Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. ARABIAN SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE AGES [Illustration: Cover] _Three Vols., demy 8vo, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. each._ THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS: Commonly called, in England, "THE ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS." A New Translation from the Arabic, with copious Notes, by EDWARD WILLIAM LANE. Illustrated by many hundred Engravings on Wood, from Original Designs by WILLIAM HARVEY. A New Edition, from a Copy annotated by the Translator, edited by his Nephew, EDWARD STANLEY POOLE. With a Preface by STANLEY LANE-POOLE. _CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY, W._ ARABIAN SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE AGES STUDIES FROM _THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS_ BY EDWARD WILLIAM LANE HON. DOCTOR OF LITERATURE, LEYDEN CORRESPONDANT DE L'INSTITUT DE FRANCE EDITED BY HIS GRANDNEPHEW STANLEY LANE-POOLE B.A., M.R.A.S., LAUREAT DE L'INSTITUT [Illustration] London CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1883 [_All rights reserved_] PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. TO THE MEMORY OF E. H. PALMER, THE TRUE SUCCESSOR OF EDWARD WILLIAM LANE, IN HIS INSIGHT INTO EASTERN CHARACTER AND THOUGHT AND HIS GENIUS FOR THE ARABIC LANGUAGE, THIS BOOK IS SORROWFULLY DEDICATED. PREFACE. When Mr. Lane translated the "Thousand and One Nights," he was not content with producing a mere rendering of the Arabic text: he saw that the manners and ideas there described required a commentary if they were to become intelligible to an unlearned reader. At the end of each chapter of his translation, therefore, he appended a series of explanatory notes, which often reached the proportions of elaborate essays on the main characteristics of Mohammadan life. These notes have long been recognized by Orientalists as the most complete picture in existence of Arabian society--or rather of those Arab, Persian, or Greek, but still Mohammadan, conditions of life and boundaries of the mental horizon which are generally distinguished by the name of Arabian. Their position and arrangement, however, scattered as they were through three large volumes, and inserted in the order required not by their subjects but by the tales they illustrated, rendered them difficult to consult, and cumbrous, if not impossible, to read consecutively. It has often been suggested that a reprint of the principal notes, in a convenient form and in natural sequence, would be a welcome addition to the scholar's as well as to the general library. The publication of a new impression of the "Thousand and One Nights" presented an opportunity for discussing the project; and the result is the present volume. My task, as editor, has been a simple one. I have rejected only those notes which have no value apart from the main work--glossarial notes, for instance, giving the English of the proper names occurring in the Arabian Nights; disquisitions on the probable date of the composition of the tales; and others inseparably connected with the stories themselves. The rest I have arranged in a series of chapters, interweaving the shorter notes in the longer, and giving as far as possible an air of unity to each division. Beyond such verbal alterations as were required by the separation of the notes from the text to which they referred, occasional changes in punctuation, and a slight alteration in the spelling of Oriental names in accordance with my great-uncle's latest method, I have not interfered with the form of the notes as they appeared in the edition of 1859. Such insignificant changes as I have made, I think I may state with confidence, would have been approved by the author. Beyond a few notes distinguished by square brackets, a new and very minute index (in which all Arabic words are explained), and a list of the authorities quoted, I have added nothing of my own. It may be objected to the title of the book that a considerable part of the notes is composed of recollections of Mr. Lane's personal experiences in Cairo in the early part of the present century. The subject-matter, however, is really mediÃ¦val. The notes have all the same purpose: to explain the conditions of life and society as they were at the time when the "Thousand and One Nights" assumed their present collected form. Upon various grounds Mr. Lane placed this redaction or composition at about the end of the fifteenth century. Accordingly, a large proportion of these notes consist of extracts from the more famous Arabic historians and other authors of the later Middle Ages, such as Ibn El-Jowzee (who died in A.D. 1256), El-á¸²azweenee (1283), Ibn-el-Wardee (1348), Ibn-Khaldoon (1406), El-Maá¸³reezee (1441), Es-Suyooá¹­ee (1505), who all knew Arabian society in precisely the state described in the "Thousand and One Nights." Most of these authorities were unpublished when the notes were written, and Mr. Lane's quotations are from manuscripts in his own possession. Some are still inedited; and though many have been printed at the BoolÃ¡á¸³ Press and elsewhere, it is surprising how little they have been used by European authors. To the records of these mediÃ¦val writers, Mr. Lane added the results of his personal experience; and in doing so he was guilty of no anachronism: for the Arabian Society in which a Saladin, a Beybars, a Bará¸³ooá¸³, and a á¸²ait-Bey moved, and of which the native historians have preserved so full and graphic a record, survived almost unchanged to the time of Moá¸¥ammad Â´Alee, when Mr. Lane spent many years of intimate acquaintance among the people of Cairo. The life that he saw was the same as that described by El-Maá¸³reezee and Es-Suyooá¹­ee; and the purely Muslim society in which Mr. Lane preferred to move was in spirit, in custom, and in all essentials the same society that once hailed a HÃ¡roon er-Rasheed, a Jaáº¡far el-Barmekee, and an Aboo-NuwÃ¡s, among its members. The continuity of Arabian social tradition was practically unbroken from almost the beginning of the Khalifate to the present century, at least in such a metropolis of IslÃ¡m as Cairo, or as Damascus or Baghdad. European influence has been