Arabian Society In The Middle Ages Part 13

The eyes of the Arab beauty are intensely black,[240] large, and long, of the form of an almond: they are full of brilliancy, but this is softened by a lid slightly depressed and by long silken lashes, giving a tender and languid expression that is full of enchantment and scarcely to be improved by the advent.i.tious aid of the black border of ko?l; for this the lovely maiden adds rather for the sake of fashion than necessity, having what the Arabs term natural ko?l. The eyebrows are thin and arched; the forehead is wide, and fair as ivory; the nose, straight; the mouth, small; the lips of a brilliant red; and the teeth, "like pearls set in coral." The forms of the bosom are compared to two pomegranates; the waist is slender; the hips are wide and large; the feet and hands, small; the fingers, tapering, and their extremities dyed with the deep orange-red tint imparted by the leaves of the ?enna.

The maid in whom these charms are combined exhibits a lively image of "the rosy-fingered Aurora:" her lover knows neither night nor sleep in her presence, and the constellations of heaven are no longer seen by him when she approaches. The most bewitching age is between fourteen and seventeen years; for then the forms of womanhood are generally developed in their greatest beauty; but many a maiden in her twelfth year possesses charms sufficient to fascinate every man who beholds her.

The reader may perhaps desire a more minute a.n.a.lysis of Arabian beauty.

The following is the most complete that I can offer him.--"Four things in a woman should be _black_,--the hair of the head, the eyebrows, the eyelashes, and the dark part of the eyes: four _white_,--the complexion of the skin, the white of the eyes, the teeth, and the legs: four _red_,--the tongue, the lips, the middle of the cheeks, and the gums: four _round_,--the head, the neck, the forearms, and the ankles: four _long_,--the back, the fingers, the arms, and the legs:[241] four _wide_,--the forehead, the eyes, the bosom, and the hips: four _fine_,--the eyebrows, the nose, the lips, and the fingers: four _thick_,--the lower part of the back, the thighs, the calves of the legs, and the knees: four _small_,--the ears, the b.r.e.a.s.t.s, the hands, and the feet."[242]

Arab ladies are extremely fond of full and long hair; and, however amply endowed with this natural ornament, to add to its effect they have recourse to art. But the Prophet, abhorring all false attractions that might at first deceive a husband and then disappoint him, "cursed the woman who joined her own hair to that of another, or that of another to her own, without her husband's permission: if she do it, therefore, with his permission, it is not prohibited, unless she so make use of human hair; for this is absolutely forbidden."[243] Hence the Arab women prefer strings of silk to add to their hair.[244] Over the forehead, the hair is cut rather short; but two full locks hang down on each side of the face: these are often curled in ringlets, and sometimes plaited. The rest of the hair is arranged in plaits or braids which hang down the back. They are generally from eleven to twenty-five in number, but always of an uneven number: eleven is considered a scanty number, thirteen and fifteen are more common. Three times the number of black silk strings (three to each plait of hair, and each three united at the top), from sixteen to eighteen inches in length, are braided with the hair for about a quarter of their length; or they are attached to a lace or band of black silk which is bound round the head, and in this case hang entirely separate from the plaits of hair. These strings, together with certain ornaments of gold, etc., composed what is termed the ?afa. Along each string, except from the upper extremity to about a quarter or (at most) a third of its length, are generally attached nine or more little flat ornaments of gold, which are usually all of the same form. The most common form is oblong, round at the lower extremity and pointed at the upper, or the reverse. They are affixed (each by a little ring at its upper extremity) about an inch, or a little more, apart; but those of each string are purposely placed so as not exactly to correspond with those of the others. At the end of each string is a small gold tube, or a small polygonal gold bead, beneath which is most commonly suspended (by a little ring) a gold coin, a little more than half an inch in diameter. Such is the most general description of ?afa; but some ladies subst.i.tute for the gold coin a fanciful ornament of the same metal, either simple, or with a pearl in the centre; or they suspend in the place of this a little ta.s.sel of pearls, or attach alternately pearls and emeralds to the bottom of the triple strings, and a pearl with each of the little ornaments of gold first mentioned. Coral beads are also sometimes attached in the same manner as these pearls. The ?afa I think the prettiest, as well as most singular, of all the ornaments worn by Arab ladies. The glittering of the little ornaments of gold, and their c.h.i.n.king together as the wearer walks, have a peculiarly lively effect. A kind of crown--a circle of jewelled gold (the lower edge of which was straight, and the upper fancifully heightened to four or more points) surrounding the lower part of a dome-shaped cap with a jewel or some other ornament at the summit--was worn by many Arab ladies of high rank or great wealth, probably until about two centuries ago. Another kind of crown is now more generally worn, called a ?ur?. This is a round convex ornament, generally about five inches in diameter, composed of gold set with a profusion of diamonds, of open work, representing roses, leaves, etc. It is sewed upon the top of the ?arboosh; and is worn by most of the ladies of Cairo, at least in full dress.[245]

The gait of Arab ladies is very remarkable: they incline the lower part of the body from side to side as they step, and with the hands raised to the level of the bosom they hold the edges of their outer covering. Their pace is slow, and they look not about them, but keep their eyes towards the ground in the direction to which they are going.

