Arabian Society In The Middle Ages Part 8

[130] Ibn-Khaldoon.

[131] ?albet el-k.u.meyt (MS.), chap. vii.

[132] El-Ma?reezee's Khi?a?, chapter ent.i.tled "Khizanet el-Kisawat."

[133] Fakhr-ed-Deen, ubi supra. The ?eerat of Baghdad was the twentieth part of a deenar or piece of gold.

[134] Fakhr-ed-Deen, ubi supra.

[135] D'Herbelot, art. "Bokhteri."

[136] Various different modes of obeisance are practised by the Muslims.

Among these, the following are the more common or more remarkable: they differ in the degree of respect that they indicate, nearly in the order in which I shall mention them; the last being the most respectful:--1.

Placing the right hand upon the breast.--2. Touching the lips and the forehead or turban (or the forehead or turban only) with the right hand.--3. Doing the same, but slightly inclining the head during that action.--4. The same as the preceding, but inclining the body also.--5.

As above, but previously touching the ground with the right hand.--6.

Kissing the hand of the person to whom the obeisance is paid.--7.

Kissing his sleeve.--8. Kissing the skirt of his clothing.--9. Kissing his feet.--10. Kissing the carpet or ground before him.--The first five modes are often accompanied by the salutation of "Peace be on you:" to which the reply is, "On you be peace and the mercy of G.o.d and his blessings." The sixth mode is observed by servants or pupils to masters, by the wife to the husband, and by children to their father and sometimes to the mother. The last mode is seldom observed but to kings; and in Arabian countries it is now very uncommon.

[137] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. vii.

[138] Mir-at ez-Zeman, events of 305.

[139] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. viii.

[140] The art here mentioned was first made known to Europeans by a Frenchman, M. Du Vigneau, in a work ent.i.tled "Secretaire Turc, contenant l'Art d'exprimer ses pensees sans se voir, sans se parler, et sans s'ecrire:" Paris, 1688: in-12. Von Hammer has also given an interesting paper on this subject in the "Mines de l'Orient," No. 1: Vienna, 1809.

(Note to Marcel's "Contes du Cheykh El-Mohdy," iii. 327, 328: Paris, 1833.)

[141] Called "ghasool el-azrar." In Delile's Flora aegyptiaca, the name of ghasool is given to the mesembryanthemum nodiflorum, cla.s.s icosandria, order pentagynia.

[142] This name is now given to sherbet.

[143] ?albet el-k.u.meyt, chap. x.

[144] ?ur. xxviii. 19.

[145] ?ur. v. 27.

[146] ?ur. xxvii. 16.

[147] Man?i? e?-?eyr.

[148] Alcora.n.u.s Marraccii, p. 511.

[149] El-Is?a?ee; reign of the Khaleefeh El-Musta'een, the son of El-Mo?ta?im.

CHAPTER VII.

FEASTING AND MERRYMAKING.

The Muslim takes a light breakfast after the morning-prayers, and dinner after the noon-prayers; or a single meal instead of these two, before noon. His princ.i.p.al meal is supper, which is taken after the prayers of sunset. A man of rank or wealth, when he has no guest, generally eats alone; his children eat after him, or with his wife or wives. In all his repasts he is moderate with regard to the quant.i.ty which he eats, however numerous the dishes.

