The bier used for conveying the corpse of a boy or a female has a cover of wood, over which a shawl is spread; and at the head is an upright piece of wood: upon the upper part of this, in the case of a boy, is fixed a turban, with several ornaments of female head-dress; and in the case of a female, it is similarly decked, but without the turban.
A short prayer is recited over the dead, either in a mosque or in a place particularly dedicated to this service in or adjacent to the burial-ground. The body is then conveyed, in the same manner as before, to the tomb. This is a hollow, oblong vault, one side of which faces the direction of Mekkeh, generally large enough to contain four or more bodies, and having an oblong monument of stone or brick constructed over it, with a stela at the head and foot. Upon the former of these two stelae (which is often inscribed with a text from the Ḳur-án, and the name of the deceased, with the date of his death), a turban, cap, or other head-dress, is sometimes carved, showing the rank or class of the person or persons buried beneath; and in many cases, a cupola supported by four walls, or by columns, is constructed over the smaller monument. The body is laid on its right side, or inclined by means of a few crude bricks, so that the face is turned towards Mekkeh; and a person is generally employed to dictate to the deceased the answers which he should give when he is examined by the two angels Munkar and Nekeer. If the funeral be that of a person of rank or wealth, the bread and water before mentioned are then distributed to the poor.[293]
Towards the eve of the first Friday after the funeral, and often early in the morning of the Thursday, the women of the family of the deceased repeat their wailing in the house accompanied by some of their female friends: male friends of the deceased also visit the house shortly before or after sunset; and three or four persons are hired to perform a recitation of the whole of the Ḳur-án. On the following morning, some or all of the members of the deceased's family, but chiefly the women, visit the tomb; they or their servants carrying palm-branches, and sometimes sweet basil, to lay upon it, and often the visitors take with them some kind of food, as bread, pancakes, sweet cakes of different kinds, or dates, to distribute to the poor on this occasion. They recite portions of the Ḳur-án or employ people to recite it, as has been already mentioned.[294] These ceremonies are repeated on the same days of the next two weeks; and again on the eve and morning of the Friday which completes, or next follows, the first period of forty days after the funeral; whence this Friday is called El-Arba´een, or Jum´at el-Arba´een.
It is believed that the soul remains with the body until the expiration of the first night after the burial, when it departs to the place appointed for the abode of good souls until the last day, or to the appointed prisons in which wicked souls await their final doom; but with respect to the state of souls in the interval between death and judgment, there are various opinions which Sale thus states.[295] As to the souls of the good, he says, "1. Some say they stay near the sepulchres; with liberty, however, of going wherever they please; which they confirm from Moḥammad's manner of saluting them at their graves, and his affirming that the dead heard those salutations as well as the living, though they could not answer. Whence perhaps proceeded the custom of visiting the tombs of relations, so common among the Mohammadans. 2. Others imagine they are with Adam, in the lowest heaven; and also support their opinion by the authority of their prophet, who gave out that in his return from the upper heavens in his pretended night-journey, he saw there the souls of those who were destined to paradise on the right hand of Adam, and those who were condemned to hell on his left. 3. Others fancy the souls of believers remain in the well Zemzem, and those of infidels in a certain well in the province of Haḍramót, called Barahoot:[296] but this opinion is branded as heretical [?]. 4. Others say they stay near the graves for seven days; but that whither they go afterwards is uncertain. 5. Others that they are all in the trumpet, whose sound is to raise the dead. And 6. Others that the souls of the good dwell in the forms of white birds, under the throne of God. As to the condition of the souls of the wicked, the more orthodox held that they are offered by the angels to heaven, from whence being repulsed as stinking and filthy, they are offered to the earth; and, being also refused a place there, are carried down to the seventh earth, and thrown into a dungeon, which they call Sijjeen, under a green rock, or according to a tradition of Moḥammad, under the devil's jaw, to be there tormented till they are called up to be joined again to their bodies." But the souls of prophets are believed to be admitted immediately into paradise, and those of martyrs are said to rest in the crops of green birds which eat of the fruits of paradise and drink of its rivers.[297]
Of the opinions above mentioned, with respect to the souls of the faithful, I believe the first to be that which is most prevalent. It is generally said that these souls visit their respective graves every Friday; and according to some they return to their bodies on Friday, after the period of the afternoon prayers, and on Saturday and Monday; or on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; and remain until sunrise.[298]—I believe also, from having heard frequent allusions made to it as a thing not to be doubted, that the opinion respecting the Well of Barahoot commonly prevails in the present day. El-Ḳazweenee says of it, "It is a well near Haḍramót; and the Prophet (God bless and save him!) said, 'In it are the souls of the infidels and hypocrites.' It is an ´Adite well [i.e. ancient, as though made by the old tribe of ´Ad], in a dry desert, and a gloomy valley; and it is related of ´Alee (may God be well pleased with him!), that he said, 'The most hateful of districts unto God (whose name be exalted!) is the Valley of Barahoot, in which is a well whose water is black and fetid, where the souls of the infidels make their abode.' El-Asma'ee hath related of a man of Haḍramót that he said, 'We find near Barahoot an extremely disgusting and fetid smell, and then news is brought to us of the death of a great man of the chiefs of the infidels.' It is related, also, that a man who passed a night in the Valley of Barahoot, said, 'I heard all the night [exclamations] of O Roomeh! O Roomeh! and I mentioned this to a learned man, and he told me that it was the name of the angel commissioned to keep guard over the souls of the infidels.'"[299]
FOOTNOTES:
[289] "When any one of you dies," said the Prophet, "you must not keep him in the house; but carry him quickly to his grave:" and again he said, "Be quick in lifting up a bier; for if the deceased be a good man, it is good to take him up quickly, and carry him to his grave, to cause the good to arrive at happiness; and if the deceased be a bad man, it is a wickedness which ye put from your neck." (Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, i. 374, 387.)
[290] Two customs, namely, tying the toes of the corpse, and placing a knife, or rather a sword, upon the body, are still common in some Muslim countries; but I did not hear of their being observed in Egypt, nor the custom of putting salt with the knife or sword. Iron and salt are both believed to repel genii, and to prevent their approach, and hence, perhaps, are thus used.
[291] It is a common custom for a Muslim, on a military expedition, or during a long journey, especially in the desert, to carry his grave-linen with him; for he is extremely careful that he may be buried according to the law.
[292] More than one is unusual; but at the funeral of Moḥammad ´Alee, which I witnessed in Cairo, about eighty buffaloes were thus driven in the procession.—E. S. P.