The wickedness of women is a subject upon which the stronger s.e.x among the Arabs, with an affectation of superior virtue, often dwell in common conversation. That women are deficient in judgment or good sense is held as a fact not to be disputed even by themselves, as it rests on an a.s.sertion of the Prophet; but that they possess a superior degree of cunning is p.r.o.nounced equally certain and notorious. Their general depravity is p.r.o.nounced to be much greater than that of men. "I stood,"

said the Prophet, "at the gate of Paradise; and lo, most of its inmates were the poor: and I stood at the gate of h.e.l.l; and lo, most of its inmates were women."[246] In allusion to women, the Khaleefeh 'Omar said, "Consult them, and do the contrary of what they advise." But this is not to be done merely for the sake of opposing them, nor when other advice can be had. "It is desirable for a man," says a learned Imam, "before he enters upon any important undertaking, to consult ten intelligent persons among his particular friends; or if he have not more than five such friends, let him consult each of them twice; or if he have not more than one friend, he should consult him ten times, at ten different visits; if he have not one to consult, let him return to his wife, and consult her, and whatever she advises him to do, let him do the contrary: so shall he proceed rightly in his affair, and attain his object."[247] A truly virtuous wife is, of course, excepted in this rule: such a person is as much respected by Muslims as she is (at least, according to their own account) rarely met with by them. When woman was created, the Devil, we are told, was delighted, and said, "Thou art half of my host, and thou art the depository of my secret, and thou art my arrow, with which I shoot, and miss not."[248] What are termed by us affairs of gallantry were very common among the Pagan Arabs, and are scarcely less so among their Muslim posterity. They are, however, unfrequent among most tribes of Bedawees, and among the descendants of those tribes not long settled as cultivators. I remember being roused from the quiet that I generally enjoyed in an ancient tomb in which I resided at Thebes, by the cries of a young woman in the neighbourhood whom an Arab was severely beating for an impudent proposal she had made to him.

Marriage is regarded by the Muslims in general as a positive duty, and to neglect it without a sufficient excuse subjects a man to severe reproach. "When a servant [of G.o.d]," said the Prophet, "marries, verily he perfects half his religion."[249] He once asked a man, "Art thou married?" The man answered, "No." "And art thou," said he, "sound and healthy?" The answer was, "Yes." "Then," said Mo?ammad, "thou art one of the brothers of the devils; for the most wicked among you are the unmarried, and the most vile among your dead are the unmarried; moreover the married are those who are acquitted of filthy conversation; and by Him in whose hand is my soul, the devil hath not a weapon more effective against the virtuous, both men and women, than the neglect of marriage."[250]

The number of wives whom a Muslim may have at the same time is four. He may marry free women, or take concubine slaves, or have of both these cla.s.ses. It is the opinion of most persons, I believe, among the more strictly religious, that a man may not have more than four women, whether they be wives alone, or concubine slaves alone, or of both cla.s.ses together; but the practice of some of the companions of the Prophet, who cannot be accused of violating his precepts, affords a strong argument to the contrary. 'Alee, it is said, "was the most devout of the companions; but he had four wives and seventeen concubines besides, and married, after Fa?imeh (may G.o.d be well pleased with her!), among all that he married and divorced, more than two hundred women: and sometimes he included four wives in one contract, and sometimes divorced four at one time, taking other four in their stead."[251] This may perhaps be an exaggerated statement, but it is certain that the custom of keeping an unlimited number of concubines was common among wealthy Muslims in the first century of the Mohammadan era, and has so continued. The famous author of the work above quoted urges the example of Solomon to prove that the possession of numerous concubines is not inconsistent with piety and good morals; not considering that G.o.d in the beginning made one male and but one female.

It has been mentioned that a Muslim may divorce his wife twice and each time take her back. This he may do, even against her wish, during a fixed period, which cannot extend beyond three months, unless she be _enceinte_, in which latter case she must wait until the birth of her child before she will be at liberty to contract a new marriage. During this period the husband is obliged to maintain her. If he divorce her a third time, or by a triple sentence, he cannot take her again unless with her own consent and by a new contract and after another marriage has been consummated between her and another husband who also has divorced her.

