The Arabs entertain remarkable opinions with respect to the offices and supernatural powers of their saints, which form an important part of the mysteries of the Darweeshes (Dervishes), and are but imperfectly known to the generality of Muslims.

Muslim Saints and devotees are known by the common appellation of Welees, or particular favourites of God. The more eminent among them compose a mysterious hierarchical body, whose government respects the whole human race, infidels as well as believers, but whose power is often exercised in such a manner that the subjects influenced by it know not from what person or persons its effects proceed. The general governor or coryphaeus of these holy beings is commonly called the K?ut?b, which literally signifies a "pole," or an "axis," and is metaphorically used to signify a "chief," either in a civil or political, or in a spiritual sense. The K?ut?b of the saints is distinguished by other appellations: he is called K?ut?b el-GhÓs, or K?ut?b el-GhÓth (the K?ut?b of Invocation for Help), etc.; and simply, El-GhÓs.[64] The orders under the rule of this chief are called ´Omud (or OwtÁd), AkhyÁr, AbdÁl, Nujaba, and Nuk?aba: I name them according to their precedence.[65] Perhaps to these should be added an inferior order called As?h?Áb ed-Darak, i.e. "Watchmen," or "Overseers." The members are not known as such to their inferior unenlightened fellow-creatures, and are often invisible to them. This is more frequently the case with the K?ut?b, who, though generally stationed at Mekkeh, on the roof of the Kaa?beh, is never visible there, nor at any of his other favourite stations or places of resort; yet his voice is often heard at these places. Whenever he and the saints under his authority mingle among ordinary men, they are not distinguished by a dignified appearance, but are always humbly clad. These, and even inferior saints, are said to perform astonishing miracles, such as flying in the air, passing unhurt through fire, swallowing fire, glass, etc., walking upon water, transporting themselves in a moment of time to immense distances, and supplying themselves and others with food in desert places. Their supernatural power they are supposed to obtain by a life of the most exalted piety, and especially by constant self-denial, accompanied with the most implicit reliance upon God, by the services of good genii, and, as many believe, by the knowledge and utterance of "the most great name" of God. A miracle performed by a saint is distinguished by the term "karÁmeh" from one performed by a prophet, which is called "moa?jizeh."

El-Khid?r and IlyÁs (Elias), are both believed to have been K?ut?bs, and the latter is called in the K?ur-Án an apostle; but it is disputed whether the former was a prophet or merely a welee. Both are said to have drunk of the Fountain of Life, and to be in consequence still living; and IlyÁs is commonly believed to invest the successive K?ut?bs. The similarity of the miracles ascribed to the K?ut?bs to those performed by Elias or Elijah, I have remarked in a former work.[66] Another miracle, reminding us of the mantle of Elijah in the hands of his successor, may here be mentioned.—A saint who was the K?ut?b of his time, dying at Tunis, left his clothes in trust to his attendant, Moh?ammad El-Ashwam, a native of the neighbouring regency of Tripoli, who desired to sell these relics, but was counselled to retain them, and accordingly, though high prices were bidden for them, made them his own by purchase. As soon as they became his property, he was affected, we are told, with a divine ecstasy, and endowed with miraculous powers.[67]

Innumerable miracles are related to have been performed by Muslim saints, and large volumes are filled with the histories of their wonderful lives. The author of the work from which the above story is taken, mentions, as a fact to be relied on, in an account of one of his ancestors, that, his lamp happening to go out one night while he was reading alone in the riwÁk? of the Jabart (of which he was the sheykh), in the great mosque El-Azhar, the forefinger of his right hand emitted a light which enabled him to continue his reading until his nak?eeb had trimmed and lighted another lamp.[68]

From many stories of a similar kind that I have read, I select the following as a fair specimen: it is related by a very celebrated saint, IbrÁheem El-KhowwÁs?.—"I entered the desert [on pilgrimage to Mekkeh from El-´IrÁk?], and there joined me a man having a belt round his waist, and I said, 'Who art thou?'—He answered, 'A Christian; and I desire thy company.' We walked together for seven days, eating nothing; after which he said to me, 'O monk of the Muslims, produce what thou hast in the way of refreshment, for we are hungry:' so I said, 'O my God, disgrace me not before this infidel:' and lo, a tray, upon which were bread and broiled meat and fresh dates and a mug of water. We ate, and continued our journey seven days more; and I then said to him, 'O monk of the Christians, produce what thou hast in the way of refreshment; for the turn is come to thee:' whereupon he leaned upon his staff, and prayed; and lo, two trays, containing double that which was on my tray. I was confounded, and refused to eat: he urged me, saying, 'Eat;' but I did it not. Then said he, 'Be glad; for I give thee two pieces of good news: one of them is that I testify that there is no deity but God and that Moh?ammad is God's Apostle: the other, that I said, O God, if there be worth in this servant, supply me with two trays:—so this is through thy blessing.' We ate, and the man put on the dress of pilgrimage, and so entered Mekkeh, where he remained with me a year as a student; after which he died, and I buried him in [the cemetery] El-Maa?lÀ." "And God," says the author from whom I take this story, "is all-knowing:" i.e. He alone knoweth whether it be strictly true: but this is often added to the narration of traditions resting upon high authority.[69]

