Arabian Society In The Middle Ages Part 14

[240] The Arabs in general entertain a prejudice against blue eyes; a prejudice said to have arisen from the great number of blue-eyed persons among certain of their northern enemies.

[241] In another a.n.a.lysis of the same kind, it is said that four should be _short_,--the hands, the feet, the tongue, and the teeth--but this is metaphorically speaking; the meaning is, that these members should be kept within their proper bounds. (Kitab el-'Onwan.)

[242] An unnamed author quoted by El-Is?a?ee, in his account of the 'Abbasee Khaleefeh El-Mutawekkil.

[243] Kitab el-'Onwan.

[244] By sending with a letter the silk strings of her hair, a lady testifies the most abject submission. The same meaning is conveyed in a more forcible manner by sending the hair itself. Thus when Cairo was besieged by the Franks in the year of the Flight 564 (A.D. 1168), El-'a?id, the last Fa?imee Khaleefeh, sent letters to Noor-ed-Deen Ma?mood, Sul?an of Syria, imploring succour, and with them sent his women's hair to show their subjection and his own. (Ibn Esh-Shihneh). [So too El-Ma?reezee, with a slight variation. It was in this siege that the old town now called erroneously Mi?r el-'a?ee?ah was burnt by order of the Wezeer Shawir, the conflagration lasting fifty-four days. (Khi?a?, account of the ruin of El-Fus?a? and reign of El-'a?id.) E. S. P.]

[245] An engraving of a crown of this description, and another of one of a more common kind, may be seen in my work on the Modern Egyptians, Appendix A.

[246] Kitab el-'Onwan.

[247] El-Imam El-Jara'ee, in his book ent.i.tled "Shir'at el-Islam."

[248] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 2.

[249] Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 79.

[250] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 1.

[251] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 1.

[252] By way of exception, however, on the woman's side, my sheykh [Mo?ammad 'Eiyad E?-?antawee] writes:--"Many persons reckon marrying a second time among the greatest of disgraceful actions.

This opinion is most common in the country-towns and villages; and the relations of my mother are thus characterized, so that a woman of them, when her husband dieth while she is young, or divorceth her while she is young, pa.s.seth her life, however long it may be, in widowhood, and never marrieth a second time."

[253] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 1.

[254] Mir-at ez-Zeman, events of the year above mentioned.

[255] Idem, Proverbs of the Arabs; and my Lexicon, _voce_ "kha?aba."

[256] The izar, or eezar (for the word is written in two different ways), is a piece of drapery commonly worn by Arab women when they appear in public. It is about two yards or more in width (according to the height of the wearer), and three yards in length; one edge of it being drawn from behind, over the upper part of the head and forehead, and secured by a band sewed inside, the rest hangs down behind and on each side to the ground, or nearly so, and almost entirely envelops the person; the two ends being held so as nearly to meet in front. Thus it conceals every other part of the dress excepting a small portion of a very loose gown (which is another of the articles of walking or riding apparel), and the face-veil. It is now generally made of white calico, but a similar covering of black silk for the married, and of white silk for the unmarried, is now worn by women of the higher and middle cla.s.ses, called a ?abarah.

It appears that the kind of face-veil, called in Arabic ?ina? is a piece of muslin, about a yard or more in length, and somewhat less in width, a portion of which is placed over the head, beneath the izar, the rest hanging down in front, to the waist, or thereabout, and entirely concealing the face. I have often seen Arab women, particularly those of the Wahhabees, wearing veils of this kind composed of printed muslin, completely concealing their features, yet of sufficiently loose fabric to admit of their seeing their way. But the more common kind of Arab face-veil is a long strip of white muslin, or of a kind of black c.r.a.pe, covering the whole of the face excepting the eyes, and reaching nearly to the feet. It is suspended at the top by a narrow band, which pa.s.ses up the forehead, and which is sewed, as are also the two upper corners of the veil, to a band that is tied round the head. This veil is called bur?o'. The black kind is often ornamented with gold coins, false pearls, etc., attached to the upper part. It is not so genteel as the white veil, unless for a lady in mourning.

[257] Chap. iv. 26, 27.

[258] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 4.

[259] Idem, section 6.

[260] Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, i. 229.

[261] Idem, i. 223.

[262] Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 78.

[263] Idem, ii. 79.

[264] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 4.

[265] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 8.

[266] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 8.

[267] Ibid.; and Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 105.

[268] Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 104.

[269] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, loco laudato; and Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 89.

[270] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, 1.1.; Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 89.

[271] Account of the Emeer Mo?ammad Agha El-Baroodee, obituary, year 1205.

[272] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 8.

[273] Nuzhet el-Mutaammil, section 7.

[274] Modern Egyptians, ch. vi.

[275] "The Protestants of Hungary admit the plea of 'irrevocabile odium.'"--Urquhart's Spirit of the East, ii. 416.

[276] A religious lady once asked me if I so conformed with the manners of the Easterns as to eat in their "beastly manner." I replied, "Do not call it a 'beastly manner:' call it the manner of our Lord and his Apostles." But some excuse may be made in this case. I was determined, when I first went to the East, never to conform to the practice of eating with the fingers when I could avoid it; however, after I had first seen the manner of doing this, I immediately adopted the custom, and continued it.

[277] Mishkat el-Ma?abee?, ii. 81.

[278] Selections from the ?ur-an, 1st. ed., p. 59.

[279] Urquhart's Spirit of the East, ii. 415-416. See the two chapters on "the life of the Harem" and "State of Women," which I think the most valuable portion of the book.

[280] Modern Egyptians, ch. vi.

[281] A fellow-wife is called, in Arabic, "?arrah," a word derived from "?arar," which signifies "injury," because fellow-wives usually experience injurious treatment, one from another. The word "?arrah,"

in vulgar or colloquial Arabic (by subst.i.tuting a soft for an emphatic _d_, and _u_ for _a_), is p.r.o.nounced "durrah," which properly signifies "a parrot." "The life of a fellow-wife is bitter" ("'eeshet e?-?urrah murrah") is a common proverb. [E?-?antawee.]

[282] This is the usual way of informing a person that another is dead.

Many say in the same case, "Mayest thou live!" and then being asked, "Who is dead?" mention the name.

[283] El-Jabartee's History, vol. i., obituary of the year 1188.

CHAPTER X.

SLAVERY.