THE SHAIKH OF THE DANCING DARWESHES AT CAIRO. (From a Photograph.)
Each order is established on different principles, and has its rules and statutes and peculiar devotions. These characteristics extend even to the garments worn by their followers. Each order has, in fact, a particular dress, and amongst the greater part of them this is chosen so as to mark a difference in that of the shaik͟h from that of the ordinary members. It is perceived principally in the turbans, the shape of the coat, the colours, and the nature of the stuff of which the dresses are made. The shaik͟hs wear robes of green or white cloth; and any of those who in winter line them with fur, use that kind called petit gris and zibaline martin. Few darweshes use cloth for their dress. Black or white felt dresses called ʿabāʾ, such as are made in some of the cities of Anatolia, are the most usual. Those who wear black felt are the Jalwatīs and the Qādirīs. The latter have adopted it for their boots, and muslin for their turbans. Some, such as the Maulawīs and the Bakrīs, wear tall caps called kulāhs, made also of felt; and others, such as the Rufāʿīs, use short caps called T̤āqīyah, to which is added a coarse cloth. The head-dress of almost all the darweshes is called tāj, which signifies a “crown.” These turbans are of different forms, either from the manner in which the muslin is folded, or by the cut of the cloth which covers the top of the head. The cloth is in several gores. Some have four, as the Adhamīs; some six, as the Qādirīs and the Saʿdīs; the Gulshanīs have eight; the Bak͟htāshīs twelve; and the Jalwatīs eighteen.
AN EGYPTIAN FAKIR. (From a Photograph.)
AN EGYPTIAN FAKIR. (From a Photograph.)
The darweshes carry about with them one or other of the following articles: a small crooked stick or iron, which the devotee places under his arm-pit or forehead, to lean upon when he meditates, or an iron or brass bar on which there is a little artificial hand wherewith to scratch his unwashed body, a bag made of lamb-skin, a kashkūl or beggar’s wallet.
Generally, all the darweshes allow their beards and mustachios to grow. Some of the orders—the Qādirīs, Rufāʿīs, K͟halwatīs, Gulshanīs, Jalwatīs, and the Nūru ʾd-dīnīs—still wear long hair, in memory of the usage of the Prophet and several of his disciples. Some allow their hair to fall over their shoulders; others tie it up and put it under their turban.
Whilst private Musulmāns are in the habit of holding rosaries of beads as a pastime, the darweshes do the same, only in a spirit of religion and piety. These rosaries have thirty-three, sixty-six, or ninety-nine beads, which is the number of the attributes of the Divinity [[GOD]]. Some have them always in their hands, others in their girdles; and all are required to recite, several times during the day, the particular prayers of their order. [[TASBIH].]
The individual who desires to enter an order is received in an assembly of the fraternity, presided over by the shaik͟h, who touches his hand and breathes in his ear three times the words, “Lā ilāha illa ʾllāh” (“There is no god but God”), commanding him to repeat them 101, 151, or 301 times each day. This ceremony is called the Talqīn. The recipient, faithful to the orders of his chief, obligates himself to spend his time in perfect retirement, and to report to the shaik͟h the visions or dreams which he may have during the course of his novitiate. These dreams, besides characterising the sanctity of his vocation, and his spiritual advancement in the order, serve likewise as so many supernatural means to direct the shaik͟h regarding the periods when he may again breathe in the ear of the neophyte the second words of the initiation, “Yā Allāh!” (“O God!”), and successively all the others to the last, “Yā Qahhār!” (“O avengeful God!”). The full complement of this exercise is called Chilleh, or “forty days,” a period sometimes even longer, according to the dispositions, more or less favourable, of the candidate. Arrived at the last grade of his novitiate, he is then supposed to have fully ended his career, called Takmīlu ʾs-Sulūk, and acquired the degree of perfection for his solemn admission into the corps to which he has devoted himself. During all his novitiate, the recipient bears the name of Murīd, or “Disciple,” and the shaik͟h who directs him in this pretended celestial career takes the title of Murshid, or “Spiritual Guide.”