The saint above mentioned was called "El-KhowwÁs?" (or the maker of palm-leaf baskets, etc.) from the following circumstance, related by himself.—"I used," said he, "to go out of the town [Er-Rei] and sit by a river on the banks of which was abundance of palm-leaves; and it occurred to my mind to make every day five baskets [k?uffehs], and to throw them into the river, for my amusement, as if I were obliged to do so. My time was so passed for many days: at length, one day, I thought I would walk after the baskets, and see whither they had gone: so I proceeded awhile along the bank of the river, and found an old woman sitting sorrowful. On that day I had made nothing. I said to her, 'Wherefore do I see thee sorrowful?' She answered, 'I am a widow: my husband died leaving five daughters, and nothing to maintain them; and it is my custom to repair every day to this river, and there come to me, upon the surface of the water, five baskets, which I sell, and by means of them I procure food; but to-day they have not come, and I know not what to do.' Upon hearing this, I raised my head towards heaven, and said, 'O my God, had I known that I had more than five children to maintain, I had laboured more diligently.'" He then took the old woman to his house, and gave her money and flour, and said to her, "Whenever thou wantest anything, come hither and take what may suffice thee."[70]

An irresistible influence has often been exercised over the minds of princes and other great men by reputed saints. Many a Muslim Monarch has thus been incited (as the Kings of Christendom were by Peter the Hermit) to undertake religious wars, or urged to acts of piety and charity, or restrained from tyranny, by threats of Divine vengeance to be called down upon his head by the imprecations of a welee. ´Alee, the favourite son of the Khaleefeh El-Ma-moon, was induced for the sake of religion to flee from the splendour and luxuries of his father's court, and after the example of a self-denying devotee to follow the occupation of a porter in a state of the most abject poverty at El-Bas?rah, fasting all the day, remaining without sleep at night in a mosque, and walking barefooted, until, under an accumulation of severe sufferings, he prematurely ended his days, dying on a mat. The honours which he refused to receive in life were paid to him after his death: his rank being discovered by a ring and paper which he left, his corpse was anointed with camphor and musk and aloes, wrapped in fine linen of Egypt, and so conveyed to his distressed father at BaghdÁd.[71]

Self-denial I have before mentioned as one of the most important means by which to attain the dignity of a welee. A very famous saint, Esh-Shiblee, is said to have received from his father an inheritance of sixty millions of deenÁrs (a sum incredible, and probably a mistake for sixty thousand, or for sixty million dirhems) besides landed property, and to have expended it all in charity: also, to have thrown into the Tigris seventy hundred-weight of books, written by his own hand during a period of twenty years.[72]

ShÁh El-KarmÁnee, another celebrated saint, had a beautiful daughter, whom the Sult?Án of his country sought in marriage. The holy man required three days to consider his sovereign's proposal, and in the mean time visited several mosques, in one of which he saw a young man humbly occupied in prayer. Having waited till he had finished, he accosted him, saying, "My son, hast thou a wife?" Being answered "No," he said, "I have a maiden, a virtuous devotee, who hath learned the whole of the K?ur-Án, and is amply endowed with beauty. Dost thou desire her?"—"Who," said the young man, "will marry me to such a one as thou hast described, when I possess no more than three dirhems?"—"I will marry thee to her," answered the saint: "she is my daughter, and I am ShÁh the son of ShujÁa? El-KarmÁnee: give me the dirhems that thou hast, that I may buy a dirhem's worth of bread, and a dirhem's worth of something savoury, and a dirhem's worth of perfume." The marriage-contract was performed; but when the bride came to the young man, she saw a stale cake of bread placed upon the top of his mug; upon which she put on her izÁr, and went out. Her husband said, "Now I perceive that the daughter of ShÁh El-KarmÁnee is displeased with my poverty." She answered, "I did not withdraw from fear of poverty, but on account of the weakness of thy faith, seeing how thou layest by a cake of bread for the morrow."[73]

