There are two descriptions of magic; one is spiritual, and regarded by all but freethinkers as true; the other, natural, and denounced by the more religious and enlightened as deceptive.
I. Spiritual magic, which is termed "er-Rooḥánee" (vulgo "Rowḥánee"), chiefly depends upon the virtues of certain names of God, and passages from the Ḳur-án, and the agency of Angels and Jinn, or Genii. It is of two kinds: High and Low ("'Ilwee" and "Suflee"), or Divine and Satanic ("Raḥmánee," i. e. relating to "the Compassionate" [who is God], and "Sheyṭánee").
1. Divine magic is regarded as a sublime science, and is studied only by good men, and practised only for good purposes. Perfection in this branch of magic consists in the knowledge of "the most great name" of God ("el-Ism el Aạẓam"); but this knowledge is imparted to none but the peculiar favourites of Heaven. By virtue of this name, which was engraved on his seal-ring, Suleymán (or Solomon) subjected to his dominion the Jinn and the birds and the winds, as mentioned in a former note. By pronouncing it, his minister Áṣaf, also, transported, in an instant, to the presence of his sovereign, in Jerusalem, the throne of the Queen of Sheba.[127] But this was a small miracle to effect by such means; for, by uttering this name, a man may even raise the dead. Other names of the Deity, commonly known, are believed to have particular efficacies when uttered or written; as also are the names of the Prophet; and Angels and good Jinn are said to be rendered subservient to the purposes of divine magic by means of certain invocations. Of such names and invocations, together with words unintelligible to the uninitiated in this science, passages from the Ḳur-án, mysterious combinations of numbers, and peculiar diagrams and figures, are chiefly composed written charms employed for good purposes. Enchantment, when used for benevolent purposes, is regarded by the vulgar as a branch of lawful or divine magic; but not so by the learned; and the same remark applies to the science of divination.
2. Satanic magic, as its name implies, is a science depending on the agency of the Devil and the inferior evil Jinn, whose services are obtained by means similar to those which propitiate, or render subservient, the good Jinn. It is condemned by the Prophet and all good Muslims, and only practised for bad purposes.—Enchantment, which is termed "es-Seḥr," is almost universally acknowledged to be a branch of satanic magic; but some few persons assert (agreeably with several tales in this work), that it may be, and by some has been, studied with good intentions, and practised by the aid of good Jinn; consequently, that there is such a science as good enchantment, which is to be regarded as a branch of divine or lawful magic. The metamorphoses are said to be generally effected by means of spells, or invocations to Jinn, accompanied by the sprinkling of water or dust, &c., on the object to be transformed. Persons are said to be enchanted in various ways: some, paralyzed, or even deprived of life; others, affected with irresistible passion for certain objects; others, again, rendered demoniacs; and some, transformed into brutes, birds, &c. The evil eye is believed to enchant in a very powerful and distressing manner. This was acknowledged even by the Prophet.[128] Diseases and death are often attributed to its influence. Amulets, which are mostly written charms, of the kind above described, are worn by many Muslims with the view of counteracting, or preserving from, enchantment; and for the same purpose, many ridiculous ceremonies are practised.—Divination, which is termed "el-Kiháneh," is pronounced, on the highest authority, to be a branch of satanic magic; though not believed to be so by all Muslims. According to an assertion of the Prophet, what a fortune-teller says may sometimes be true; because one of the Jinn steals away the truth, and carries it to the magician's ear: for the Angels come down to the region next the earth (the lowest heaven), and mention the works that have been pre-ordained in heaven; and the Devils (or evil Jinn) listen to what the Angels say, and hear the orders predestined in heaven, and carry them to the fortune-tellers. It is on such occasions that shooting-stars are hurled at the Devils.[129] It is said that "the diviner obtains the services of the Sheyṭán by magic arts, and by names [invoked], and by the burning of perfumes, and he informs him of secret things: for the Devils, before the mission of the Apostle of God," it is added, "used to ascend to heaven, and hear words by stealth."[130] That the evil Jinn are believed still to ascend sufficiently near to the lowest heaven to hear the conversation of the Angels, and so to assist magicians, appears from the former quotation, and is asserted by all Muslims. The discovery of hidden treasures, before alluded to, is one of the objects for which divination is most studied.—The mode of divination called "Ḍarb el-Mendel" is by some supposed to be effected by the aid of evil Jinn; but the more enlightened of the Muslims regard it as a branch of natural magic. Some curious performances of this kind, by means of a fluid mirror of ink, have been described in my "Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," and in No. 117 of the "Quarterly Review."[131]