It is not a common custom, especially among the middle ranks, for a Muslim to have more than one wife at the same time; but there are few of middle age who have not had several different wives at different periods, tempted to change by the facility of divorce.[252] The case of 'Alee has been mentioned above. Mugheyreh Ibn-Sheabeh married eighty women in the course of his life;[253] and several more remarkable instances of the love of change are recorded by Arab writers; the most extraordinary case of this kind that I have met with was that of Mo?ammad Ibn-E?-?eiyib, the dyer of Baghdad, who died in the year of the Flight 423, aged eighty-five years; of whom it is related on most respectable authority that he married more than nine hundred women![254] Supposing, therefore, that he married his first wife when he was fifteen years of age, he must have had, on the average, nearly thirteen wives _per annum_. The women, in general, cannot of course marry so many successive husbands, not only because a woman cannot have more than one husband at a time, but also because she cannot divorce her husband. There have been, however, many instances of Arab women who have married a surprising number of men in rapid succession. Among these may be mentioned Umm-Kharijeh, who gave occasion to a proverb on this subject. This woman, who was of the tribe of Bejeeleh, in El-Yemen, married upwards of forty husbands; and her son Kharijeh knew not who was his father. She used to contract a marriage in the quickest possible manner: a man saying to her, "Khi?b" ("I ask"--in marriage), she replied "Nik?" ("I give"), and thus became his lawful wife. She had a very numerous progeny; several tribes originating from her.[255]

For the choice of a wife, a man generally relies on his mother or some other near female relation, or a professional female betrother (who is called "kha?ibeh"); for there are many women who perform this office for hire. The law allows him to see the face of the girl whom he proposes to marry, previously to his making the contract; but in the present day this liberty is seldom obtained, except among the lower orders. Unless in this case, a man is not allowed to see unveiled any woman but his own wife or slave, and those women to whom the law prohibits his uniting himself in marriage: nay, according to some he is not allowed to see his own niece unveiled, though he may not marry her.[256] It should be added that a slave may lawfully see the face of his own mistress; but this privilege is seldom granted in the present day to any slave but a eunuch. An infringement of the law above mentioned is held to be extremely sinful in both parties: "The curse of G.o.d," said the Prophet, "is on the seer and the seen:" yet it is very often disregarded in the case of women of the lower orders.

A man is forbidden, by the ?ur-an[257] and the Sunneh, to marry his mother, or other ascendant; daughter, or other descendant; his sister, or half sister; the sister of his father or mother, or other ascendant; his niece, or any of her descendants; his foster-mother who has suckled him five times in the course of the first two years, or a woman related to him by milk in any of the degrees which would preclude his marriage with her if she were similarly related to him by consanguinity; the mother of his wife; the daughter of his wife, in certain conditions; his father's wife, and his son's wife; and to have at the same time two wives who are sisters, or aunt and niece: he is forbidden also to marry his unemanc.i.p.ated slave, or another man's slave, if he has already a free wife; and to marry any woman but one of his own faith, or a Christian, or a Jewess. A Mohammadan woman, however, may only marry a man of her own faith. An unlawful liaison with any woman prevents a man from marrying any of her relations who would be forbidden to him if she were his wife.

A cousin (the daughter of a paternal uncle) is often chosen as a wife, on account of the tie of blood which is likely to attach her more strongly to her husband, or on account of an affection conceived in early years. Parity of rank is generally much regarded; and a man is often unable to obtain as his wife the daughter of one of a different profession or trade, unless an inferior; or a younger daughter when an elder remains unmarried. A girl is often married at the age of twelve years, and sometimes at ten, or even nine: the usual period is between twelve and sixteen years. At the age of thirteen or fourteen she may be a mother. The young men marry a few years later.

The most important requisite in a wife is religion. The Prophet said, "A virtuous wife is better than the world and all that it contains." "A virtuous wife," said Lu?man, "is like a crown on the head of a king; and a wicked wife is like a heavy burden on the back of an old man."

Among the other chief requisites are agreeableness of temper, beauty of form (undiminished by any defect or irregularity of features or members), moderation in the amount of dowry required, and good birth. It is said, "If thou marry not a virgin [which is most desirable], marry a divorced woman, and not a widow; for the divorced woman will respect thy words when thou sayest, 'If there were any good in thee thou hadst not been divorced;' whereas the widow will say, 'May G.o.d have mercy on such a one [her first husband]! he hath left me to one unsuited to me.'" But according to another selfish maxim, the woman most to be avoided is she who is divorced from a man by whom she has had a child; for her heart is with him, and she is an enemy to the man who marries her after.[258]

Modesty is a requisite upon which too much stress cannot be laid; but this, to an English reader, requires some explanation. 'Alee asked his wife Fa?imeh, "Who is the best of women?" She answered, "She who sees not men, and whom they see not."[259] Modesty, therefore, in the opinion of the Muslims, is most eminently shewn by a woman's concealing her person, and restraining her eyes, from men. "The best rank of men [in a mosque]," said the Prophet, "is the front; and the best rank of women is the rear,"[260]--that is, those most distant from the men: but better than even these are the women who pray at home.[261] Fruitfulness is also a desirable qualification to be considered in the choice of a wife: "it may be known in maidens," said the Prophet, "from their relations; because, generally speaking, kindred are similar in disposition, etc."[262] Lastly, contentment is to be enumerated among the requisites.