In the Middle Ages it appears that the dishes were sometimes, I believe generally, placed upon a round embroidered cloth spread on the floor, and sometimes on a tray, which was either laid on the floor or upon a small stand or stool. The last is the mode now always followed in the houses of the higher and middle cla.s.ses of the Arabs. The table is usually placed upon a round cloth spread in the middle of the floor, or in a corner next two of the deewans or low seats which generally extend along three sides of the room. It is composed of a large round tray of silver, or tinned copper, or of bra.s.s, supported by a stool, commonly about fifteen or sixteen inches high, made of wood and generally inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and ebony or other wood, or tortoise-sh.e.l.l. When there are numerous guests, two or more such tables are prepared. The dishes are of silver or tinned copper, or china. Several of these are placed upon the tray; and around them are disposed some round flat cakes of bread, with spoons of box-wood, ebony, or other material, and usually two or three limes cut in halves, to be squeezed over certain of the dishes. When these preparations have been made, each person who is to partake of the repast receives a napkin; and a servant pours water over his hands. A basin and ewer of either of the metals first mentioned are employed for this purpose; the former has a cover with a receptacle for a piece of soap in its centre, and with numerous perforations through which the water runs during the act of washing, so that it is not seen when the basin is brought from one person to another. It is indispensably requisite to wash at least the right hand before eating with the fingers anything but dry food; and the mouth also is often rinsed, the water being taken up into it from the right hand. The company sit upon the floor, or upon cushions, or some of them on the deewan, either cross-legged or with the right knee raised:[150] they retain the napkins before mentioned, or a long napkin, sufficient to surround the tray, is placed upon their knees; and each person, before he begins to eat, says, "In the name of G.o.d," or "In the name of G.o.d, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful." The master of the house begins first: if he did not do so, some persons would suspect that the food was poisoned. The thumb and two fingers of the right hand serve instead of knives and forks; and it is the usual custom for a person to help himself to a portion of the contents of a dish by drawing it towards the edge, or taking it from the edge, with a morsel of bread, which he eats with it: when he takes too large a portion for a single mouthful, he generally places it on his cake of bread. He takes from any dish that pleases him; and sometimes a host hands a delicate morsel with his fingers to one of his guests. It is not allowable to touch food with the left hand (as it is used for unclean purposes), excepting in a few cases when both hands are required to divide a joint.

Among the more common dishes are the following:--lamb or mutton, cut into small pieces, and stewed with various vegetables, and sometimes with peaches, apricots, or jujubes, and sugar; cuc.u.mbers or small gourds, or the fruit of the black or white egg-plant, stuffed with rice and minced meat, vine-leaves or pieces of lettuce-leaf or cabbage-leaf, enclosing a similar composition; small morsels of lamb or mutton, roasted on skewers, and called kebab; fowls simply roasted or boiled, or boned and stuffed with raisins, pistachio-nuts, crumbled bread, and parsley; and various kinds of pastry and other sweets. The repast is frequently opened with soup; and is generally ended with boiled rice, mixed with a little b.u.t.ter and seasoned with salt and pepper; or after this is served, a water-melon or other fruit, or a bowl of a sweet drink composed of water with raisins and sometimes other kinds of fruit boiled in it, and then sugar, with a little rose-water added to it when cool.

The meat, having generally little fat, is cooked with clarified b.u.t.ter, and is so thoroughly done that it is easily divided with the fingers.

A whole lamb, stuffed in the same manner as the fowls above mentioned, is not a very uncommon dish; but one more extraordinary, of which 'Abd-El-La?eef gives an account[151] as one of the most remarkable that he had seen in Egypt, I am tempted to describe. It was an enormous pie, composed in the following manner:--Thirty pounds of fine flour being kneaded with five pounds and a half of oil of sesame, and divided into two equal portions, one of these was spread upon a round tray of copper about four spans in diameter. Upon this were placed three lambs, stuffed with pounded meat fried with oil of sesame and ground pistachio-nuts, and various hot aromatics, such as pepper, ginger, cinnamon, mastic, coriander-seed, c.u.min-seed, cardamom, nut [or nutmeg?], etc. These were then sprinkled with rose-water infused with musk; and upon the lambs, and in the remaining s.p.a.ces, were placed twenty fowls, twenty chickens, and fifty smaller birds; some of which were baked, and stuffed with eggs; some, stuffed with meat; and some, fried with the juice of sour grapes, or that of limes, or some similar acid. To the above were added a number of small pies; some filled with meat and others with sugar and sweetmeats; and sometimes the meat of another lamb, cut into small pieces, and some fried cheese. The whole being piled up in the form of a dome, some rose-water infused with musk and aloes-wood was sprinkled upon it; and the other half of the paste first mentioned was spread over, so as to close the whole: it was then baked, wiped with a sponge, and again sprinkled with rose-water infused with musk.