There are certain modes of divination which cannot properly be classed under the head of spiritual magic, but require a place between the account of this science and that of natural magic.—The most important of these branches of Kiháneh is Astrology, which is called "'Ilm en-Nujoom." This is studied by many Muslims in the present day; and its professors are often employed by the Arabs to determine a fortunate period for laying the foundation of a building, commencing a journey, &c.; but more frequently by the Persians and Turks. The Prophet pronounced astrology to be a branch of magic.[132]—Another branch of Kiháneh is Geomancy, called "Ḍarb er-Raml;" a mode of divination from certain marks made on sand (whence its appellation), or on paper; and said to be chiefly founded on astrology.—The science called "ez-Zijr," or "el-'Eyáfeh," is a third branch of Kiháneh; being divination or auguration chiefly from the motions and positions, or postures, of birds, or of gazelles and other beasts of the chase. Thus, what was termed a "Sáneḥ," that is, such an animal standing or passing with its right side towards the spectator, was esteemed among the Arabs as of good omen; and a "Báreḥ," or an animal of this kind with its left side towards the spectator, was held as inauspicious.[133]—"El-Ḳiyáfeh," under which term are included Chiromancy and its kindred sciences, is a fourth branch of Kiháneh.—"Et·Tefá-ul," or the taking an omen, particularly a good one, from a name or words accidentally heard or seen, or chosen from a book, belongs to the same science. The taking a "fál," or omen, from the Ḳur-án is generally held to be lawful.—Various trifling events are considered as ominous. For instance, a Sulṭán quitting his palace with his troops, a standard happened to strike a "thureiyà" (a cluster of lamps, so called from resembling the Pleiades), and broke them: he drew from this an evil omen, and would have relinquished the expedition; but one of his chief officers said to him, "O our lord, thy standards have reached the Pleiades;"—and, being relieved by this remark, he proceeded, and returned victorious.[134]—The interpretation of dreams, "Taạbeer el-Menámát," must also be classed among the branches of this science. According to the Prophet, it is the only branch of divination worthy of dependance. "Good dreams," said he, "are one of the parts of prophecy," and "nothing else of prophecy remains." "Good dreams are from God; and false dreams, from the Devil." "When any one of you has a bad dream, spit three times over your left shoulder, and seek protection with God from the Devil thrice; and turn from the side on which the dream was, to the other."[135] This rule is observed by many Muslims. Dreams are generally so fully relied upon by them as to be sometimes the means of deciding contested points in history and science. The sight, in a dream, of anything green or white, or of water, is considered auspicious; anything black or red, or fire, inauspicious.—The distinction of fortunate and unfortunate days should also here be mentioned. Thursday and Friday, especially the latter, are considered fortunate; Monday and Wednesday, doubtful; Sunday, Tuesday, and Saturday, especially the last, unfortunate. It is said that there are seven evil days in every [lunar] month; namely, the third, on which Ḳábeel (or Cain) killed Hábeel (Abel); the fifth, on which God cast down Adam from paradise, and afflicted the people of Yoonus (Jonas), and on which Yoosuf (or Joseph) was cast into the well; the thirteenth, on which God took away the wealth of Eiyoob (or Job), and afflicted him, and took away the kingdom from Suleymán (or Solomon), and on which the Jews killed the prophets; the sixteenth, on which God exterminated and buried the people of Looṭ (or Lot), and transformed three hundred Christians into swine, and Jews into apes, and on which the Jews sawed asunder Zekereeyà (or Zachariah); the twenty-first, on which Pharaoh was born, and on which he was drowned, and on which his nation was afflicted with the plagues; the twenty-fourth, on which Numrood[136] (or Nimrod) killed seventy women, and cast El-Khaleel (or Abraham) into the fire, and on which was slaughtered the camel of Ṣáleḥ; and the twenty-fifth, on which the suffocating wind was sent upon the people of Hood.[137]
II. Natural magic, which is called "es-Seemiyà," is regarded by most persons of the more enlightened classes of Muslims as altogether a deceptive art, no more worthy of respect than legerdemain; but it seems to be nearly allied to enchantment; for it is said to effect, in appearance, the most wonderful transformations, and to cause the most extraordinary visions; affecting the senses and imagination in a manner similar to opium. This and other drugs are supposed, by some persons, to be the chief means by which such illusions are caused; and perfumes, which are generally burnt in these performances, may operate in a similar manner. As such things are employed in performances of the kind called "Ḍarb el-Mendel," before mentioned, these feats are regarded by many as effected by natural magic, notwithstanding what has been said above respecting the services of evil Jinn being procured by means of perfumes.—Alchymy ("el-Keemiyà") is a branch of natural magic. It is studied by many Muslims of the present day, and by some of considerable talents and attainments.