busy in demolishing it. Cairo has long been trying to become a bastard Paris instead of the picturesque city of El-MoÂ´izz and á¹¢alÃ¡á¸¥-ed-Deen, and to forget its traditions of the palmy days of IslÃ¡m and its memorials of the chivalrous heroes of crusading times. It would be impossible now to gather the minute details of a purely Mohammadan society which Mr. Lane found ready to his eye and hand; and it is therefore the more fortunate that the record of Arabian Society, as it was during the Khalifate and under the rule of the Memlooks in the Middle Ages, and as it continued to be in Egypt to the days of Moá¸¥ammad Â´Alee, was faithfully preserved in the "Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," and in the notes to the "Thousand and One Nights," which are here for the first time presented in a separate and consecutive form. STANLEY LANE-POOLE. _December, 1882._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. RELIGION. Articles of Faith--Predestination--Ritual and Moral Laws: prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage, etc.--Civil Laws: marriage, divorce, inheritance, manumission--Criminal Laws: murder, retaliation, theft, etc.--Religious Festivals 1 CHAPTER II. DEMONOLOGY. Angels and Jinn (Genii)--Various kinds of Jinn--Preadamite Jinn--History of Iblees--Long life of the Jinn and manner of death; assumed shapes--A Jinneeyeh wife--Spirits of the whirlwind and waterspout--Abodes of the Jinn--Solomon's power over them--Ghools and other inferior orders 25 CHAPTER III. SAINTS. Welees and their á¸²uá¹­bs--El-Khiá¸r and Elias--Miracles--Influence--Self-denial and asceticism--Two authentic saints--General habits--A historical saint--Pilgrimage to the tombs--Annual festivals--A Zikr performed by Darweeshes--A Khatmeh--Religious murder 47 CHAPTER IV. MAGIC. Spiritual magic, divine or Satanic--Babel--HÃ¡root and MÃ¡root--Enchantment--Divination--Astrology--Geomancy-- Auguration--Chiromancy--Omens--Dreams--A dream of the Great Plague, 1835--Lucky and unlucky days--Natural magic--Alchymy--The magician á¹¢Ã¡doomeh and his miracles 80 CHAPTER V. COSMOGRAPHY. The seven Heavens--Paradise--Form and divisions of the earth--The Sea of Darkness--Fountain of Life--Mountains of á¸²Ã¡f--The lower earths--What the earth stands on--The stages of Hell 97 CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE. The Heroic Age--Â´OkÃ¡á¸h--The á¸²ur-Ã¡n--The Middle Age--Corrupt dialects--Â´Abd-el-Melik--HÃ¡roon Er-Rasheed and Abu-lÂ´AtÃ¡hiyeh--The Barmekees--Dresses of honour--Two items in HÃ¡roon's account book--Rewards to poets--á¸¤ammÃ¡d's good fortune--Reception of Greek ambassadors by a Khaleefeh--A niggardly king outwitted--The decline of Arabian literature--Letters--The language of flowers, and emblematical conversation--Secret signs--El-Mutanebbee's warning--The language of birds and beasts 109 CHAPTER VII. FEASTING AND MERRYMAKING. Muslim meals and mode of eating--Principal dishes--A typical feast--Public dinners--Clean and unclean meats--Drinks--Hospitality--Bread and salt--A thief thwarted--An Arabian room--A hall or saloon--The use of wine--Date wine, etc.--Prevalence of the habit of drinking wine in the present day and in history--A bout interrupted--Moderate drinking--Effects of wine--Â´Abd-el-Melik and his slave--Preparations for a banquet--Fruits--A rose-lover--Favourite flowers--Music--IbrÃ¡heem El-MÃ³á¹£ilee and HÃ¡roon Er-Rasheed--Isá¸¥Ã¡á¸³ El-MÃ³á¹£ilee--MukhÃ¡riá¸³--Performers--Unveiled women singers--Arab music--Lyric songs--Other amusements--The Bath--Hunting and hawking 135 CHAPTER VIII. CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION. Ceremonies at birth, and on the seventh day--Giving the name--Sacrifice--Shaving the head--Suckling--Care of children--Evil eye--Respect for parents--The future state of children who die young--Early education of the father--Circumcision--Schools and teaching--Private tuition--Education of girls--Arab character 186 CHAPTER IX. WOMEN. Love among Arabs--Three tales of true love--Umm-Â´Amr--The ideal of beauty--Coiffure--Gait--Woman's counsel--Marriage and divorce--Laws and general habits--Choice of a wife--Prohibited degrees--Cousins preferred--Ages--A wife's qualifications--Dowry--Marriage contract--Festivities and ceremonies of marriage--Wedding horoscopes--Employment of the á¸¥areem--Polygamy and the Muslim social system in general--Affection between wives 207 CHAPTER X. SLAVERY. Conditions, rights, and disabilities of slaves--Emancipation-- White slaves--Treatment--The Prophet's injunctions--Â´OthmÃ¡n's compunction--Jaáº¡far's wife 250 CHAPTER XI. CEREMONIES OF DEATH. Last duties--Washing--Grave-clothes--Funeral--Sacrifice-- Biers--The tomb--Preparing for the examining angels--Visits to the grave--State of the soul between death and the resurrection--The Well of Barahoot 258 INDEX 267 AUTHORS AND WORKS REFERRED TO 281 ARABIAN SOCIETY IN THE MIDDLE AGES. CHAPTER I. RELIGION. The confession of the Muslim's faith is briefly made in these words,--"There is no deity but God: Moá¸¥ammad is God's Apostle,"--which imply a belief and observance of everything that Moá¸¥ammad taught to be the word or will of God. In the opinion of those who are commonly called orthodox, and termed Sunnees, the Mohammadan code is founded upon the á¸²ur-Ã¡n, the Traditions of the Prophet, the concordance of his principal early disciples, and the decisions which have been framed from analogy or comparison. The Sunnees consist of four sects, á¸¤anafees, ShÃ¡fiÂ´ees, MÃ¡likees, and Hambelees, so called after the names of their respective founders. The other sects, who are called ShiyaÂ´ees (an appellation particularly given to the Persian sect, but also used to designate generally all who are not Sunnees), are regarded nearly in the same light as those who do not profess El-IslÃ¡m (the Mohammadan faith); that is, as destined to eternal punishment. I. The Mohammadan faith embraces the following points:-- 1. Belief in God, who is without beginning or end, the sole Creator and Lord of the universe, having absolute power, and knowledge, and glory, and perfection. 2. Belief in his Angels, who are impeccable beings, created of light; and Genii (Jinn), who are peccable, created of smokeless fire. The Devils, whose chief is Iblees, or Satan, are evil Genii.