On certain periodical festivals, and on other occasions it has long been, and still is, a custom of Muslim princes to give public feasts to all cla.s.ses of their subjects, in the palace. El-Ma?reezee quotes a curious account of the feasts which were given on the festival following Rama?an to the inhabitants of Cairo by the Fa?imee Khaleefehs. At the upper end of a large saloon was placed the sereer (or couch) of the monarch, upon which he sat with the Wezeer on his right. Upon this seat was placed a round silver table, with various delicacies, of which they alone ate. Before it, and extending nearly from the seat to the other extremity of the saloon, was set up a kind of table or platform (sima?) of painted wood, resembling a number of benches placed together, ten cubits or about eighteen or nineteen feet in width. Along the middle of this were ranged twenty-one enormous dishes, each containing twenty-one baked sheep, three years old and fat, together with fowls, pigeons, and young chickens, in number 350 of each kind, all of which were piled together in an oblong form to the height of the stature of a man, and enclosed with dry sweetmeat. The s.p.a.ces between these dishes were occupied by nearly five hundred other dishes of earthenware, each of which contained seven fowls, and was filled with sweetmeats of various kinds. The table was strewn with flowers, and cakes of bread made of the finest flour were arranged along each side; there were also two great edifices of sweetmeats, each weighing 17 cwt., which were carried thither by porters with shoulder poles, and one of them was placed at the commencement and the other at the close of this sumptuous banquet. When the Khaleefeh and the Wezeer had taken their seats upon the couch, the officers of state, who were distinguished by neck-rings or collars, and the inferior members of the Court, seated themselves in the order of their respective ranks; and when they had eaten, they gave place to others. Two officers distinguished themselves at these feasts in a very remarkable manner. Each of them used to eat a baked sheep and ten fowls dressed with sweetmeats, and ten pounds of sweetmeats besides, and was presented with a quant.i.ty of food carried away from the feast to his house, together with a large sum of money.

One of them had been a prisoner at 'As?alan; and after he had remained there some time, the person into whose power he had fallen jestingly told him that if he would eat a calf belonging to him, the flesh of which weighed several hundredweights, he would emanc.i.p.ate him.

This feat he accomplished and thus obtained his liberation.[152]

With respect to clean and unclean meats, the Muslim is subject to nearly the same laws as the Jew. Swine's flesh, and blood, are especially forbidden to him; but camel's flesh is allowed. The latter, however, being of a coa.r.s.e nature, is never eaten when any other meat can be obtained, excepting by persons of the lower cla.s.ses and by Arabs of the desert. Of fish, almost every kind is eaten (excepting sh.e.l.l-fish), usually fried in oil: of game, little; partly in consequence of frequent doubt whether it have been lawfully killed. The diet consists in a great measure of vegetables, and includes a large variety of pastry. A very common kind of pastry is a pancake, which is made very thin, and folded over several times like a napkin; it is saturated with b.u.t.ter, and generally sweetened with honey or sugar; as is also another common kind which somewhat resembles vermicelli.

The usual beverage at meals is water, which is drunk from cooling, porous, earthen bottles, or from cups of bra.s.s or other metal: but in the houses of the wealthy, sherbet is sometimes served instead of this, in covered gla.s.s cups, each of which contains about three-quarters of a pint. The sherbet is composed of water made very sweet with sugar, or with a hard conserve of violets or roses or mulberries. After every time that a person drinks, he says, "Praise be to G.o.d;" and each person of the company says to him, "May it be productive of enjoyment:" to which he replies, "May G.o.d cause thee to have enjoyment." The Arabs drink little or no water during a meal, but generally take a large draught immediately after. The repast is quickly finished; and each person, as soon as he has done, says, "Praise be to G.o.d," or "Praise be to G.o.d, the Lord of all creatures." He then washes in the same manner as before, but more thoroughly; well lathering his beard and rinsing his mouth.

"Whoever," said the Prophet, "believes in G.o.d and the day of resurrection, must respect his guest; and the time of being kind to him is one day and one night; and the period of entertaining him is three days; and after that, if he does it longer, he benefits him more; but it is not right for a guest to stay in the house of the host so long as to incommode him." He even allowed the "right of a guest" to be taken by force from such as would not offer it.[153] The following observations, respecting the treatment of guests by the Bedawees, present an interesting commentary upon the former precept:--"Strangers who have not any friend or acquaintance in the camp, alight at the first tent that presents itself: whether the owner be at home or not, the wife or daughter immediately spreads a carpet, and prepares breakfast or dinner.