It is said, on the same authority, "Verily the best of women are those that are most content with little."[263] To obtain a contented and submissive wife, many men make their selection from among the cla.s.ses inferior to them in rank. Others, with a similar view, prefer a slave in the place of a wife.

The consent of a young girl is not required: her father, or, if he be dead, her nearest adult male relation, or a guardian appointed by will or by the ?a?ee, acts as her wekeel or deputy, to effect the marriage-contract for her. If of age, she appoints her own deputy. A dowry is required to legalize the marriage; and the least dowry allowed by the law is ten dirhems,--about five shillings of our money.

Mo?ammad married certain of his wives for a dowry of ten dirhems and the household necessaries, which were a hand-mill to grind the corn, a water-jar, and a pillow of skin or leather stuffed with the fibres of the palm-tree (leef), but some he married for a dowry of five hundred dirhems.[264] With the increase of wealth and luxury, dowries have increased in amount; but to our ideas they are still trifling: a sum equivalent to about twenty pounds sterling being a common dowry among Arabs of the middle cla.s.ses for a virgin, and half or a third or quarter of that sum for a divorced woman or a widow. Two thirds of the sum is usually paid before making the contract, and the remaining portion held in reserve to be paid to the woman in case of her divorce or in case of the husband's death. The father or guardian of a girl under age receives the former portion of her dowry; but it is considered as her property, and he generally expends it, with an additional sum from his own purse, in the purchase of necessary furniture, dress, etc., for her, which the husband can never take from her against her own wish.

The marriage-contract is generally, in the present day, merely verbal; but sometimes a certificate is written and sealed by the ?a?ee.

The most approved or propitious period for this act is the month of Showwal: the most unpropitious, Mo?arram. The only persons whose presence is required to perform it are the bridegroom (or his deputy), the bride's deputy (who is the betrother), two male witnesses, if such can be easily procured, and the ?a?ee or a schoolmaster or some other person to recite a khu?beh, which consists of a few words in praise of G.o.d, a form of blessing on the Prophet, and some pa.s.sages of the ?ur-an respecting marriage. They all recite the Fati?ah (or opening chapter of the ?ur-an), after which the bridegroom pays the money. The latter and the bride's deputy then seat themselves on the ground, face to face, and grasp each other's right hand, raising the thumbs, and pressing them against each other. Previously to the khu?beh, the person who recites this formula places a handkerchief over the two joined hands; and after the khu?beh he dictates to the two contracting parties what they are to say. The betrother generally uses the following or a similar form of words: "I betroth to thee my daughter [or her for whom I act as deputy] such a one [naming the bride], the virgin [or the adult virgin, etc.], for a dowry of such an amount." The bridegroom answers, "I accept from thee her betrothal to myself." This is all that is absolutely necessary; but the address and reply are usually repeated a second and third time, and are often expressed in fuller forms of words. The contract is concluded with the recital of the Fati?ah by all persons present.

This betrothal, or marriage-contract, is often performed several years before the wedding, when the two parties are yet children, or during the infancy of the girl; but most commonly not more than about eight or ten days before that event. The household furniture and dress prepared for the bride are sent by her family to the bridegroom's house, usually conveyed by a train of camels, two or three or more days before she is conducted thither.

The feasts and processions which are now to be mentioned are only observed in the case of a virgin-bride; a widow or divorced woman being remarried in a private manner. I describe them chiefly in accordance with the usages of Cairo, which appear to me most agreeable, in general, with the descriptions and allusions in the "Thousand and One Nights."

The period most commonly approved for the wedding is the eve of Friday, or that of Monday. Previously to this event, the bridegroom once or twice or more frequently gives a feast to his friends; and for several nights, his house and the houses of his near neighbours are usually illuminated by numerous cl.u.s.ters of lamps, or by lanterns, suspended in front of them; some, to cords drawn across the street. To these or other cords are also suspended small flags, or square pieces of silk, each of two different colours, generally red and green. Some say that the feast or feasts should be given on the occasion of the marriage-contract; others, on the actual wedding; others, again, on both these occasions.[265]