[1] 3. Belief in his Prophets and Apostles;[2] the most distinguished of whom are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Moá¸¥ammad. Jesus is held to be more excellent than any of those who preceded him, to have been born of a virgin, and to be the Messiah and the word of God and a Spirit proceeding from him, but not partaking of his essence and not to be called the Son of God. Moá¸¥ammad is held to be more excellent than all, the last and greatest of prophets and apostles, the most excellent of the creatures of God. 4. Belief in his Scriptures, which are his uncreated word, revealed to his prophets. Of these there now exist, but held to be greatly corrupted, the Pentateuch of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospels of Jesus Christ; and, in an uncorrupted and incorruptible state, the á¸²ur-Ã¡n, which is held to have abrogated, and to surpass in excellence, all preceding revelations. 5. Belief in the general Resurrection and Judgment, and in future rewards and punishments, chiefly of a corporeal nature: the punishments will be eternal to all but wicked Mohammadans; and none but Mohammadans will enter into a state of happiness. 6. Belief in God's Predestination of all events, both good and evil. The belief in fate and destiny (el-á¸³aá¸Ã wa-l-á¸³adar)[3] exercises a most powerful influence upon the actions and character of the Muslims. Many hold that fate is in some respects absolute and unchangeable, in others admitting of alteration; and almost all of them _act_ in many of the affairs of life as if this were their belief. In the former case, it is called "el-á¸³aá¸Ã el-moá¸¥kam;" in the latter, "el-á¸³aá¸Ã el-mubram" (which term, without the explanation here given, might be regarded as exactly synonymous with the former). Hence the Prophet, it is said, prayed to be preserved from the latter, as knowing that it might be changed; and in allusion to this changeable fate, we are told, God says, "God will cancel what He pleaseth, and confirm;"[4] while, on the contrary, the fate which is termed "moá¸¥kam" is appointed "destiny" decreed by God.[5] Many doctors have argued that destiny respects only the _final state_ of a certain portion of men (believers and unbelievers), and that in general man is endowed with free will, which he should exercise according to the laws of God and his own conscience and judgment, praying to God for a blessing on his endeavours, or imploring the intercession of the Prophet or of any of the saints in his favour, and propitiating them by offering alms or sacrifices in their names, relying upon God for the result, which he may then, and then only, attribute to fate or destiny. They hold, therefore, that it is criminal to attempt resistance to the will when its dictates are conformable with the laws of God and our natural consciences and prudence, and so passively to await the fulfilment of God's decrees.--The doctrine of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n and the traditions respecting the decrees of God, or fate and destiny, appears, however, to be that they are altogether absolute and unchangeable, written in the beginning of the creation on the "Preserved Tablet" in heaven; that God hath predestined every event and action, evil as well as good,--at the same time commanding and approving good, and forbidding and hating evil; and that the "cancelling" mentioned in the preceding paragraph relates (as the context seems to show) to the abrogation of former scriptures or revelations, not of fate. But still it must be held that He hath not predestined the _will_; though He sometimes inclines it to good, and the Devil sometimes inclines it to evil. It is asked, then, If we have the power to will, but not the power to perform otherwise than as God hath predetermined, how can we be regarded as responsible beings? The answer to this is that our actions are judged good or evil according to our intentions, if we have faith: good actions or intentions, it should be added, only increase, and do not cause, our happiness if we are believers; and evil actions or intentions only increase our misery if we are unbelievers or irreligious: for the Muslim holds that he is to be admitted into heaven only by the mercy of God, on account of his faith, and to be rewarded in proportion to his good works. The Prophet's assertions on the subject of God's decrees are considered of the highest importance as explanatory of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n.--"Whatever is in the universe," said he, "is by the order of God."--"God hath pre-ordained five things on his servants; the duration of life, their actions, their dwelling-places, their travels, and their portions."--"There is not one among you whose sitting-place is not written by God, whether in the fire or in paradise."--Some of the companions of the Prophet, on hearing the last-quoted saying, asked him, "O Prophet, since God hath appointed our places, may we confide in this, and abandon our religious and moral duties?" He answered, "No: because the happy will do good works, and those who are of the miserable will do bad works." The following of his sayings further illustrate this subject:--"When God hath ordered a creature to die in any particular place, He causeth his wants to direct him to that place."--A companion asked, "O Prophet of God, inform me respecting charms, and the medicines which I swallow, and shields which I make use of for protection, whether they prevent any of the orders of God." Moá¸¥ammad answered, "These also are by the order of God." "There is a medicine for every pain: then, when the medicine reaches the pain it is cured by the order of God."[6]--When a Muslim, therefore, feels an inclination to make use of medicine for the cure of a disease, he should do so, in the hope of its being predestined that he shall be so cured. On the predestination of diseases, I find the following curious quotation and remark in a manuscript work[7] by Es-Suyooá¹­ee, who wrote in the fifteenth century, in my possession:--"El-á¸¤aleemee says, 'Communicable or contagious diseases are six: small-pox, measles, itch or scab, foul breath or putridity, melancholy, and pestilential maladies; and diseases engendered are also six: leprosy, hectic, epilepsy, gout, elephantiasis, and phthisis.' But this does not contradict the saying of the Prophet, 'There is no transition of diseases by contagion or infection, nor any omen that brings evil:' for the transition here meant is one occasioned by the disease itself; whereas the effect is of God, who causes pestilence to spread when there is intercourse with the diseased."