One of my friends in Cairo, Abu-l-K?Ásim of JeelÁn, entertained me with a long relation of the mortifications and other means which he employed to attain the rank of a welee. These were chiefly self-denial and a perfect reliance upon Providence. He left his home in a state of voluntary destitution and complete nudity, to travel through Persia and the surrounding countries and yet more distant regions if necessary, in search of a spiritual guide. For many days he avoided the habitations of men, fasting from daybreak till sunset, and then eating nothing but a little grass or a few leaves or wild fruits, till by degrees he habituated himself to almost total abstinence from every kind of nourishment. His feet, at first blistered and cut by sharp stones, soon became callous; and in proportion to his reduction of food, his frame, contrary to the common course of nature, became (according to his own account) more stout and lusty. Bronzed by the sun, and with his black hair hanging over his shoulders (for he had abjured the use of the razor), he presented in his nudity a wild and frightful appearance, and on his first approaching a town, was surrounded and pelted by a crowd of boys; he therefore retreated, and, after the example of our first parents, made himself a partial covering of leaves; and this he always afterwards did on similar occasions, never remaining long enough in a town for his leafy apron to wither. The abodes of mankind he always passed at a distance, excepting when several days' fast, while traversing an arid desert, compelled him to obtain a morsel of bread or a cup of water from the hand of some charitable fellow-creature.

One thing that he particularly dreaded was to receive relief from a sinful man, or from a demon in the human form. In passing over a parched and desolate tract, where for three days he had found nothing to eat, not even a blade of grass, nor a spring from which to refresh his tongue, he became overpowered with thirst, and prayed that God would send him a messenger with a pitcher of water. "But," said he, "let the water be in a green BaghdÁdee pitcher, that I may know it to be from Thee, and not from the Devil; and when I ask the bearer to give me to drink, let him pour it over my head, that I may not too much gratify my carnal desire."—"I looked behind me," he continued, "and saw a man bearing a green BaghdÁdee pitcher of water, and said to him, 'Give me to drink;' and he came up to me, and poured the contents over my head, and departed! By Allah it was so!"

Rejoicing in this miracle, as a proof of his having attained to a degree of wilÁyeh (or saintship), and refreshed by the water, he continued his way over the desert, more firm than ever in his course of self-denial, which, though imperfectly followed, had been the means of his being thus distinguished. But the burning thirst returned shortly after, and he felt himself at the point of sinking under it, when he beheld before him a high hill, with a rivulet running by its base. To the summit of this hill he determined to ascend, by way of mortification, before he would taste the water, and this point, with much difficulty, he reached at the close of day. Here standing, he saw approaching, below, a troop of horsemen, who paused at the foot of the hill, when their chief, who was foremost, called out to him by name, "O Abu-l-K?Ásim! O JeelÁnee! Come down and drink!"—but persuaded by this that he was Iblees with a troop of his sons, the evil Genii, he withstood the temptation, and remained stationary until the deceiver with his attendants had passed on and were out of sight. The sun had then set; his thirst had somewhat abated; and he only drank a few drops.

Continuing his wanderings in the desert, he found upon a pebbly plain an old man with a long white beard, who accosted him, asking of what he was in search. "I am seeking," he answered, "a spiritual guide; and my heart tells me that thou art the guide I seek." "My son," said the old man, "thou seest yonder a saint's tomb; it is a place where prayer is answered; go thither, enter it, and seat thyself: neither eat nor drink nor sleep; but occupy thyself solely, day and night, in repeating silently, 'LÁ ilÁha illa-llÁh' (There is no deity but God); and let not any living creature see thy lips move in doing so; for among the peculiar virtues of these words is this, that they may be uttered without any motion of the lips. Go, and peace be on thee!"

"Accordingly," said my friend, "I went thither. It was a small square building, crowned by a cupola; and the door was open. I entered, and seated myself, facing the niche and the oblong monument over the grave. It was evening, and I commenced my silent professions of the unity, as directed by my guide; and at dusk I saw a white figure seated beside me, as if assisting in my devotional task. I stretched forth my hand to touch it; but found that it was not a material substance; yet there it was: I saw it distinctly. Encouraged by this vision, I continued my task for three nights and days without intermission, neither eating nor drinking, yet increasing in strength both of body and of spirit; and on the third day, I saw written upon the whitewashed walls of the tomb, and on the ground, and in the air, wherever I turned my eyes, 'LÁ ilÁha illa-llÁh;' and whenever a fly entered the tomb, it formed these words in its flight. By Allah it was so! My object was now fully attained: I felt myself endowed with supernatural knowledge: thoughts of my friends and acquaintances troubled me not; but I knew where each one of them was, in Persia, India, Arabia, and Turkey, and what each was doing. I experienced an indescribable happiness. This state lasted several years; but at length I was insensibly enticed back to worldly objects: I came to this country; my fame as a calligraphist drew me into the service of the government; and now see what I am, decked with pelisses and shawls, and with this thing [a diamond order] on my breast; too old, I fear, to undergo again the self-denial necessary to restore me to true happiness, though I have almost resolved to make the attempt."