The most celebrated of the magicians who have gained notoriety in Egypt during the course of the last hundred years, was the sheykh Aḥmad Ṣádoomeh, who flourished somewhat more than sixty years ago—I write in 1837. Several persons of Cairo, men of intelligence and of good education, have related to me various most marvellous stories of his performances, on the authority of eye-witnesses whom they considered veracious; but a more credible account of this magician I have found in the work of an excellent historian of Modern Egypt. This author mentions the sheykh Ṣádoomeh as an aged man, of venerable appearance, who derived his origin from the town of Semennood, in the Delta, and who acquired a very great and extensive celebrity for his attainments in spiritual and natural magic, and for holding converse, face to face, with Jinn, and causing them to appear to other persons, even to the blind, as men acquainted with him informed the historian. His contemporaries, says this writer, entertained various opinions respecting him; but, among them, a famous grammarian and general scholar, the sheykh Ḥasan El-Kafráwee, regarded him as a first-rate saint, who performed evident miracles; this learned man pronouncing as such the effects of "his legerdemain and natural magic." His fame he describes as having increased until he was induced to try an unlucky experiment. A Memlook chief, Yoosuf Bey, saw some magic characters written on the body of one of his female slaves, and, exasperated by jealousy, commanded her, with a threat of instant death, to tell him who had done this. She confessed that a woman had taken her to the sheykh Ṣádoomeh, and that he had written this charm to attract to her the Bey's love. Upon hearing this, he instantly sent some attendants to seize the magician, and to put him to death, and throw him into the Nile; which was done.[138] But the manner in which the seizure was made, as related to me by one of my friends, deserves to be mentioned. Several persons, one after another, endeavoured to lay hold upon him; but every arm that was stretched forth for this purpose was instantly paralyzed, through a spell muttered by the magician; until a man behind him thrust a gag into his mouth, and so stopped his enchantments.
Of the stories related to me of Ṣádoomeh's miracles, the following will serve as a specimen:—In order to give one of his friends a treat, he took him to the distance of about half an hour's walk into the desert on the north of Cairo; here they both sat down, upon the pebbly and sandy plain, and, the magician having uttered a spell, they suddenly found themselves in the midst of a garden, like one of the gardens of paradise, abounding with flowers and fruit-trees of every kind, springing up from a soil clothed with verdure brilliant as the emerald, and irrigated by numerous streamlets of the clearest water. A repast of the most delicious viands and fruits and wines was spread before them by invisible hands; and they both ate to satiety, taking copious draughts of the various wines. At length, the magician's guest sank into a deep sleep; and when he awoke, he found himself again in the pebbly and sandy plain, with Ṣádoomeh still by his side.—The reader will probably attribute this vision to a dose of opium or some similar drug; and such I suppose to have been the means employed; for I cannot doubt the integrity of the narrator, though he would not admit such an explanation; regarding the whole as an affair of magic, effected by the operation of Jinn, like similar relations in the present work.
It may be remarked that most of the enchantments described in this work are said to be performed by women; and reputed witches appear to have been much more numerous in all countries than wizards. This fact the Muslims readily explain by a saying of their Prophet:—That women are deficient in sense and religion:—whence they argue that they are more inclined than men to practise what is unlawful.
Note [16.]—On the Two Grand Festivals. The Muslims observe two grand 'Eeds, or Festivals, in every year. The first of these immediately follows Ramaḍán, the month of abstinence, and lasts three days: it is called the Minor Festival. The other, which is called the Great Festival, commences on the tenth of Zu-l-Ḥejjeh, the day when the pilgrims, halting on their return from Mount 'Arafát to Mekkeh, in the Valley of Minè (vulgarly called Munà), perform their sacrifice: the observance of this festival also continues three days, or four.