed to belong to this holy class, and implored the latter to assist him to obtain the honour of an interview with the Kutb. The applicant, after having undergone a strict examination as to his motives, was desired to perform the ordinary ablution (el-wudoó), very early the next morning; then to repair to the mosque of El-Mu-eiyad (at an angle of which is the Báb Zuweyleh, or El-Mutawellee, before mentioned), and to lay hold of the first person whom he should see coming out of the great door of this mosque. He did so. The first person who came out was an old, venerable-looking man; but meanly clad; wearing a brown woollen gown (or zaaboot); and this proved to be the Kutb. The candidate kissed his hand, and entreated to be admitted among the As-háb ed-Darak. After much hesitation, the prayer was granted: the Kutb said, “Take charge of the district which consists of the Darb el-Ahmar[[358]] and its immediate neighbourhood;” and immediately the person thus addressed found himself to be a welee; and perceived that he was acquainted with things concealed from ordinary mortals: for a welee is said to be acquainted by God with all secrets necessary for him to know.—It is commonly said of a welee, that he knows what is secret, or not discoverable by the senses; which seems plainly contradictory to what we read in several places in the Kur-án,—that none knoweth what is secret (or hidden from the senses) but God: the Muslims, however, who are seldom at a loss in a discussion, argue that the passages above alluded to, in the Kur-án, imply the knowledge of secrets in an unrestricted sense; and that God imparts to welees such secrets only as He thinks fit.
The welee above mentioned, as soon as he had entered upon his office, walked through his district; and seeing a man at a shop with a jar full of boiled beans before him, from which he was about to serve his customers as usual, took up a large piece of stone, and with it broke the jar. The bean-seller immediately jumped up, seized hold of a palm stick that lay by his side, and gave the welee a severe beating; but the holy man complained not; nor did he utter a cry: as soon as he was allowed, he walked away. When he was gone, the bean-seller began to try if he could gather up some of the scattered contents of the jar. A portion of the jar remained in its place; and on looking into this, he saw a venomous serpent in it, coiled round, and dead. In horror at what he had done, he exclaimed, “There is no strength or power but in God! I implore forgiveness of God, the Great! What have I done! This man is a welee; and has prevented my selling what would have poisoned my customers.”—He looked at every passenger all that day, in the hope of seeing again the saint whom he had thus injured, that he might implore his forgiveness; but he saw him not; for he was too much bruised to be able to walk. On the following day, however, with his limbs still swollen from the blows he had received, the welee limped through his district, and broke a great jar of milk at a shop not far from that of the bean-seller; and the owner treated him as the bean-seller had done the day before; but while he was beating him, some persons ran up, and stopped his hand, informing him that the person whom he was thus punishing was a welee, and relating to him the affair of the serpent that was found in the jar of beans. “Go, and look,” said they, “in your jar of milk, and you will find, at the bottom of it, something either poisonous or unclean.” He looked; and found, in the remains of the jar, a dead dog.—On the third day, the welee, with the help of a staff, hobbled painfully up the Darb el-Ahmar, and saw a servant carrying, upon his head, a supper-tray covered with dishes of meat, vegetables, and fruit, for a party who were going to take a repast in the country; whereupon he put his staff between the man’s legs, and overthrew him; and the contents of the dishes were scattered in the street. With a mouth full of curses, the servant immediately began to give the saint as severe a thrashing as he himself expected to receive from his disappointed master for this accident; but several persons soon collected around him; and one of these bystanders observed a dog eat a part of the contents of one of the dishes, and, a moment after, fall down dead: he therefore instantly seized the hand of the servant and informed him of this circumstance, which proved that the man whom he had been beating was a welee. Every apology was made to the injured saint, with many prayers for his forgiveness: but he was so disgusted with his new office, that he implored God and the Kutb to release him from it; and, in answer to his solicitations, his supernatural powers were withdrawn, and he returned to his shop, more contented than before.—This story is received as true by the people of Cairo; and therefore I have inserted it: for, in treating of superstitions, we have more to do with opinions than with facts. I am not sure, indeed, that it is altogether false: the supposed saint might have employed persons to introduce the dead serpent and dog into the vessels which he broke. I am told that many a person has obtained the reputation of being a welee by artifices of the kind just mentioned.