Soon after this conversation, he was deprived of his office, and died of the plague. He was well known to have passed several years as a wandering devotee; and his sufferings, combined with enthusiasm, perhaps disordered his imagination, and made him believe that he really saw the strange sights which he described to me; for there was an appearance of earnestness and sincerity in his manner, such as I thought could hardly be assumed by a conscious impostor.

Insanity, however, if not of a very violent and dangerous nature, is commonly regarded by Muslims as a quality that entitles the subject of it to be esteemed as a saint; being supposed to be the abstraction of the mind from worldly affairs, and its total devotion to God. This popular superstition is a fertile source of imposture; for, a reputation for sanctity being so easily obtained and supported, there are numbers of persons who lay claim to it from motives of indolence and licentiousness, eager to receive alms merely for performing the tricks of madmen, and greedy of indulging in pleasures forbidden by the law; such indulgences not being considered in their case as transgressions by the common people, but rather as indications of holy frenzy. From my own observation I should say that lunatics or idiots, or impostors, constitute the majority of the persons reputed to be saints among the Muslims of the present day; and most of those who are not more than slightly tinged with insanity are darweeshes.

A reputed saint of this description in Cairo, in whom persons of some education put great faith, affected to have a particular regard for me. He several times accosted me in an abrupt manner, acquainted me with the state of my family in England, and uttered incoherent predictions respecting me, all of which communications, excepting one which he qualified with an "in shÁa-llÁh" (or "if it be the will of God"), I must confess, proved to be true; but I must also state that he was acquainted with two of my friends who might have materially assisted him to frame these predictions, though they protested to me that they had not done so. The following extract from a journal which I kept in Cairo during my last visit to Egypt, will convey some idea of this person, who will serve as a picture of many of his fraternity.—To-day (Nov. 6th, 1834), as I was sitting in the shop of the PÁsha's booksellers, a reputed saint, whom I have often seen here, came and seated himself by me, and began, in a series of abrupt sentences, to relate to me various matters respecting me, past, present, and to come. He is called the sheykh ´Alee el-Leythee. He is a poor man, supported by alms; tall and thin and very dark, about thirty years of age, and wears nothing at present but a blue shirt and a girdle and a padded red cap. "O Efendee," he said, "thou hast been very anxious for some days. There is a grain of anxiety remaining in thee yet. Do not fear. There is a letter coming to thee by sea, that will bring thee good news." He then proceeded to tell me of the state of my family, and that all were well excepting one, whom he particularized by description, and who he stated to be then suffering from an intermittent fever. [This proved to be exactly true.] "This affliction," he continued, "may be removed by prayer; and the excellences of the next night, the night of [i.e. preceding] the first Friday of the month of Rejeb, of Rejeb, the holy Rejeb, are very great. I wanted to ask thee for something to-day; but I feared, I feared greatly. Thou must be invested with the wilÁyeh [i.e. be made a welee]: the welees love thee, and the Prophet loves thee. Thou must go to the sheykh Mus?t?afÀ El-MunÁdee and the sheykh El-BahÁee.[74] Thou must be a welee." He then took my right hand, in the manner commonly practised in the ceremony which admits a person a darweesh, and repeated the FÁtih?ah; after which he added, "I have admitted thee my darweesh." Having next told me of several circumstances relating to my family—matters of an unusual nature—with singular minuteness and truth, he added, "To-night, if it be the will of God, thou shalt see the Prophet in thy sleep, and El-Khid?r and the Seyyid El-Bedawee. This is Rejeb, and I wanted to ask thee—but I feared—I wanted to ask of thee four piasters, to buy meat and bread and oil and radishes. Rejeb! Rejeb! I have great offices to do for thee to-night."

Less than a shilling for all he promised was little enough: I gave it him for the trouble he had taken; and he uttered many abrupt prayers for me. In the following night, however, I saw in my sleep neither Moh?ammad, nor El-Khid?r, nor the Seyyid El-Bedawee, unless, like Nebuchadnezzar, I was unable on awaking to remember my dreams.