--A Bedawee asked the Prophet, "What is the condition of camels which stay in the deserts? verily you might say they are deer, in health and in cleanness of skin; then they mix with mangy camels, and they become mangy also." Moá¸¥ammad said, "What made the first camel mangy?"[8] Notwithstanding, however, the arguments which have been here adduced, and many others that might be added, declaring or implying the unchangeable nature of all God's decrees, I have found it to be the opinion of my own Muslim friends that God may be induced by supplication to change certain of his decrees, at least those regarding degrees of happiness or misery in this world and the next; and that such is the general opinion appears from a form of prayer which is repeated in the mosques on the eve of the middle (or fifteenth day) of the month of Shaáº¡bÃ¡n, when it is believed that such portions of God's decrees as constitute the destinies of all living creatures for the ensuing year are confirmed and fixed. In this prayer it is said, "O God, if Thou _hast recorded_ me in thy abode, upon 'the Original of the Book' [the Preserved Tablet], miserable or unfortunate or scanted in my sustenance, _cancel_, O God, of thy goodness, my misery and misfortune and scanty allowance of sustenance, and confirm me in thy abode, upon the Original of the Book, as happy and provided for and directed to good,"[9] etc. The Arabs in general constantly have recourse both to charms and medicines, not only for the cure but also for the prevention of diseases. They have, indeed, a strange passion for medicine, which shows that they do not consider fate as altogether unconditional. Nothing can exceed the earnestness with which they often press a European traveller for a dose; and the more violent the remedy, the better are they pleased. The following case will serve as an example:--Three donkey-drivers, conveying the luggage of two British travellers from BoolÃ¡á¸³ to Cairo, opened a bottle which they observed in a basket, and finding it to contain (as they had suspected) brandy, emptied it down their throats: but he who had the last draught, on turning up the bottle, got the tail of a scorpion into his mouth; and, looking through the bottle to his great horror saw that it contained a number of these reptiles, with tarantulas, vipers, and beetles. Thinking that they had poisoned themselves, but not liking to rely upon fate, they persuaded a man to come to me for medicine. He introduced the subject by saying, "O Efendee, do an act of kindness: there are three men poisoned; in your mercy give them medicine, and save their lives:" and then he related the whole affair, without concealing the theft. I answered that they did not deserve medicine; but he urged that by giving it I should obtain an immense reward. "Yes," said I; "'he who saveth a soul alive shall be as if he had saved the lives of all mankind.'"[10] I said this to try the feeling of the applicant, who, expressing admiration of my knowledge, urged me to be quick, lest the men should die; thus showing himself to be no unconditional fatalist. I gave him three strong doses of tartar emetic; and he soon came back to thank me, saying that the medicine was most admirable, for the men had hardly swallowed it when they almost vomited their hearts and livers and everything else in their bodies. From a distrust in fate some Muslims even shut themselves up during the prevalence of plague; but this practice is generally condemned. A Syrian friend of mine who did so nearly had his door broken open by his neighbours. Another of my friends, one of the most distinguished of the Â´UlamÃ , confessed to me his conviction of the lawfulness of quarantine and argued well in favour of it; but said that he dared not openly avow such an opinion. "The Apostle of God," said he, "God favour and preserve him! hath commanded that we should not enter a city where there is pestilence, nor go out from it. Why did he say, 'Enter it not'?--because, by so doing, we should expose ourselves to the disease. Why did he say, 'Go not out from it?'--because, by so doing, we should carry the disease to others. The Prophet was tenderly considerate of our welfare: but the present Muslims in general are like bulls [brute beasts]; and they hold the meaning of this command to be, Go not into a city where there is pestilence, because this would be rashness; and go not out from it, because this would be distrusting God's power to save you from it." Many of the vulgar and ignorant among modern Muslims, believe that the unchangeable destinies of every man are written upon his head, in what are termed the sutures of the skull. II. The principal Ritual and Moral Laws are on the following subjects, of which the first four are the most important. 1. Prayer (eá¹£-á¹£alÃ¡h) including preparatory purifications. There are partial or total washings to be performed on particular occasions which need not be described. The ablution which is more especially preparatory to prayer (and which is called wuá¸oo) consists in washing the hands, mouth, nostrils, face, arms (as high as the elbow, the right first), each three times; and then the upper part of the head, the beard, ears, neck, and feet, each once. This is done with running water, or from a very large tank, or from a lake, or the sea. Prayers are required to be performed five times in the course of every day; between daybreak and sunrise, between noon and the Â´aá¹£r, (which latter period is about mid-time between noon and nightfall), between the Â´aá¹£r and sunset, between sunset and the Â´eshÃ¨ (or the period when the darkness of night commences), and at, or after, the Â´eshÃ¨. The commencement of each of these periods is announced by a chant (called adÃ¡n), repeated by a crier (muÃ«ddin) from the mÃ¡dineh, or minaret, of each mosque; and it is more meritorious to commence the prayer then than at a later time. On each of these occasions, the Muslim has to perform certain prayers held to be ordained by God, and others ordained by the Prophet; each kind consisting of two, three, or four "rekÂ´ahs;" which term signifies the repetition of a set form of words, chiefly from the á¸²ur-Ã¡n, and ejaculations of "God is most Great!" etc., accompanied by particular postures; part of the words being repeated in an erect posture; part, sitting; and part, in other postures: an inclination of the head and body, followed by two prostrations, distinguishing each rekÂ´ah.