If the stranger's business requires a protracted stay, as, for instance, if he wishes to cross the Desert under the protection of the tribe, the host, after a lapse of three days and four hours from the time of his arrival, asks whether he means to honour him any longer with his company. If the stranger declares his intention of prolonging his visit, it is expected that he should a.s.sist his host in domestic matters, fetching water, milking the camel, feeding the horse, etc. Should he even decline this, he may remain; but he will be censured by all the Arabs of the camp: he may, however, go to some other tent of the nezel [or encampment], and declare himself there a guest. Thus, every third or fourth day he may change hosts, until his business is finished, or he has reached his place of destination."[154]

The obligation which is imposed by eating another person's bread and salt, or salt alone, or eating such things with another, is well known; but the following example of it may be new to some readers.--Ya??oob the son of El-Leyth E?-?affar, having adopted a predatory life, excavated a pa.s.sage one night into the palace of Dirhem the Governor of Sijistan, or Seestan; and after he had "made up a convenient bale of gold and jewels, and the most costly stuffs, was proceeding to carry it off, when he happened in the dark to strike his foot against something hard on the floor. Thinking it might be a jewel of some sort or other, a diamond perhaps, he picked it up and put it to his tongue, and, to his equal mortification and disappointment, found it to be a lump of rock-salt; for having thus tasted the salt of the owner, his avarice gave way to his respect for the laws of hospitality; and throwing down his precious booty, he left it behind him, and withdrew empty-handed to his habitation. The treasurer of Dirhem repairing the next day, according to custom, to inspect his charge, was equally surprised and alarmed at observing that a great part of the treasure and other valuables had been removed; but on examining the package which lay on the floor, his astonishment was not less, to find that not a single article had been conveyed away. The singularity of the circ.u.mstance induced him to report it immediately to his master: and the latter causing it to be proclaimed throughout the city, that the author of this proceeding had his free pardon, further announced that on repairing to the palace, he would be distinguished by the most encouraging marks of favour." Ya??oob availed himself of the invitation, relying upon the promise, which was fulfilled to him; and from this period he gradually rose in power until he became the founder of a Dynasty.[155]

In the houses of persons of the higher and middle cla.s.ses in Cairo, the different apartments generally resemble each other in several respects and are similarly furnished. The greater portion of the floor is elevated about half a foot, or somewhat more, above the rest. The higher portion is called leewan (a corruption of "el-eewan"), and the lower, dur?a'ah, from the Persian dar-gah. When there is but one leewan, the dur?a'ah occupies the lower end, extending from the door to the opposite wall. In a handsome house, it is usually paved with white and black marble and little pieces of red tile inlaid in tasteful and complicated patterns; and if the room is on the ground-floor, and sometimes in other cases, it has in the centre a fountain which plays into a small shallow pool lined with coloured marbles like the surrounding pavement. The shoes or slippers are left upon the dur?a'ah previously to stepping upon the leewan. The latter is generally paved with common stone and covered with a mat in summer, and a carpet over this in winter; and a mattress and cushions are placed against each of its three walls, composing what is called a "deewan," or divan. The mattress, which is commonly about three feet wide and three or four inches thick, is placed either on the floor or on a raised frame or a slightly elevated pavement; and the cushions, which are usually of a length equal to the width of the mattress and of a height equal to half that measure, lean against the wall. Both mattresses and cushions are stuffed with cotton and are covered with printed calico, cloth, or some more expensive stuff. The deewan which extends along the upper end of the leewan is called the ?adr, and is the most honourable: and the chief place on this seat is the corner which is to the right of a person facing this end of the room; the other corner is the next in point of honour; and the intermediate places on the same deewan are more honourable than those on the two side-deewans. To a superior, and often to an equal, the master or mistress yields the chief place. The corners are often furnished with an additional mattress of a square form, just large enough for one person, placed upon the other mattress, and with two additional (but smaller) cushions to recline against. The walls are for the most part plastered and white-washed, and generally have two or more shallow cupboards, the doors of which, as well as those of the apartments, are fancifully constructed with small panels. The windows, which are chiefly composed of curious wooden lattice-work, serving to screen the inhabitants from the view of persons without, as also to admit both light and air, commonly project outwards, and are furnished with mattresses and cushions. In many houses there are, above these, small windows of coloured gla.s.s, representing bunches of flowers, etc.

