The Thousand and One Nights Volume I Part 20

NOTE 28. The stories in which this justly-celebrated man is mentioned will, I think, be more agreeable to those readers who are unacquainted with his history, of which, therefore, I shall say nothing.

NOTE 29. Mesroor was a black eunuch, and a favourite servant of Er-Rasheed. The name signifies "happy."

NOTE 30. "?abareeyeh" is the modern name for Tiberias.

NOTE 31.--_Description_ of Khans, or Wekalehs. A Khan is a building chiefly designed for the accommodation of merchants, and for the reception of their goods. In Egypt, a building of this kind is generally called a Wekaleh. I have described it, in a former work, as surrounding a square or oblong court, and having, on the ground-floor, vaulted magazines for merchandise, which face the court, and are sometimes used as shops. Above these are generally lodgings, which are entered from a gallery extending along each of the four sides of the court; or, in the place of these lodgings, there are other magazines: and in many khans or wekalehs which have apartments designed as lodgings, these apartments are used as magazines. In general, the building has only one common entrance; the door of which is closed at night, and kept by a porter.

NOTE 32. It is customary for a guest or visiter to ask permission of the host, or master of the house, before taking his departure. A common form of speech used on this occasion is, "With your permission, I rise."

NOTE 33. Many Muslims perform the pilgrimage with the view of expiating their offences, and, at the Ka?beh, or at the tomb of the Prophet, make a vow to abstain from any glaring infringement of the law of which they may before have been guilty.

NOTE 34. I learn, from a marginal note in my copy of the original, by the sheykh Mo?ammad E?-Tan?awee, that these verses are the composition of Ibn-Sahl El-Ishbee-lee. Three concluding verses of the same ode, and a second poetical quotation immediately following, I have pa.s.sed over.

NOTE 35. In the original there are some errors in this part of the story, which the sequel requires me to correct. The cateress is described as having sung three successive songs, accompanying them with her lute. After the first song, the mistress of the house is said to have been affected in the manner described in the translation, and to have exposed to view the marks of beating. The second lady (namely, the portress) is represented as similarly excited by the second song; and the third lady (the cateress herself), by the third song. The last also is said to have exhibited upon her person those marks which, as the sequel shews, were borne by the second.

NOTE 36. The "mi?ra'ah," vulgarly called "ma?ra'ah," is a portion of the thicker end of a palm-branch stripped of the leaves. It is often used to beat a person in sport; but in this case, two or three splits are usually made in the thicker part of it, to increase the sound of the blows.

NOTE 37. In the original, "the portress." See Note 35, above.

NOTE 38. Perhaps it is needless to explain that the wish here expressed, for a protractive trial on the day of judgment, is occasioned by the longing for reunion, and the fear of separation after that day. The Muslims usually pray for an easy (and, consequently, a short) reckoning.

NOTE 39. I have omitted the third song of the cateress, and the description of its effects, mentioned in Note 35.

NOTE 40. See Note 47 to Chapter II.

NOTE 41. It seems to be implied that the lady discovered her guests, notwithstanding their disguise, to be persons of rank.

NOTE 42. I read "fu?arau a?jam" for "fu?arau-l-hojjam:" the former, carelessly written (in Arabic characters), might easily be mistaken for the latter.

NOTE 43. This phrase is used to signify "Recover thy senses;" alluding to a person's drawing his hand over his head or face after a sleep or fit.

NOTE 44. The burial-grounds of Eastern cities are generally so extensive, that, with the varied structures which they contain, they may aptly be called "Cities of the Dead." It was with difficulty that I recognised the tomb of the lamented Burckhardt, in the great cemetery on the north of Cairo, even after I had carefully noticed its place on a former visit.

NOTE 45. I have ventured to make a slight alteration here; but it is one which does not in the least affect the consistency of the tale. Marriage with a foster-sister is as expressly forbidden by the Mohammadan law as that with a natural sister.

NOTE 46. "The Truth" is one of the ninety-nine names or epithets of G.o.d.

NOTE 47. Many an Arab would rather risk the loss of his head than part with his beard; for the latter is regarded by almost all Muslims with a superst.i.tious respect; and to shave it off, at least after it has been suffered to grow for many days, they consider as sinful: this, however, is sometimes done by religious mendicants, as it is also by some of those persons who seek, or enjoy, the reputation of sanct.i.ty, and who are, or pretend to be, insane.