Some reputed saints of the more respectable class, to avoid public notice, wear the general dress and manners of their fellow-countrymen, and betray no love of ostentation in their acts of piety and self-denial; or live as hermits in desert places, depending solely upon Providence for their support, and are objects of pious and charitable visits from the inhabitants of near and distant places, and from casual travellers. Others distinguish themselves by the habit of a darweesh, or by other peculiarities, such as a long and loose coat (called dilk?) composed of patches of cloth of various colours, long strings of beads hung upon the neck, a ragged turban, and a staff with shreds of cloth of different colours attached to the top; or obtain a reputation for miraculous powers by eating glass, fire, serpents, etc. Some of those who are insane, and of those who feign to be so, go about, even in crowded cities, in a state of perfect nudity, and are allowed to commit with impunity acts of brutal sensuality which the law, when appealed to, should punish with death. Such practices are forbidden by the religion and law even in the cases of saints; but common and deeply-rooted superstition prevents their punishment.

During the occupation of Egypt by the French, the Commander-in-chief, Menou, applied to the sheykhs (or ´UlamÀ) of the city for their opinion "respecting those persons who were accustomed to go about in the streets in a state of nudity, crying out and screaming, and arrogating to themselves the dignity of wilÁyeh, relied upon as saints by the generality of the people, neither performing the prayers of the Muslims nor fasting," asking whether such conduct was permitted by the religion, or contrary to the law. He was answered, "Conduct of this description is forbidden, and repugnant to our religion and law and to our traditions." The French General thanked them for this answer, and gave orders to prevent such practices in future, and to seize every one seen thus offending; if insane, to confine him in the MÁristÁn (or hospital and lunatic asylum); and if not insane, to compel him either to relinquish his disgusting habits, or to leave the city.[75]

Of reputed saints of this kind, thus writes an enlightened poet, El-Bedree El-H?ijÁzee:—

These lines are quoted by El-Jabartee, in his account of a very celebrated modern saint, the seyyid ´Alee El-Bekree (events of Rabeea? eth-ThÁnee, 1214). A brief history of this person will not be here misplaced, as it will present a good illustration of the general character and actions of those insane individuals who are commonly regarded as saints.

The seyyid ´Alee El-Bekree was a mejzoob (or insane person) who was considered an eminent welee, and much trusted in: for several years he used to walk naked about the streets of Cairo, with a shaven face, bearing a long nebboot (or staff), and uttering confused language, which the people attentively listened to, and interpreted according to their desires and the exigencies of their states. He was a tall, spare man, and sometimes wore a shirt and a cotton skull-cap; but he was generally barefooted and naked. The respect with which he was treated induced a woman, who was called the sheykhah Ammooneh, to imitate his example further than decency allowed: she followed him whithersoever he went, covered at first with her izÁr (or large cotton veil thrown over the head and body), and muttering, like him, confused language. Entering private houses with him, she used to ascend to the h?areems, and gained the faith of the women, who presented her with money and clothes, and spread abroad that the sheykh ´Alee had looked upon her, and affected her with religious frenzy, so that she had become a weleeyeh, or female saint. Afterwards, becoming more insane and intoxicated, she uncovered her face, and put on the clothing of a man; and thus attired she still accompanied the sheykh, and the two wandered about, followed by numbers of children and common vagabonds; some of whom also stripped off their clothes in imitation of the sheykh, and followed, dancing; their mad actions being attributed (like those of the woman) to religious frenzy, induced by his look or touch, which converted them into saints. The vulgar and young, who daily followed them, consequently increased in numbers; and some of them, in passing through the market-streets, snatched away goods from the shops, thus exciting great commotion wherever they went. When the sheykh sat down in any place, the crowd stopped, and the people pressed to see him and his mad companions. On these occasions the woman used to mount upon the mas?t?abah of a shop, or ascend a hillock, and utter disgusting language, sometimes in Arabic, and sometimes in Turkish, while many persons among her audience would kiss her hands to derive a blessing. After having persevered for some time in this course, none preventing them, the party entered one day the lane leading from the principal street of the city to the house of the K?Ád?ee, and were seized by a Turkish officer there residing, named Jaa?far KÁshif, who, having brought them into his house, gave the sheykh some food, and drove out the spectators, retaining the woman and the mejzoobs, whom he placed in confinement. He then liberated the sheykh ´Alee, brought out the woman and the mejzoobs and beat them, sent the woman to the MÁristÁn and there confined her, and set at large the rest, after they had prayed for mercy and clothed themselves and recovered from their intoxication. The woman remained awhile confined in the MÁristÁn, and when liberated lived alone as a sheykhah, believed in by men and women, and honoured as a saint with visits and festivals.