[11] These prayers may in some cases be abridged, and in others entirely omitted. Other prayers must be performed on particular occasions. On Friday, the Mohammadan Sabbath, there are congregational prayers, which are similar to those of others days, with additional prayers and exhortations by a minister, who is called ImÃ¡m, or Khaá¹­eeb. The SelÃ¡m (or Salutation) of Friday--a form of blessing on the Prophet and his family and companions,--is chanted by the muÃ«ddins from the mÃ¡dinehs of the congregational mosques half-an-hour before noon. The worshippers begin to assemble in the mosque as soon as they hear it, and arranging themselves in rows parallel to, and facing, that side in which is the niche that marks the direction of Mekkeh, each performs by himself the prayers of two rekÂ´ahs, which are supererogatory, and then sits in his place while a reader recites part or the whole of the 18th chapter of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n. At the call of noon, they all stand up, and each again performs separately the prayers of two rekÂ´ahs ordained by the Prophet. A minister standing at the foot of the pulpit-stairs then proposes to bless the Prophet: and accordingly a second SelÃ¡m is chanted by one or more other ministers stationed on an elevated platform. After this, the former minister, and the latter after him, repeat the call of noon (which the muÃ«ddins have before chanted from the mÃ¡dinehs); and the former enjoins silence. The Khaá¹­eeb has already seated himself on the top step or platform of the pulpit. He now rises and recites a khuá¹­beh of praise to God and exhortation to the congregation; and, if in a country or town acquired by arms from unbelievers, he holds a wooden sword, resting its point on the ground. Each of the congregation next offers up some private supplication; after which, the Khaá¹­eeb recites a second khuá¹­beh, which is always the same or nearly so, in part resembling the first, but chiefly a prayer for the Prophet and his family, and for the general welfare of the Muslims. This finished, the Khaá¹­eeb descends from the pulpit, and, stationed before the niche, after a form of words[12] differing slightly from the call to prayer has been chanted by the ministers on the elevated platform before mentioned, recites the divinely-ordained prayers of Friday (two rekÂ´ahs) while the people do the same silently, keeping time with him exactly in the various postures. Thus are completed the Friday-prayers; but some of the congregation remain, and perform the ordinary divinely-ordained prayers of noon. Other occasions for special prayer are the two grand annual festivals; the nights of Ramaá¸Ã¡n, the month of abstinence; the occasion of an eclipse of the sun or moon; for rain; previously to the commencement of battle; in pilgrimage; and at funerals. 2. Alms-giving. An alms, called "zekÃ¡h," is required by law to be given annually, to the poor, of camels, oxen (bulls and cows) and buffaloes, sheep and goats, horses and mules and asses, and gold and silver (whether in money or in vessels, ornaments, etc.), provided the property be of a certain amount, as five camels, thirty oxen, forty sheep, five horses, two hundred dirhems, or twenty deenÃ¡rs. The proportion is generally one-fortieth, which is to be paid in kind or in money or other equivalent. 3. Fasting (eá¹£-á¹¢iyÃ¡m). The Muslim must abstain from eating and drinking, and from every indulgence of the senses, every day during the month of Ramaá¸Ã¡n, from the first appearance of daybreak until sunset, unless physically incapacitated.--On the first day of the following month, a festival, called the Minor Festival, is observed with public prayer and with general rejoicing, which continues three days. 4. Pilgrimage (el-á¸¤Ã¡jj). It is incumbent on the Muslim, if able, to perform at least once in his life the pilgrimage to Mekkeh and Mount Â´ArafÃ¡t. The principal ceremonies of the pilgrimage are completed on the 9th of the month of Dhu-l-á¸¤ijjeh: on the following day, which is the first of the Great Festival, on the return from Â´ArafÃ¡t to Mekkeh, the pilgrims who are able to do so perform a sacrifice, and every other Muslim who can is required to do the same: part of the meat of the victim he should eat, and the rest he should give to the poor. This festival is otherwise observed in a similar manner to the minor one, above mentioned; and lasts three or four days. The less important ritual and moral laws may here be briefly mentioned.[13]--One of these is circumcision, which is not absolutely obligatory.--The distinctions of clean and unclean meats are nearly the same in the Mohammadan as in the Mosaic code. Camel's flesh is an exception; being lawful to the Muslim. Swine's flesh, and blood, are especially condemned; and a particular mode of slaughtering animals for food is enjoined, accompanied by the repetition of the name of God.--Wine and all inebriating liquors are strictly forbidden.--So too is gaming.--Music is condemned; but most Muslims take great delight in hearing it.--Images and pictures representing living creatures are contrary to law.--Charity, probity in all transactions, veracity (excepting in a few cases),[14] and modesty, are virtues indispensable.--Cleanliness in person, and decent attire, are particularly required. Clothes of silk and ornaments of gold or silver are forbidden to men, but allowed to women: this precept, however, is often disregarded.--Utensils of gold and silver are also condemned: yet they are used by many Muslims.--The manners of Muslims in society are subject to particular rules with respect to salutations, etc. Of the Civil Laws, the following notices will suffice.