NOTE 48. By "the seven readings," we are to understand seven slightly different modes of reading the ?ur-an, seldom differing essentially as to the sense.

NOTE 49. Astrology (not astronomy) is here meant. Though a forbidden science, it is studied by many Muslims.

NOTE 50. A misplaced diacritical point occasions a wrong reading here, in the original, which I have corrected.

NOTE 51. The Mohammadan law requires that every man be acquainted with some art or occupation by which he may, in case of necessity, at least be able to obtain the means of supporting himself and such of his family as are dependant upon him, and of fulfilling all his religious as well as moral duties. Hence it has been a common custom of Muslim princes, in every age, to learn some useful art; and many of them have distinguished themselves by displaying exquisite skill in the work of their hands, and especially in caligraphy, of which the Orientals in general are great admirers.

NOTE 52. The 'Efreet (as we are told in some editions of the original) had taken this lady against the consent of his family, and therefore could not more frequently visit her.

NOTE 53. The term "?ubbeh" is often applied to a closet or small chamber adjoining a saloon; and in this sense it appears to be here used.

NOTE 54.--_On Sherbets._ The Arabs have various kinds of sherbets, or sweet drinks; the most common of which is merely sugar and water, made very sweet. The most esteemed kind is prepared from a hard conserve of violets, made by pounding violet-flowers, and then boiling them with sugar. Other kinds are prepared from conserves of fruits, &c. The sherbet is served in covered gla.s.s cups, containing from two-thirds to three-quarters of an English pint; the same which I have described in a former note as used for wine. These are placed on a round tray, and covered with a round piece of embroidered silk, or cloth of gold; and on the right arm of the person who presents the sherbet, is hung a long napkin with a deep embroidered border of gold and coloured silks at each end, which is ostensibly offered for the purpose of wiping the lips after drinking, though the lips are scarcely touched with it.

NOTE 55. The Arabs are very fond of having their feet, and especially the soles, slowly rubbed with the hand; and this operation, which is one of the services commonly required of a wife or female slave, is a usual mode of waking a person.

NOTE 56. Here, and again in the same and a subsequent sentence, for "kheiya?een," I read "?a??abeen." In the Breslau edition, "kha??abeen"

is put for the latter. The right reading is obvious.

NOTE 57. Falsehood was _commended_ by the Prophet when it tended to reconcile persons at enmity with each other, and when practised in order to please one's wife, or to obtain any advantage in a war with infidels, though strongly reprobated in other cases.

NOTE 58. Four verses here inserted in the original appear to me to be a corruption of a couplet which better expresses the same meaning, and which I have therefore translated in the place of the former. As the lines to which I allude are particularly pleasing, I may perhaps be excused if I here introduce the original words, which are as follow:--

"Isharatuna fi-l-?obbi remzu 'oyoonina: wa-kullu lebeebin bi-l-isharati yefhamu, ?awajibuna te??i-l-?awaja beynena: fa-na?nu sukootun wa-l-hawa yetekellemu."

NOTE 59. This is not meant to disparage the individual lady here mentioned, but is a saying of the Prophet applied to the s.e.x in general.

NOTE 60. In the edition of Cairo, this story is omitted. I translate it from the Calcutta edition of the first two hundred nights.

NOTE 61. "Fa?eer" (which signifies "poor," and is particularly used in the sense of "poor in the sight of G.o.d," or rather, "in need of the mercy of G.o.d") is an appellation commonly given to poor persons who especially occupy themselves in religious exercises.

NOTE 62. The performances called "zikrs" will be briefly described towards the close of the next note.

NOTE 63.--_On Muslin Saints, or Devotees._ The tale of the Envied Sheykh, and several other stories in this work, require that the reader should be acquainted with the remarkable opinions which the Arabs entertain with respect to the offices and supernatural powers of their saints. Such matters form an important part of the mysteries of the Darweeshes, and are but imperfectly known to the generality of Muslims.