The seyyid ´Alee, after he had thus been deprived of his companions and imitators, was constrained to lead a different kind of life. He had a cunning brother, who, to turn the folly of this saint to a good account, and fill his own purse, (seeing how great faith the people placed in him, as the Egyptians are prone to do in such a case), confined him in his house, and clothed him, asserting that he had his permission to do so, and that he had been invested with the dignity of K?ut?b. Thus he contrived to attract crowds of persons, men and women, to visit him. He forbade him to shave his beard, which consequently grew to its full size; and his body became fat and stout from abundance of food and rest; for, while he went about naked, he was, as before mentioned, of a lean figure. During that period he used generally to pass the night wandering without food through the streets in winter and summer. Having now servants to wait upon him, whether sleeping or waking, he passed his time in idleness, uttering confused and incoherent words, and sometimes laughing and sometimes scolding; and in the course of his idle loquacity he could not but let fall some words applicable to the affairs of some of his listening visitors, who attributed such expressions to his supernatural knowledge of the thoughts of their hearts, and interpreted them as warnings or prophecies. Men and women, and particularly the wives of the grandees, flocked to him with presents and votive offerings, which enriched the coffers of his brother; and the honours which he received ceased not with his death. His funeral was attended by multitudes from every quarter. His brother buried him in the mosque of Esh-SharÁÏbee, in the quarter of the Ezbekeeyeh, made for him a mak?s?oorah (or railed enclosure) and an oblong monument over the grave, and frequently repaired thither with readers of the K?ur-Án, munshids to sing odes in his honour, flag-bearers, and other persons, who wailed and screamed, rubbed their faces against the bars of the window before his grave, and caught the air of the place in their hands to thrust it into their bosoms and pockets. Men and women came crowding together to visit his tomb, bringing votive offerings and wax candles and eatables of various kinds to distribute for his sake to the poor.[76] The oblong monument over his grave, resembling a large chest, was covered, when I was in Cairo, with a black stuff ornamented by a line of words from the K?ur-Án, in white characters, surrounding it. A servant who accompanied me during my rides and walks used often to stop as we passed this tomb, and touch the wooden bars of the window above mentioned with his right hand, which he then kissed to obtain a blessing.

In most cases greater honour is paid to a reputed saint after his death, than he receives in his life. A small, square, whitewashed building, crowned with a dome, is generally erected as his tomb, surrounding an oblong monument of stone, brick, or wood, which is immediately over the sepulchral vault. At least one such building forms a conspicuous object close by, or within, almost every Arab village; for the different villages, and different quarters of every town and city, have their respective patron saints, whose tombs are frequently visited, and are the scenes of periodical festivals, generally celebrated once in every year. The tombs of many very eminent saints are mosques; and some of these are large and handsome edifices, the monument being under a large and lofty dome and surrounded by an enclosure of wooden railings, or of elegantly worked bronze. In these buildings also, and in some others, the monument is covered with silk or cotton stuff ornamented with words from the K?ur-Án, which form a band around it. Many buildings of the more simple kind erected in honour of saints, and some of the larger description, are mere cenotaphs, or cover only some relic of the person to whom they are dedicated. The tombs and cenotaphs, or shrines of saints, are visited by numerous persons, and on frequent occasions; most commonly on a particular day of the week. The object of the visitor, in general, is to perform some meritorious act, such as taking bread, or other food, or money, for the poor, or distributing water to the thirsty, on account of the saint, to increase his rewards in heaven, and at the same time to draw down a blessing on himself; or to perform a sacrifice of a sheep, goat, calf, or other animal, which he has vowed to offer, if blessed with some specific object of desire, or to obtain general blessings; or to implore the saint's intercession in some case of need. The flesh of the devoted animal is given to the poor. The visitors also often take with them palm-branches, or sprigs of myrtle, or roses or other flowers, to lay upon the monument, as they do when they visit the tombs of their relations. The visitor walks round the monument, or its enclosure, from left to right, or with his left side towards it (as the pilgrims do round the Kaa?beh), sometimes pausing to touch its four angles or corners with his right hand, which he then kisses; and recites the opening chapter of the K?ur-Án (the FÁtih?ah) standing before one or each of its four sides. Some visitors repeat also the chapter of YÁ-Seen (the 36th), or employ a person to recite this, or even the whole of the K?ur-Án, for hire. The reciter afterwards declares that he transfers the merit of this work to the soul of the deceased saint. Any private petition the visitor offers up on his own account, imploring a favourable answer for the sake of the saint, or through his intercession; holding his hands before his face like an open book, and then drawing them down his face. Many a visitor, on entering the tomb, kisses the threshold, or touches it with his right hand, which he then kisses; and on passing by it, persons often touch the window and kiss the hand thus honoured.