The ceiling is of wood, and certain portions of it, which are carved or otherwise ornamented by fanciful carpentry, are usually painted with bright colours, such as red, green, and blue, and sometimes varied with gilding; but the greater part of the wood-work is generally left unpainted.

The ?a'ah is a large and lofty apartment, commonly having two leewans on opposite sides of the dur?a'ah. One of these is in most instances larger than the other, and is held to be the more honourable part. Some ?a'ahs, containing three leewans, one of these being opposite the entrance, or four leewans composing the form of a cross with the dur?a'ah in the centre, communicate with the small chambers or closets, or have elevated recesses which are furnished in the same manner as the leewans. That part of the roof which is over the dur?a'ah rises above the rest, sometimes to nearly twice the height of the latter, and is generally surmounted by a lantern of wooden lattice-work to admit the air.

The prohibition of wine, or rather of fermented and intoxicating liquors, being one of the most remarkable and characteristic points of the Mohammadan religion, it might be imagined that the frequent stories in the "Thousand and One Nights," describing parties of Muslims as habitually indulging in the use of forbidden beverages, are scandalous misrepresentations of Arab manners and customs. There are, however, many similar anecdotes interspersed in the works of Arab historians, which (though many of them are probably untrue in their application to particular individuals) could not have been offered to the public by such writers if they were not of a nature consistent with the customs of a considerable cla.s.s of the Arab nation.

In investigating this subject, it is necessary in the first place to state that there is a kind of wine which Muslims are permitted to drink.

It is properly called nebeedh (a name which is _now_ given to _prohibited_ kinds of wine), and is generally prepared by putting dry grapes, or dry dates, in water, to extract their sweetness, and suffering the liquor to ferment slightly until it acquires a little sharpness or pungency. The Prophet himself was in the habit of drinking wine of this kind, which was prepared for him in the first part of the night; he drank it on the first and second days following; but if any remained on the morning of the third day, he either gave it to his servants or ordered it to be poured out upon the ground.[156] Such beverages have, therefore, been drunk by the strictest of his followers; and Ibn-Khaldoon strongly argues that nebeedh thus prepared from dates was the kind of wine used by the Khaleefehs Haroon Er-Rasheed and El-Ma-moon, and several other eminent men, who have been commonly accused of habitually and publicly indulging in debauches of wine properly so called, that is, of inebriating liquors.[157]

Nebeedh prepared from raisins is commonly sold in Arab towns under the name of "zebeeb," which signifies "raisins." This I have often drunk in Cairo, but never could perceive that it was in the slightest degree fermented. Other beverages, to which the name of "nebeedh" has been applied (though, like zebeeb, no longer called by that name), are also sold in Arab towns. The most common of these is an infusion of licorice, and called by the name of the root, 'er?-soos. The nebeedh of dates is sold in Cairo with the dates themselves in the liquor; and in like manner is that of figs. Under the same appellation of nebeedh have been cla.s.sed the different kinds of beer now commonly called boozeh. Opium, hemp, etc., are now more frequently used by the Muslims to induce intoxication or exhilaration. The young leaves of the hemp are generally used alone, or mixed with tobacco, for smoking; and the capsules, without the seeds, enter into the composition of several intoxicating conserves.

By my own experience I am but little qualified to p.r.o.nounce an opinion respecting the prevalence of drinking wine among the Arabs; for, never drinking it myself, I had little opportunity of observing others do so during my residence among Muslims. I judge, therefore, from the conversations and writings of Arabs, which justify me in a.s.serting that the practice of drinking wine in private and by select parties is far from being uncommon among modern Muslims, though certainly more so than it was before the introduction of tobacco into the East, in the beginning of the seventeenth century of our era: for this herb, being in a slight degree exhilarating, and at the same time soothing, and unattended by the injurious effects that result from wine, is a sufficient luxury to many who, without it, would have recourse to intoxicating beverages merely to pa.s.s away hours of idleness. The use of coffee, too, which became common in Egypt, Syria, and other countries besides Arabia, a century earlier than tobacco, doubtless tended to render the habit of drinking wine less general. That it was adopted as a subst.i.tute for wine appears even from its name, "?ahweh," an old Arabic term for wine; whence our "coffee."