The usual custom of the people of Cairo is to give a feast on the night before the nuptials, and another on the wedding night; but some begin their feasts earlier. Respecting marriage-feasts, the Prophet said, "The first day's feast is an inc.u.mbent duty; and the second day's, a sunneh ordinance; and the third day's, for ostentation and notoriety:" and he forbade eating at the feast of the ostentatious.[266] It is a positive duty to accept an invitation to a marriage-feast or other lawful entertainment; but the guest is not obliged to eat.[267] The persons invited and all intimate friends generally send presents of provisions of some kind a day or two before. The Prophet taught that marriage-feasts should be frugal: the best that _he_ gave was with one goat.[268] He approved of demonstrations of joy at the celebration of a marriage with songs, and according to one tradition by the beating of deffs (or tambourines); but in another tradition the latter practice is condemned.[269] The preferable mode of entertaining the guests is by the performance of a zikr.

On the day preceding that on which she is conducted to the bridegroom's house, the bride goes to the public bath, accompanied by a number of her female relations and friends. The procession generally pursues a circuitous route, for the sake of greater display; and on leaving the house, turns to the right. In Cairo, the bride walks under a canopy of silk borne by four men, with one of her near female relations on each side of her. Young unmarried girls walk before her; these are preceded by the married ladies; and the procession is headed and closed by a few musicians with drums and hautboys. The bride wears a kind of pasteboard crown or cap, and is completely veiled from the view of spectators by a Kashmeer shawl placed over her crown and whole person; but some handsome ornaments of the head are attached externally. The other women are dressed in the best of their walking-attire. In the case, however, of a bride of high rank, or of wealth, and often in the case of one belonging to a family of the middle cla.s.s, the ladies ride upon high-saddled a.s.ses, without music or canopy; and the bride is only distinguished by a Kashmeer shawl instead of the usual black silk covering, one or more eunuchs sometimes riding at the head. In the bath, after the ordinary operations of washing, etc., a feast is made, and the party are often entertained by female singers.

Having returned in the same manner to her home, the bride's friends there partake of a similar entertainment with her. Her hands and feet are then stained with ?enna, and her eyes ornamented with ko?l; and her friends give her small presents of money, and take their leave.

"It is a sunneh ordinance that the bride wash her feet in a clean vessel, and sprinkle the water in the corners of the chamber, that a blessing may result from this. She should also brighten her face, and put on the best of her apparel, and adorn her eyes with ko?l, and stain [her hands and feet] with ?enna [as above mentioned]; and she should abstain, during the first week, from eating anything that contains mustard, and from vinegar, and sour apples."[270]

The bride is conducted to the house of the bridegroom (on the following day) in the same manner as to the bath, or with more pomp. In Cairo, the bridal processions of persons of very high rank are conducted with singular display. The train is usually headed by buffoons and musicians, and a water-carrier loaded with a goat's-skin filled with sand and water, of very great weight, which is often borne for many hours before (as well as during) the procession, merely to amuse the spectators by this feat of strength. Then follow (interrupted by groups of male or female dancers, jugglers, and the like) numerous decorated open waggons or cars, each of which contains several members of some particular trade or art engaged in their ordinary occupations, or one such person with attendants: in one, for instance, a kahwejee, with his a.s.sistants and pots and cups and fire, making coffee for the spectators: in a second, makers of sweetmeats: in a third, makers of pancakes (fa?eerehs): in a fourth, silk-lace manufacturers: in a fifth, a silk-weaver, with his loom: in a sixth, tinners of copper vessels, at their work: in a seventh, white-washers, whitening over and over again a wall: in short, almost every manufacture and trade has its representatives in a separate waggon. El-Jabartee describes a procession of this kind in which there were upwards of seventy parties of different trades and arts, each party in a separate waggon, besides buffoons, wrestlers, dancers, and others; followed by various officers, the eunuchs of the bride's family, ladies of the ?areem with their attendants, then the bride in a European carriage, a troop of memlooks clad in armour, and a Turkish band of music. It was a procession of which the like had not before been seen.[271]

The bride and her party, having arrived at the house, sit down to a repast. The bridegroom does not yet see her. He has already been to the bath, and at nightfall he goes in procession with a number of his friends to a mosque, to perform the night-prayers. He is accompanied by musicians and singers, or by chanters of lyric odes in praise of the Prophet, and by men bearing cressets--poles with cylindrical frames of iron at the top filled with flaming wood; and on his return, most of his other attendants bear lighted wax candles and bunches of flowers.