The great periodical or annual festivals are observed with additional ceremonies, and by crowds of visitors. These are called Moolids (more properly MÓlids), and are held on the anniversary of the birth of the saint or in commemoration of that event. Persons are then hired to recite the K?ur-Án in and near the tomb during the day; and others, chiefly darweeshes, employ themselves during the night in performing zikrs, which consist in repeating the name of God, or the profession of his unity, etc., in chorus, accompanying the words by certain motions of the head, hands, or whole body; munshids, at intervals, singing religious odes or love songs during these performances, to the accompaniment of a nÁy, which is a kind of flute, or the arghool, which is a double reed-pipe. These moolids are scenes of rejoicing and of traffic, which men and boys and girls attend to eat sweetmeats, and drink coffee and sherbets, or to amuse themselves with swinging, or turning on a whirligig, or witnessing the feats of conjurers, or the performances of dancers; and to which tradesmen repair to sell or barter their goods. The visitors to the great moolids of the Seyyid Ah?mad El-Bedawee at T?ant?À in the Delta of Egypt, which are great fairs as well as religious festivals, are almost as numerous as the pilgrims at Mekkeh. During a moolid, the inhabitants of the houses in the neighbourhood of the tomb hang lamps before their houses, and spend a great part of the night listening to the story-tellers at the coffee-shops, or attending the zikrs.

These latter performances, though so common among the Arabs, are inconsistent with the spirit of the Mohammadan religion, and especially with respect to music, which was not employed in religious ceremonies until after the second century of the Flight. The ImÁm Aboo-Bekr Et?-T?oosee, being asked whether it were lawful or not to be present with people who assembled in a certain place and read a portion of the K?ur-Án, and, after a munshid had recited some poetry, would dance and become excited and play upon tambourines and pipes,—answered, that such practices were vain, ignorant, and erroneous, not ordained by the K?ur-Án or the Traditions of the Prophet, but invented by those Israelites who worshipped the Golden Calf; that the Prophet and his companions used to sit so quietly that a bird might alight upon the head of any one of them and not be disturbed; that it was incumbent on the Sult?Án and his vicegerents to prevent such persons from entering the mosques and other places for these purposes; and that no one who believed in God and the Last Day should be present with them or assist them in their vain performances: such, he asserted, was the opinion of the ImÁms of the Muslims.[77] Some eminent doctors, however, have contended for the lawfulness of these practices.

The following is an account of a Zikr I myself witnessed. The zikkeers (or performers of the zikr), who were about thirty in number, sat cross-legged upon matting extended close to the houses on one side of the street, in the form of an oblong ring.[78] Within this ring, along the middle of the matting, were placed three very large wax candles, each about four feet high, and stuck in a low candlestick. Most of the zikkeers were Ah?medee darweeshes, persons of the lower orders, and meanly dressed: many of them wore green turbans. At one end of the ring were four munshids (or singers of religious odes), and with them was a player on the kind of flute called nÁy. I procured a small seat of palm-sticks from a coffee-shop close by, and, by means of a little pushing and the assistance of my servant, obtained a place with the munshids, and sat there to hear a complete act, or "mejlis," of the zikr; which act commenced at about three o'clock, Muslim time (or three hours after sunset), and continued two hours.

The performers began by reciting the opening chapter of the K?ur-Án, all together, their sheykh, or chief, first exclaiming, "El-FÁtih?ah!" They then chanted the following words:—"O God, bless our lord Moh?ammad among the former generations; and bless our lord Moh?ammad among the latter generations; and bless our lord Moh?ammad in every time and period; and bless our lord Moh?ammad in the highest degree, unto the day of judgment; and bless all the prophets and apostles among the inhabitants of the heavens and of the earth; and may God (whose name be blessed and exalted!) be well pleased with our lords and our masters, those persons of illustrious estimation, Aboo-Bekr and ´Omar and ´OthmÁn and ´Alee, and with all the favourites of God. God is our sufficiency; and excellent is the Guardian! There is no strength nor power but in God, the High, the Great! O God! O our Lord! O thou liberal of pardon! O thou most bountiful of the most bountiful! O God! Amen!"—They were then silent for three or four minutes; and again recited the FÁtih?ah, but silently. This form of prefacing the zikr is commonly used by almost all orders of darweeshes in Egypt.

