It Is Not Unworthy Of Remark, That Medina, As Far As I Know, Is The Only
Town In The East From Which Dogs Are Excluded:
They are never permitted
to pass the gate into the interior, but must remain in the suburbs.
I
was told that the watchmen of the different quarters assemble once a
year to drive out any of those animals that might have crept unperceived
into the town. The apprehension of a dog entering the mosque, and
polluting its sanctity, probably gave rise to their exclusion; they are,
however, tolerated at Mekka.
Among the sheep of this neighbourhood, a small species is noticed with a
white and brown spotted skin; the same species is likewise
[p.387] known about Mekka. It is of a diminutive size: they are bought
up by foreigners, and carried home with them as rarities from the Holy
Land. At Cairo they are kept in the houses of the grandees, who cause
them to be painted red, with henna, and hang a collar with little bells
round their necks, to amuse the children.
I believe the people of Medina have no other times of public rejoicing
than the regular feast-days, except the Mouled el Naby or Prophet's
birth-day, on the twelfth of the month of Rabya el Thany. This is
considered a national festival: all the shops are shut during the day,
and every one appears in his best dress. Early in the morning the olemas
and a number of well-dressed people assemble in the mosque, where one of
the Khatybs, after a short sermon, reads an account of Mohammed's
actions, from his birth to his death; after which the company, at least
the chief people present, are treated with lemonade, or liquorice-water.
The zealous Muselmans pass the night preceding this day in prayer. The
lady of Mohammed Aly Pasha, who, having performed the pilgrimage to
Mekka, came here to visit the tomb, and see her son Tousoun Pasha,
passed the greater part of the night in devotion at the mosque: when she
returned to a house she had taken for that purpose, close by the gate of
the mosque, her son paid her a short visit, and then left her to repose,
while he himself ordered a carpet to be spread in the middle of the
street, and there slept, at the threshold of his mother's dwelling;
offering a testimony of respect and humility which does as much honour
to the son, as to the character of the mother who could inspire him with
such sentiments. The wife of Mohammed Aly is a highly respectable woman,
and very charitable without ostentation. Her son Tousoun I believe to be
the only one of the family, whose breast harbours any noble feeling; the
rest are corrupted by the numerous vices inseparable from a Turkish
grandee: but he has given, in many instances, proofs of elevated
sentiment; and even his enemies cannot deny his valour, generosity,
filial love, and good-nature.
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