Returned to his house, he leaves his friends in a lower apartment, and goes up to the bride, whom he finds seated, with a shawl thrown over her head, so as to conceal her face completely, and attended by one or two females. The latter he induces to retire by means of a small present. He then gives a present of money to the bride, as "the price of uncovering the face," and having removed the covering (saying as he does so, "In the name of G.o.d, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful"), he beholds her, generally for the first time. On the occasion of this first visit, which is called the "dukhool" or "dukhleh," he is recommended "to perfume himself, and to sprinkle some sugar and almonds on the head of the bride and on that of each woman with her (this practice being established by existing usage and by traditions): also, when he approaches her, he should perform the prayers of two rek'ahs, and she should do the same if able: then he should take hold of the hair over her forehead, and say, 'O G.o.d, bless me in my wife, and bless my wife in me! O G.o.d, bestow upon me [offspring] by her, and bestow upon her [offspring] by me! O G.o.d, unite us, as thou hast united, happily; and separate us, when thou separatest, happily!'"[272]

An astrological calculation is often made with the view of determining by what sign of the zodiac the two persons are influenced who contemplate becoming man and wife, and thence ascertaining whether they will agree. This is often done in the present day by adding together the numerical values of the letters composing his or her name and that of the mother, and, if I remember right, subtracting from 12 the whole sum if this is less than 12, or what remains after subtracting, or dividing, by 12. Thus is obtained the number of the sign. The twelve signs, commencing with Aries, correspond respectively with the elements of fire, earth, air, water, fire, earth, and so on; and if the signs of the two parties indicate the same element, it is inferred that they will agree; but if they indicate different elements, the inference is that the one will be affected by the other in the same manner as the element of the one is by that of the other: thus, if the element of the man is fire, and that of the woman, water, he will be subject to her rule.

Among other calculations of the same kind is the following:--The numerical values of the letters composing the name of each of the two parties are added together, and one of these two sums is subtracted from the other: if the remainder is an uneven number, the inference is unfavourable; but if even, the reverse.

Next to the service of the husband or master, the care of her children, and attending to other indispensable domestic duties, the most important occupation of the wife is that of spinning or weaving or needle-work.

"Sitting for an hour employed with the distaff is better for women,"

said the Prophet, "than a year's worship; and for every piece of cloth woven of the thread spun by them they shall receive the reward of a martyr."--'aisheh, the Prophet's wife, thus declared the merit of spinning:--"Tell the women what I say: There is no woman who spins until she hath clothed herself but all the angels in the Seven Heavens pray for forgiveness of her sins; and she will go forth from her grave on the day of judgment wearing a robe of Paradise and with a veil upon her head, and before her shall be an angel and on her right an angel who will hand her a draught of the water of Selsebeel, the fountain of Paradise; and another angel will come to her, and carry her upon his wings, and bear her to Paradise. And when she enters Paradise, eighty thousand maidens will meet her, each maiden bringing a different robe; and she will have mansions of emeralds with three hundred doors, at each of which will stand an angel with a present from the Lord of the Throne."[273]--The arts above mentioned are pursued by the females in the ?areems of the middle and higher cla.s.ses. Their leisure-hours are mostly spent in working with the needle; particularly in embroidering handkerchiefs, head-veils, etc., upon a frame called mensej, with coloured silks and gold. Many women, even in the houses of the wealthy, replenish their private purses by ornamenting handkerchiefs and other things in this manner, and employing a dellaleh (or female broker) to take them to the market, or to other ?areems, for sale.[274]

The separation of the s.e.xes undoubtedly promotes the free intercourse of people of the same s.e.x and of different ranks, who thus are able to a.s.sociate together, regardless of difference of wealth or station, without the risk of occasioning unequal matrimonial connections. This separation is therefore felt by neither s.e.x as oppressive, but is regarded by them as productive of results which const.i.tute the Muslim's chief enjoyments,--the highest degree of domestic comfort, and the most free and extensive society of his fellow men. Thus it is with both s.e.xes; and neither would give up the pleasure that they hence derive for a different system of society, somewhat extending their domestic intercourse, but often destroying the pleasures of home, and contracting into a compa.s.s comparatively narrow the fellowship which they enjoyed abroad.

I must now remark upon some other effects of the same system. First, the restriction of intercourse between the s.e.xes before marriage renders indispensable, to some, the facility of divorce; for it would be unjust for a man who finds himself disappointed in his expectations of a wife, whom he has never before seen, not to be enabled to put her away.

Secondly, it sometimes renders indispensable the licence of polygamy; for a man who finds his first wife unsuited to him may not be able to divorce her without reducing her to want; and the licence of polygamy becomes as necessary in this case as that of divorce in another.

Thirdly, the liberty of polygamy renders the facility of divorce more desirable for the happiness of women; since, when a man has two or more wives, and one of them is dissatisfied with her situation, he is enabled to liberate her. Fourthly, the licence of divorce often acts as a check upon that of polygamy; for the fear of being obliged, by the influence of his first wife, or by that of her relations, to divorce her if he take a second, often prevents a man from doing this. Thus both these licences are required by the most important principle of the const.i.tution of Muslim society, and each is productive of some moral benefit. In considering the question of their expediency, we should also remember that barrenness is much more common in hot climates than in those which are temperate.