There is an Arabic work of some celebrity, and not of small extent, ent.i.tled "?albet el-k.u.meyt,"[158] apparently written shortly before the Arabs were in possession of the first of these subst.i.tutes for wine, nearly the whole of which consists of anecdotes and verses relating to the pleasures resulting from or attendant upon the use of wine; a few pages at the end being devoted to the condemnation of this practice, or, in other words, to proving the worthlessness of all that precedes. Of this work I possess a copy, a quarto volume of 464 pages. I have endeavoured to skim its cream; but found it impossible to do so without collecting at the same time a considerable quant.i.ty of most filthy sc.u.m; for it is characterised by wit and humour plentifully interlarded with the grossest and most revolting obscenity. Yet it serves to confirm what has been above a.s.serted. The mere existence of such a work, (and it is not the only one of the kind), written by a man of learning, and I believe a ?a?ee, (a judge), or one holding the honourable office of a guardian of religion and morality,[159] and written evidently _con amore_, notwithstanding his a.s.sertion to the contrary,--is a strong argument in favour of the prevalence of the practice which it paints in the most fascinating colours, and then condemns. Its author terminates a chapter (the ninth), in which many well-known persons are mentioned as having been addicted to wine, by saying, that the Khaleefehs, Emeers, and Wezeers, so addicted, are too numerous to name in such a work; and by relating a story of a man who placed his own wife in pledge in the hands of a wine-merchant, after having expended in the purchase of the forbidden liquor all the property that he possessed. He excuses himself (in his preface) for writing this book, by saying that he had been ordered to do so by one whom he could not disobey; thus giving us a pretty strong proof that a great man in his own time was not ashamed of avowing his fondness for the prohibited enjoyment. If then we admit the respectable authority of Ibn-Khaldoon, and acquit of the vice of drunkenness those ill.u.s.trious individuals whose characters he vindicates, we must still regard most of the anecdotes relating to the carousals of other persons as being not without foundation.

One of my friends, who enjoys a high reputation, ranking among the most distinguished of the 'Ulama of Cairo, is well known to his intimate acquaintances as frequently indulging in the use of forbidden beverages with a few select a.s.sociates. I disturbed him and his companions by an evening visit on one of these occasions, and was kept waiting within the street door while the guests quickly removed everything that would give me any indication of the manner in which they had been employed; for the announcement of my (a.s.sumed) name,[160] and their knowledge of my abstemious character, completely disconcerted them. I found them, however, in the best humour. They had contrived, it appeared, to fill with wine a _china_ bottle, of the kind used at that season (it was winter) for water; and when any one of them asked the servant for water, this bottle was brought to him; but when I made the same demand, my host told me that there was a bottle of water on the sill of the window behind that part of the deewan upon which I was seated. The evening pa.s.sed away very pleasantly, and I should not have known how unwelcome was my intrusion had not one of the guests with whom I was intimately acquainted, in walking part of the way home with me, explained to me the whole occurrence. There was with us a third person, who, thinking that my antipathy to wine was feigned, asked me to stop at his house on my way and take a cup of "white coffee," by which he meant brandy.

Another of my Muslim acquaintances in Cairo I frequently met at the house of a common friend, where, though he was in most respects very bigoted, he was in the habit of indulging in wine. For some time he refrained from this gratification when I was by; but at length my presence became so irksome to him that he ventured to enter into an argument with me on the subject of the prohibition. The only answer I could give to his question, "Why is wine forbidden?" was in the words of the ?ur-an, "Because it is the source of more evil than profit."[161]

This suited his purpose, as I intended it should; and he asked, "What evil results from it?" I answered, "Intoxication and quarrels, and so forth."--"Then," said he, "if a man take not enough to intoxicate him there is no harm;"--and, finding that I acquiesced by silence, he added, "I am in the habit of taking a little; but never enough to intoxicate.

Boy, bring me a gla.s.s." He was the only Muslim, however, whom I have heard to argue against the absolute interdiction of inebriating liquors.

Histories tell us that some of the early followers of the Prophet indulged in wine, holding the text above referred to as indecisive; and that Mo?ammad was at first doubtful upon this subject appears from another text, in which his followers were told not to come to prayer when they were drunk, until they should know what they would say;[162]