--A man may have four wives at the same time, and according to common opinion as many concubine slaves as he pleases.--He may divorce a wife twice, and each time take her back again; but if he divorce her a third time, or by a triple sentence, he cannot make her his wife again unless by her own consent and by a new contract, and after another man has consummated a marriage with her and divorced her.--The children by a wife and those by a concubine slave inherit equally, if the latter be acknowledged by the father. Sons inherit equally: and so do daughters; but the share of a daughter is half that of a son. One-eighth is the share of the wife or wives of the deceased if he have left issue, and one-fourth if he have left no issue. A husband inherits one-fourth of his wife's property if she have left issue, and one-half if she have left no issue. The debts and legacies of the deceased must first be paid. A man may leave one-third [but no more] of his property in any way he pleases.--When a concubine slave has borne a child to her master, she becomes entitled to freedom on his death.--There are particular laws relating to commerce. Usury and monopoly are especially condemned. Of the Criminal Laws, a few may be briefly mentioned. Murder is punishable by death, or by a fine to be paid to the family of the deceased, if they prefer it.--Theft, if the property stolen amount to a quarter of a deenÃ¡r, is to be punished by cutting off the right hand, except under certain circumstances.--Adultery, if attested by four eye-witnesses, is punishable by death (stoning): fornication, by a hundred stripes, and banishment for a year.--Drunkenness is punished with eighty stripes.--Apostasy, persevered in, by death. The á¸²ur-Ã¡n ordains that murder shall be punished with death; or, rather, that the free shall die for the free, the slave for the slave, and the woman for the woman;[15] or that the perpetrator of the crime shall pay, to the heirs of the person whom he has killed, if they will allow it, a fine, which is to be divided according to the laws of inheritance already explained. It also ordains that unintentional homicide shall be expiated by freeing a believer from slavery, and paying a fine to the family of the person killed, unless they remit it. But these laws are amplified and explained by the same book and by the ImÃ¡ms. A fine is not to be accepted for murder unless the crime has been attended by some palliating circumstance. This fine, the price of blood, is a hundred camels; or a thousand deenÃ¡rs (about Â£500) from him who possesses gold; or, from him who possesses silver, twelve thousand dirhems (about Â£300). This is for killing a free man; for a woman, half that sum; for a slave, his or her value, but this must fall short of the price of blood for the free. A person unable to free a believer must fast two months as in Ramaá¸Ã¡n. The accomplices of a murderer are liable to the punishment of death. By the Sunneh (or Traditions of the Prophet) also, a man is obnoxious to capital punishment for the murder of a woman; and by the á¸¤anafee law, for the murder of another man's slave. But he is exempted from this punishment who kills his own child or other descendant, or his own slave, or his son's slave, or a slave of whom he is part-owner; so also are his accomplices: and according to Esh-ShÃ¡fiÂ´ee, a Muslim, though a slave, is not to be put to death for killing an infidel, though the latter be free. A man who kills another in self-defence, or to defend his property from a robber, is exempt from all punishment. The price of blood is a debt incumbent on the family, tribe, or association, of which the homicide is a member. It is also incumbent on the inhabitants of an enclosed quarter, or the proprietor or proprietors of a field, in which the body of a person killed by an unknown hand is found; unless the person has been found killed in his own house. Retaliation for intentional wounds and mutilations is allowed by the Mohammadan law, like as for murder, "an eye for an eye," etc.;[16] but a fine may be accepted instead, which the law allows also for unintentional injuries. The fine for a member that is single (as the nose) is the whole price of blood, as for homicide; for a member of which there are two, and not more (as a hand), half the price of blood; for one of which there are ten (a finger or toe), a tenth of the price of blood: but the fine of a man for maiming or wounding a woman is half of that for the same injury to a man; and that of a free person for injuring a slave varies according to the value of the slave. The fine for depriving a man of any of his five senses, or dangerously wounding him, or grievously disfiguring him for life, is the whole price of blood. The Mohammadan law ordains that a person who is adult and of sound mind, if he steals an article of the value of a quarter of a deenÃ¡r (or piece of gold) from a place to which he has not ordinary or free access, shall lose his right hand; but this punishment is not to be inflicted for stealing a free child, or anything which, in the eye of the law, is of no pecuniary value, as wine, or a musical instrument; and there are some other cases in which the thief is not to be so punished. For the second offence, the left foot is to be cut off; and for the third and subsequent offences, according to the á¸¤anafee code, the culprit is to be punished by a long imprisonment; or, by the ShÃ¡fiÂ´ee law, for the third offence, he is to lose his left hand; for the fourth, his right foot; and for further offences, he is to be flogged or beaten. The punishment is the same for a woman as for a man. This law induced a freethinking Muslim to ask, "If the hand is worth five hundred deenÃ¡rs [this being the fine for depriving a man of that member], why should it be cut off for a quarter of a deenÃ¡r?" He was answered, "An honest hand is of great value; but not so is the hand that hath stolen." Amputation for theft, however, is now seldom practised: beating, or some other punishment, is usually inflicted in its stead for the first, second, and third offence; and frequently, death for the fourth. The Muslims observe two grand Â´Eeds or Festivals in every year. The first of these immediately follows Ramaá¸Ã¡n, the