The Christian scheme is plainly opposed to polygamy; but as to divorce, some have contended that it only forbids putting away a wife against her will, unless for one cause.[275] Christians are often most unjust in their condemnation of Muslim laws and tenets, and especially condemn those which agree with the Mosaic code and the practices of holy men; such as polygamy (which Mo?ammad _limited_), divorce, war for the defence of religion, purifications, and even minor matters.[276]

Mo?ammad endeavoured to remove one of the chief causes of polygamy and divorce, by recommending that a man should see a woman whom he proposed to take as his wife.[277] We might imagine that he could have made these practices less common than they now are, and always have been, among his followers, had he given more licence, allowing the man to enjoy a limited a.s.sociation with the object of his choice in the presence of her female or male relations (the former of whom might be veiled), without infringing further the general law of the separation of the s.e.xes. But he saw that such liberty would very seldom, if ever, be allowed: scarcely any parents among the Arabs, except those of the lower cla.s.ses, permit the little licence which he recommended. Instead of condemning him for allowing a plurality of wives, I think we should be more reasonable if we commended him for diminishing and restricting the number. I think, too, that as Moses allowed his people for the hardness of their hearts to put away their wives, and G.o.d denounced not polygamy when the patriarchs practised it, we should be more consistent as believers in the Scriptures if we admitted the permission of these practices to be more conducive to morality than their prohibition, among a people similar to the ancient Jews to whom Moses allowed such liberty.

As to the privilege which Mo?ammad a.s.sumed to himself, of having a greater number of wives than he allowed to others, I have elsewhere remarked,[278] that, in doing so, he may have been actuated by the want of male offspring as much as impelled by voluptuousness.

"On the subject of polygamy," says a writer who has deeply studied Muslim inst.i.tutions and their effects, "a European has all the advantage in discussion with a Turkish woman, because her feelings are decidedly on the side of her antagonists; but then she has a tremendous power of reply, in the comparison of the practical effects of the two systems, and in the widely spread rumours of the heartlessness and the profligacy of Europe. All the convictions of our habits and laws stand in hostile array against the country where the principle of polygamy is admitted into the laws of the state; but yet, while we reproach Islamism with polygamy, Islamism may reproach us with practical polygamy, which, unsanctioned by law and reproved by custom, adds degradation of the mind to dissoluteness of morals."[279]

It should further be remarked that by sanctioning polygamy Mo?ammad did not make the practice general: nay, he could not. It is a licence for the hard-hearted, which restrains them from worse conduct, and in some cases, as already shown, a resource for the tender-hearted. "The permission," observes the author just cited, "does not alter the proportions of men and women. While, therefore, the law of nature renders this practice an impossibility as regards the community, it is here still further restrained among the few who have the means of indulging in it, both by the domestic unquiet that results from it, and by the public censure and reprobation of which it is the object."

I have remarked in a former work that polygamy "is more rare among the higher and middle cla.s.ses [in Egypt, and I believe in other Arab countries] than it is among the lower orders; and it is not very common among the latter. A poor man may indulge himself with two or more wives, each of whom may be able, by some art or occupation, nearly to provide her own subsistence; but most persons of the higher and middle orders are deterred from doing so by the consideration of the expense and discomfort which they would incur. A man having a wife who has the misfortune to be barren, and being too much attached to her to divorce her, is sometimes induced to take a second wife, merely in the hope of obtaining offspring; and from the same motive he may take a third, and a fourth; but fickle pa.s.sion is the most evident and common motive both to polygamy and to repeated divorces. They are comparatively few who gratify this pa.s.sion by the former practice. I believe that not more than one husband among twenty has two wives."[280]

I hope I have shown that though I consider polygamy as necessary in the const.i.tution of Muslim society, to prevent a profligacy that would be worse than that which prevails to so great a degree in European countries, where people are united in marriage after an intimate mutual acquaintance, I consider it as a necessary _evil_. When two or more wives of the same man live together, or when they visit each other, feelings of jealousy are generally felt and often manifested, and especially on the part of the wife or wives who cannot claim precedence by having been married before the other or others, or by reason of being more favoured by the husband.[281] The wife first married usually enjoys the highest rank: therefore parents often object to giving a daughter in marriage to a man who has already another wife; and it frequently happens that the woman who is sought in marriage objects to such a union. The law provides in some measure against the discomforts arising from polygamy, by giving to each wife a claim to a distinct lodging, affording conveniences for sleeping, cooking, etc.; and further enjoins the husband to be strictly impartial to his wives in every respect. But fruitfulness and superior beauty are qualifications that often enable a second, third, or fourth wife to usurp the place of the first; though in many cases, as I have already remarked, the lasting favourite is not the most handsome.