The performers now began the zikr itself. Sitting in the manner above described, they chanted, in slow measure, "LÁ ilÁha illa-llÁh" ("There is no deity but God") to the following air:—

bowing the head and body twice in each repetition of "LÁ ilÁha illa-llÁh." Thus they continued about a quarter of an hour; and then, for about the same space of time, they repeated the same words to the same air, but in a quicker measure and with correspondingly quicker motions. In the mean time, the munshids frequently sang to the same (or a variation of the same) air portions of a k?as?eedeh or of a muweskshah?;[79] an ode of a similar nature to the Song of Solomon, generally alluding to the Prophet as the object of love and praise; and at frequent intervals one of them sang out the word "meded," implying an invocation for spiritual or supernatural aid.

The zikkeers, after having performed as above described, next repeated the same words to a different air for about the same length of time; first very slowly, then quickly. The air was as follows:—

Then they repeated these words again, to the following air, in the same manner:

They next rose, and, standing in the same order in which they had been sitting, repeated the same words to another air. After which, still standing, they repeated these words in a very deep and hoarse tone, laying the principal emphasis upon the word "LÁ" and the penultimate syllable of the following words, and uttering apparently with a considerable effort: the sound much resembled that which is produced by beating the rim of a tambourine. Each zikkee turned his head alternately to the right and left at each repetition of "LÁ ilÁha illa-llÁh." One of them, a eunuch, at this part of the zikr, was seized with an epileptic fit, evidently the result of a high state of religious excitement; but nobody seemed surprised at it, for occurrences of this kind at zikrs are not uncommon. All the performers now seemed much excited; repeating their ejaculations with greater rapidity, violently turning their heads, and sinking the whole body at the same time: some of them jumping. The eunuch above mentioned was again seized with fits several times; and I generally remarked that this happened after one of the munshids had sung a line or two and exerted himself more than usual to excite his hearers: the singing was, indeed, to my taste, very pleasing. The contrast presented by the vehement and distressing exertions of the performers at the close of the zikr, and their calm gravity and solemnity of manner at the commencement, was particularly striking. Money was collected during the performance for the munshids. The zikkeers receive no pay.

The most approved and common mode of entertaining guests at modern private festivities among the Arabs is by a Khatmeh, which is the recitation of the whole of the K?ur-Án. Three or more persons of the inferior class of the professors of religion and law, who are called fak?eehs (vulgarly, fik?ees) are usually hired for this purpose. Schoolmasters, and students of the collegiate mosques who devote themselves to religion and law, are the persons most commonly thus employed. Their mode of recitation is a peculiar kind of chanting, which, when well executed, I found very agreeable, at least for an hour or so: but the guests seldom have to listen to the chanting of the whole of the K?ur-Án: the reciters usually accomplish the greater portion of their task, in a somewhat hurried manner, before the guests have assembled, each of them chanting in turn a certain portion, as a thirtieth part of the whole (called a juz), or half of one of these sections (a h?ezb), or, more commonly, a quarter (ruba?). Afterwards they chant more leisurely, and in a more musical manner; but still by turns. These recitations of the whole of the K?ur-Án are performed on various festive occasions, but are most usual after a death; the merit of the performance being transferred to the soul of the deceased.

In the year 1834, when I was residing in Cairo, a General in the service of Moh?ammad ´Alee hired a large party of men to perform a recital of the K?ur-Án in his house in that city, and then went up into his h?areem and strangled his wife, in consequence of a report which accused her of inchastity. The religious ceremony was designed as preparatory to this act, though the punishment of the woman was contrary to the law, since her husband neither produced four witnesses of the imputed crime, nor allowed her to clear herself of the charge by her own oath. Another case of diligence in the performance of a religious duty, accompanied by the contemplation of murder, but murder on a larger scale, occurred in the same city shortly after. SuleymÁn Agha, the SilÁh?dÁr, being occupied in directing the building of a public fountain as a work of charity to place to the account of a deceased brother, desired to extend the original plan of the structure; and to do this, it was necessary that he should purchase two houses adjoining the plot in which the foundations had been laid: but the owners of these houses refused to sell them, and he therefore employed a number of workmen to undermine them by night and cause them to fall upon their inhabitants. His scheme, however, but partially succeeded, and no lives were sacrificed. This man was notorious for cruelty, but he was a person of pleasing and venerable countenance and engaging manners: whenever I chanced to meet him, I received from him a most gracious salutation. He died before I quitted Egypt.