month of abstinence, and lasts three days: it is called the Minor Festival. The other, which is called the Great Festival, commences on the tenth of Dhu-l-á¸¤ijjeh, the day when the pilgrims, halting in the Valley of MinÃ¨, on their return from Mount Â´ArafÃ¡t to Mekkeh, perform their sacrifice: the observance of this festival also continues three days, or four. Early in the first morning, on each of these festivals, the Muslim is required to perform a lustration of his whole person, as on the mornings of Friday; and on the first morning of the Minor Festival he should break his fast with a few dates or some other light food, but on the Great Festival he abstains from food until he has acquitted himself of the religious duties now to be mentioned. Soon after sunrise on the first day of each festival, the men, dressed in new or in their best clothes, repair to the mosque or to a particular place appointed for the performance of the prayers of the Â´Eed. On going thither, they should repeat frequently "God is most Great!"--on the Minor Festival inaudibly, on the other aloud. The congregation having assembled repeat the prayers of two rekÂ´ahs; after which the Khaá¹­eeb recites a khuá¹­beh, _i.e._ an exhortation and a prayer. On each of these festivals, in the mosque or place of prayer and in the street and at each other's houses, friends congratulate and embrace one another, generally paying visits for this purpose; and the great receive visits from their dependants. The young on these occasions kiss the right hand of the aged, and servants or dependants do the same to their masters or superiors, unless the latter be of high rank, in which case they kiss the end of the hanging sleeves or the skirt of the outer garment. Most of the shops are closed, excepting those at which eatables and sweet drinks are sold; but the streets are filled with people in their holiday-clothes. On the Minor Festival, which, as it terminates an arduous fast, is celebrated with more rejoicing than the other,[17] servants and other dependants receive presents of new articles of clothing from their masters or patrons; and the servant receives presents of small sums of money from his master's friends, whom, if they do not visit his master, he goes to congratulate; as well as from any former master, to whom he often takes a plate-full of kaá¸¥ks. These are sweet cakes or biscuits of an annular form, composed of flour and butter, with a little Â´ajameeyeh (a thick paste consisting of butter, honey, a little flour, and some spices) inside. They are also often sent as presents on this occasion by other people. Another custom required of the faithful on this festival is the giving of alms. On the Great Festival, after the prayers of the congregation, every one who can afford it performs, with his own hand or by that of a deputy, a sacrifice of a ram, he-goat, cow or buffalo, or she-camel; part of the meat of which he eats, and part he gives to the poor, or to his friends or dependants. The ram or goat should be at least one year old; the cow or buffalo, two years; and the camel, five years; and none should have any considerable mutilation or infirmity. A cow or buffalo, or a camel, is a sufficient sacrifice for seven persons. The clothes which were put on new at the former festival are generally worn on this occasion; and the presents which are given to servants and others are usually somewhat less. On each of the two festivals it is also customary, especially with the women, to visit the tombs of relations. The party generally take with them a palm-branch, and place it, broken in several pieces, or merely its leaves, upon the tomb or monument; or some, instead of this, place sweet basil or other flowers. They also usually provide themselves with sweet cakes, bread, dates, or some other kind of food, to distribute to the poor. But their first duty on arriving at the tomb is to recite the FÃ¡tiá¸¥ah (the opening chapter of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n), or to employ a person to recite previously a longer chapter, generally the thirty-sixth (Soorat YÃ¡-Seen), or even the whole of the book: sometimes the visitors recite the FÃ¡tiá¸¥ah, and, after having hired a person to perform a longer recitation, go away before he commences. The women often stay all the days of the festivals in the cemeteries, either in tents or in houses of their own erected there for their reception on these and other occasions. The tent of each party surrounds the tomb which is the object of their visit. In the outskirts of the cemeteries, swings and whirligigs are set up, and story-tellers, jugglers, and dancers amuse the populace. FOOTNOTES: [1] See below, 25 ff. [2] An Apostle is distinguished from a mere Prophet by his having a _book_ revealed to him. [3] I use two words (perhaps the best that our language affords) to express corresponding Arabic terms, which some persons regard as synonymous, but others distinguish by different shades of meaning. On what I consider the best authority, the word which I render "fate" respects the decrees of God in a general sense; while that which I translate "destiny" relates to the particular applications of those decrees. In such senses these terms are here to be understood when separately employed. [4] á¸²ur-Ã¡n, xiii. 39. [5] El-InsÃ¡n el-KÃ¡mil, by Â´Abd-El-Kereem El-Jeelee, quoted by El-Isá¸¥Ã¡á¸³ee in his account of IbrÃ¡heem PÃ¡sha el-Maá¸³tool. [6] MishkÃ¡t el-Maá¹£Ã¡beeá¸¥, i. 26-34, 373. [Cp. S. Lane-Poole, "The Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moá¸¥ammad" (1882), 180-182.] [7] Nuzhet el-MutaÃ¤mmil wa-Murshid el-MutaÃ¤hhil, section 7. [8] MishkÃ¡t el-Maá¹£Ã¡beeá¸¥, ii. 381. [9] For a translation of the whole of this prayer, see my "Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," ch. xxv. [10] á¸²ur. v. 35. [11] For a fuller account of the prayers, see "Modern Egyptians," ch. iii. [12] The Iá¸³Ã¡meh: see below, ch. viii. [13] [For the collected legislation of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n, see my "Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Moá¸¥ammad," 133 ff. S. L-P. [14] Among a people by whom falsehood, in certain cases, is not only allowed but commended, oaths of different kinds are more or less