There are, however, many instances of sincere affection existing in the hearts of fellow-wives. The following story of two wives of the father of El-Jabartee, the modern Egyptian historian, related by himself, and of undoubted truth, is a pleasing example.--Speaking of the first of these two wives, the historian says,--

"Among her acts of conjugal piety and submission was this, that she used to buy for her husband beautiful slave girls, with her own wealth, and deck them with ornaments and apparel, and so present them to him, confidently looking to the reward and recompense which she should receive [in Paradise] for such conduct. He took, in addition to her, many other wives from among free women, and bought female slaves; but she did not in consequence conceive any of that jealousy which commonly affects women. Among other strange events which happened was the following. When the subject of this memoir [the author's father]

performed the pilgrimage in the year 1156 [A.D. 1743-44], he became acquainted at Mekkeh with the sheykh 'Omar El-?alabee who commissioned him to purchase for him a white female slave, having such and such qualifications. So when he returned from the pilgrimage, he searched for female slaves among the slave-dealers, to choose from them such a one as was wanted, and ceased not until he found the object of his desire, and bought her. He brought her to his wife, to remain with her until he should send her with a person to whom he was commissioned to entrust her for the journey; and when the period at which she was to depart arrived, he informed his wife of it, that she might prepare the provisions for the way, and other necessaries. But she said to him, 'I have conceived a great love for this maid, and I cannot endure separation from her: I have no children, and I have taken her as a daughter.' The girl Zeleekha also wept, and said, 'I will not part from my mistress, nor ever leave her.' 'Then what is to be done?' he asked.

She answered, 'I will pay her price from my own property, and do thou buy another.' He did so. She then emanc.i.p.ated the girl, gave her to him by a marriage-contract, prepared her paraphernalia, and furnished for her a separate apartment; and he took her as his wife in the year 1165.

The former wife could not bear to be separated from her even for an hour, although she had become her fellow-wife, and borne him children.

In the year 1182, the [emanc.i.p.ated] slave fell sick, and she [the first wife] fell sick on account of her [friend's] sickness. The illness increased upon both of them; and in the morning the slave arose, and looked at her mistress when she seemed about to die, and wept, and said, 'O my G.o.d and my Lord, if Thou hast decreed the death of my mistress, make my day to be before her day.' Then she lay down, and her disease increased, and she died the next night; and they wrapped her up by the side of her mistress. And her mistress awoke at the close of the night, and felt her with her hand, and began to say, 'Zeleekha! Zeleekha!' They said to her, 'She is asleep.' But she replied, 'My heart telleth me that she is dead: and I saw in my sleep what indicated this event.' They then said to her, 'May thy life be prolonged!'[282] And when she had thus ascertained the event, she raised herself, and sat up, and said, 'No life remaineth to me after her.' And she wept and wailed until the day appeared, when they began to prepare for the speedy burial of the slave; and they washed the corpse before her, and carried it to the grave. Then she returned to her bed, and fell into the agonies of death, and died at the close of the day; and on the following day they carried her corpse to the grave in like manner."[283]

FOOTNOTES:

[236] I may suffer in public estimation for my differing in opinion from this accomplished traveller and most estimable man; but I cannot, on that account, abstain from the expression of my dissent. Our difference, I think, may be thus explained. He conformed, in a great degree, to the habits of the Arabs; but not to such an extent as I consider necessary to obtain from them that confidence in his sympathy which would induce them to lay open to him their character; and when a man is often treated with coldness and reserve, I doubt whether the people from whom he experiences such treatment can be judged by him with strict impartiality. To be received on terms of equality by Arabs of the more polished cla.s.ses, an undeviating observance of their code of etiquette is absolutely indispensable: but Burckhardt, I have been a.s.sured, often violated this code by practices harmless enough to our notions and probably also in the opinion of the Arabs of the Desert, but extremely offensive to the people who enjoyed the least share of his esteem: his most intimate acquaintances in Cairo generally refused, in speaking of him, to designate him by the t.i.tle of "sheykh" which he had adopted; and yet the heaviest charge that I heard brought against him was his frequent habit of _whistling_!--This fact has been mentioned, as corroborating an observation of the same kind, by Mr. Urquhart ("Spirit of the East," i. 417, 418), all of whose opinions relating to the East, expressed in that work, and especially those regarding the characteristics of the Eastern mind, are ent.i.tled to the highest respect.

[237] Kitab el-'Onwan fee Mekad en-Niswan, a work on the stratagems of women (MS.).

[238] This word slightly varied (changed to ?a'eefih) bears another meaning, namely, "his weak one:" the final vowel being suppressed by the rule of wa?f.

[239] Kitab el-'Onwan.