The Warrior Used To Hold Frequent Conversations With El
Khizr:
On one occasion, when sitting upon a rock, still called Gay
Humburti--Harar's Navel--he begged that some Sherif might be brought from
Meccah, to aid him in building a permanent city.
By the use of the "Great
Name" the vagrant prophet instantly summoned from Arabia the Sherif Yunis,
his son Fakr el Din, and a descendant from the Ansar or Auxiliaries of the
Prophet: they settled at Harar, which throve by the blessing of their
presence. From this tradition we may gather that the city was restored, as
it was first founded and colonized, by hungry Arabs.
The Sherifs continued to rule with some interruptions until but a few
generations ago, when the present family rose to power. According to
Bruce, they are Jabartis, who, having intermarried with Sayyid women,
claim a noble origin. They derive themselves from the Caliph Abubakr, or
from Akil, son of Abu Talib, and brother of Ali. The Ulema, although
lacking boldness to make the assertion, evidently believe them to be of
Galla or pagan extraction.
The present city of Harar is about one mile long by half that breadth. An
irregular wall, lately repaired [21], but ignorant of cannon, is pierced
with five large gates [22], and supported by oval towers of artless
construction. The material of the houses and defences are rough stones,
the granites and sandstones of the hills, cemented, like the ancient Galla
cities, with clay. The only large building is the Jami or Cathedral, a
long barn of poverty-stricken appearance, with broken-down gates, and two
white-washed minarets of truncated conoid shape. They were built by
Turkish architects from Mocha and Hodaydah: one of them lately fell, and
has been replaced by an inferior effort of Harari art. There are a few
trees in the city, but it contains none of those gardens which give to
Eastern settlements that pleasant view of town and country combined. The
streets are narrow lanes, up hill and down dale, strewed with gigantic
rubbish-heaps, upon which repose packs of mangy or one-eyed dogs, and even
the best are encumbered with rocks and stones. The habitations are mostly
long, flat-roofed sheds, double storied, with doors composed of a single
plank, and holes for windows pierced high above the ground, and decorated
with miserable wood-work: the principal houses have separate apartments
for the women, and stand at the bottom of large court-yards closed by
gates of Holcus stalks. The poorest classes inhabit "Gambisa," the
thatched cottages of the hill-cultivators. The city abounds in mosques,
plain buildings without minarets, and in graveyards stuffed with tombs,--
oblong troughs formed by long slabs planted edgeways in the ground. I need
scarcely say that Harar is proud of her learning, sanctity, and holy dead.
The principal saint buried in the city is Shaykh Umar Abadir El Bakri,
originally from Jeddah, and now the patron of Harar: he lies under a
little dome in the southern quarter of the city, near the Bisidimo Gate.
The ancient capital of Hadiyah shares with Zebid in Yemen, the reputation
of being an Alma Mater, and inundates the surrounding districts with poor
scholars and crazy "Widads." Where knowledge leads to nothing, says
philosophic Volney, nothing is done to acquire it, and the mind remains in
a state of barbarism. There are no establishments for learning, no
endowments, as generally in the East, and apparently no encouragement to
students: books also are rare and costly. None but the religious sciences
are cultivated. The chief Ulema are the Kabir [23] Khalil, the Kabir
Yunis, and the Shaykh Jami: the two former scarcely ever quit their
houses, devoting all their time to study and tuition: the latter is a
Somali who takes an active part in politics.
These professors teach Moslem literature through the medium of Harari, a
peculiar dialect confined within the walls. Like the Somali and other
tongues in this part of Eastern Africa, it appears to be partly Arabic in
etymology and grammar: the Semitic scion being grafted upon an indigenous
root: the frequent recurrence of the guttural _kh_ renders it harsh and
unpleasant, and it contains no literature except songs and tales, which
are written in the modern Naskhi character. I would willingly have studied
it deeply, but circumstances prevented:--the explorer too frequently must
rest satisfied with descrying from his Pisgah the Promised Land of
Knowledge, which another more fortunate is destined to conquer. At Zayla,
the Hajj sent to me an Abyssinian slave who was cunning in languages: but
he, to use the popular phrase, "showed his right ear with his left hand."
Inside Harar, we were so closely watched that it was found impossible to
put pen to paper. Escaped, however, to Wilensi, I hastily collected the
grammatical forms and a vocabulary, which will correct the popular
assertion that "the language is Arabic: it has an affinity with the
Amharic." [24]
Harar has not only its own tongue, unintelligible to any save the
citizens; even its little population of about 8000 souls is a distinct
race. The Somal say of the city that it is a Paradise inhabited by asses:
certainly the exterior of the people is highly unprepossessing. Amongst
the men, I did not see a handsome face: their features are coarse and
debauched; many of them squint, others have lost an eye by small-pox, and
they are disfigured by scrofula and other diseases: the bad expression of
their countenances justifies the proverb, "Hard as the heart of Harar."
Generally the complexion is a yellowish brown, the beard short, stubby and
untractable as the hair, and the hands and wrists, feet and ancles, are
large and ill-made. The stature is moderate-sized, some of the elders show
the "pudding sides" and the pulpy stomachs of Banyans, whilst others are
lank and bony as Arabs or Jews. Their voices are loud and rude. They dress
is a mixture of Arab and Abyssinian.
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