binding. In considering this subject we should also remember that oaths may sometimes be expiated. There are some oaths which, I believe, few Muslims would falsely take; such as saying, three times, "By God the Great!" (Wa-llÃ¡hi-l-Â´aáºeem), and the oath upon the muá¹£á¸¥af (or copy of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n), saying, "By what this contains of the word of God!" This latter is rendered more binding by placing a sword with the sacred volume, and still more so by the addition of a cake, or piece of bread, and a handful of salt. But a form of oath which is generally yet more to be depended upon is that of saying, "I impose upon myself divorcement!" (that is, "the divorce of my wife, if what I say be false!"); or, "I impose upon myself interdiction!" which has a similar meaning ("My wife be unlawful to me!"); or, "I impose upon myself a triple divorcement!" which binds a man by the irrevocable divorce of his wife. If a man use any of these three forms of oath falsely, his wife, if he have but one, is divorced by the oath itself, if proved to be false, without the absolute necessity of any further ceremony; and if he have two or more wives, he must under such circumstances choose one of them to put away. [15] [But see my "Speeches and Tabletalk of the Prophet Mohammad," 139, S. L-P.] [16] á¸²ur. v. 49. [17] Hence it has been called, by many travellers, and even by some learned Orientalists, the Great Feast; but it is never so called by the Arabs. CHAPTER II. DEMONOLOGY. The Muslims, in general, believe in three different species of created intelligent beings: Angels, who are created of light; Genii, who are created of fire; and Men, created of earth. The first species are called MelÃ¡Ã¯keh (sing. Melek); the second, Jinn (sing. Jinnee); the third, Ins (sing. Insee). Some hold that the Devils (Sheyá¹­Ã¡ns) are of a species distinct from Angels and Jinn; but the more prevailing opinion, and that which rests on the highest authority, is, that they are rebellious Jinn. "It is believed," says El-á¸²azweenee, "that the Angels are of a simple substance, endowed with life and speech and reason, and that the difference between them and the Jinn and Sheyá¹­Ã¡ns is a difference of species. Know," he adds, "that the Angels are sanctified from carnal desire and the disturbance of anger: they disobey not God in what He hath commanded them, but do what they are commanded. Their food is the celebrating of his glory; their drink, the proclaiming of his holiness; their conversation, the commemoration of God, whose name be exalted; their pleasure, his worship; they are created in different forms, and with different powers." Some are described as having the forms of brutes. Four of them are Archangels; Jebraeel or Jibreel (Gabriel), the angel of revelations; Meekaeel or MeekÃ¡l (Michael), the patron of the Israelites; Â´Azraeel, the angel of death; and IsrÃ¡feel, the angel of the trumpet, which he is to sound twice, or as some say thrice, at the end of the world--one blast will kill all living creatures (himself included), another, forty years after, (he being raised again for this purpose, with Jebraeel and Meekaeel), will raise the dead. These Archangels are also called Apostolic Angels. They are inferior in dignity to human prophets and apostles, though superior to the rest of the human race: the angelic nature is held to be inferior to the human nature, because all the Angels were commanded to prostrate themselves before Adam. Every believer is attended by two guardian and recording angels, one of whom writes his good actions, the other, his evil actions: or, according to some, the number of these angels is five, or sixty, or a hundred and sixty. There are also two Angels, called Munkir (vulg. NÃ¡kir) and Nekeer, who examine all the dead and torture the wicked in their graves. The species of Jinn is said to have been created some thousands of years before Adam. According to a tradition from the Prophet, this species consists of five orders or classes; namely, JÃ¡nn (who are the least powerful of all), Jinn, Sheyá¹­Ã¡ns (or Devils), Â´Efreets, and MÃ¡rids. The last, it is added, are the most powerful; and the JÃ¡nn are transformed Jinn, like as certain apes and swine were transformed men.[18]--It must, however, be remarked here that the terms Jinn and JÃ¡nn are generally used indiscriminately as names of the whole species (including the other orders above mentioned), whether good or bad; and that the former term is the more common; also, that Sheyá¹­Ã¡n is commonly used to signify any evil Jinnee. An Â´Efreet is a powerful evil Jinnee: a MÃ¡rid, an evil Jinnee of the most powerful class. The Jinn (but, generally speaking, evil ones) are called by the Persians Deevs; the most powerful evil Jinn, NÃ¡rahs (which signifies "males," though they are said to be males and females); the good Jinn, Perees, though this term is commonly applied to females. In a tradition from the Prophet, it is said, "The JÃ¡nn were created of a smokeless fire."[19] El-JÃ¡nn is sometimes used as a name of Iblees, as in the following verse of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n:--"And the JÃ¡nn [the father of the Jinn; _i.e._ Iblees] we had created before [_i.e._ before the creation of Adam] of the fire of the samoom [_i.e._ of fire without smoke]."[20] JÃ¡nn also signifies "a serpent," as in other passages of the á¸²ur-Ã¡n;[21] and is used in the same book as synonymous with Jinn.[22] In the last sense it is generally believed to be used in the tradition quoted in the commencement of this paragraph. There are several apparently contradictory traditions from the Prophet which are reconciled by what has been above stated: in one, it is said that Iblees was the father of all the JÃ¡nn and Sheyá¹­Ã¡ns,[23] JÃ¡nn being here synonymous with Jinn; in another, that JÃ¡nn was the father of all the Jinn,[24] JÃ¡nn being here used as a name of Iblees. "It is held," says El-á¸²azweenee, a writer of the thirteenth century, "that the Jinn are aÃ«rial animals, with transparent bodies, which can assume various forms. People differ in opinion respecting
{'title': 'Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One Nights', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}