The distinguished individuals above mentioned are known by the common appellation of "Welees," or particular favourites of G.o.d. 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 "?u?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 ?u?b of the saints is distinguished by other appellations: he is called "?u?b el-Ghos," or "---- el-Ghoth" ("the ?u?b of Invocation for Help"), &c.; and simply "El-Ghos."[257] The orders under the rule of this chief are called "'Omud (or Owtad), Akhyar, Abdal, Nujaba, and Nu?aba:" I name them according to their precedence.[258] Perhaps to these should be added an inferior order called "A?-?ab ed-Darak," which is said to mean "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 ?u?b, who, though generally stationed at Mekkeh, on the roof of the Ka?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, pa.s.sing unhurt through fire, swallowing fire, gla.s.s, &c., 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 G.o.d; by the services of good genii; and, as many believe, by the knowledge and utterance of "the most great name" of G.o.d. A miracle performed by a saint is distinguished by the term "karameh" from one performed by a prophet, which is called "mo?jizeh."

El-Khi?r and Ilyas (or Elias), of whom I have before had occasion to speak, are both believed to have been ?u?bs, and the latter is called in the ?ur-an 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 Ilyas is commonly believed to invest the successive ?u?bs. The similarity of the miracles ascribed to the ?u?bs and those performed by Elias or Elijah I have remarked in a former work. Another miracle, reminding us of the mantle of Elijah in the hands of his successor, may here be mentioned.--A saint who was the ?u?b of his time, dying at Toonis (or Tunis), left his clothes in trust to his attendant, Mo?ammad El-Ashwam, a native of the neighbouring regency of Tripoli (now called ?arabulus), 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.[259]

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 riwa? 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 na?eeb had trimmed and lighted another lamp.[260]

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, Ibraheem El-Khowwa?.--"I entered the desert [on pilgrimage to Mekkeh from El-'Era?], 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, and that Mo?ammad is G.o.d's Apostle: the other, that I said, O G.o.d, 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-Ma?la." "And G.o.d,"

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.[261]--The saint above mentioned was called "El-Khowwa?" (or the maker of palm-leaf baskets, &c.) from the following circ.u.mstance, 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 [?uffehs], and to throw them into the river, for my amus.e.m.e.nt, as if I were obliged to do so. My time was so pa.s.sed for many days: at length, one day, I thought I would walk after the baskets, and see whither they had gone: so I proceeded a while 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 G.o.d, 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 you."[262]

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-Ba?rah, fasting all the day, remaining without sleep at night in a mosque, and walking barefooted, until, under an acc.u.mulation 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 Baghdad.[263]

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 deenars (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.[264]

Shah El-Karmanee, another celebrated saint, had a beautiful daughter, whom the Sul?an 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 ?ur-an, 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 Shah the son of Shuja? El-Karmanee: 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 izar, and went out. Her husband said, "Now I perceive that the daughter of Shah El-Karmanee 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."[265]

One of my friends in Cairo, Abu-l-?asim of Geelan, mentioned in a former note, 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 dest.i.tution 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 gra.s.s 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 l.u.s.ty. 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 after did on similar occasions; never remaining long enough in a town for his leafy ap.r.o.n to wither. The abodes of mankind he always pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sing over a parched and desolate tract, where for three days he had found nothing to eat, not even a blade of gra.s.s, nor a spring from which to refresh his tongue, he became overpowered with thirst, and prayed that G.o.d would send him a messenger with a pitcher of water. "But," said he, "let the water be in a green Baghdahee pitcher, that I may know it 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 Baghdahee 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 wilayeh (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 the day. Here standing, he saw approaching, below, a troop of hors.e.m.e.n, who paused at the foot of the hill, when their chief, who was foremost, called out to him by name, "O Abu-l-?asim! O Geelanee! 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 pa.s.sed 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, 'La ilaha illa-llah' (There is no deity but G.o.d); 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 a.s.sisting 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 not 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, 'La ilaha illa-llah;' 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 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 caligraphist 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 pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sumed by a conscious impostor.

Insanity, however, if not of a very violent and dangerous nature, is commonly regarded by Muslims as a quality that ent.i.tles 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 G.o.d. This popular superst.i.tion is a fertile source of imposture; for, a reputation for sanct.i.ty 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, const.i.tute 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.