Its Greek
Architect Has Toiled To Caricature A Mosque To Emulate The Glories Of
Our English "Oriental Pavilion." Outside, As Monckton Milnes Sings,
"The shining minarets, thin and high,"
Are so thin, so high above the lumpy domes, that they
[p.99]look like the spindles of crouching crones, and are placed in
full sight of Sultan Hasan the Giant, so as to derive all the
disadvantages of the contrast. Is the pointed arch forgotten by man,
that this hapless building should be disgraced by large and small
parallelograms of glass and wood,[FN#15] so placed and so formed as to
give its exterior the appearance of a European theatre coiffe with
Oriental cupolas? Outside as well as inside, money has been lavished
upon alabaster full of flaws; round the bases of pillars run gilt
bands; in places the walls are painted with streaks to resemble marble,
and the wood-work is overlaid with tinsel gold. After a glance at these
abominations, one cannot be surprised to hear the old men of Egypt
lament that, in spite of European education, and of prizes encouraging
geometry and architecture, modern art offers a melancholy contrast to
antiquity. It is said that H. H. Abbas Pasha proposes to erect for
himself a Mosque that shall far surpass the boast of the last
generation. I venture to hope that his architect will light the "sacred
fire" from Sultan Hasan's, not from Mohammed Ali's, Turco-Grecian
splendours. The former is like the genuine Osmanli of past ages,
fierce, cold, with a stalwart frame, index of a strong mind-there was a
sullen grandeur about the man. The latter is the pert and puny modern
Turk in pantaloons, frock coat and Fez, ill-dressed, ill-conditioned,
and ill-bred, body and soul.
[p.100]We will now enter the Mosque Al-Azhar. At the dwarf wooden
railing we take off our slippers, hold them in the left hand, sole to
sole, that no dirt may fall from them, and cross the threshold with the
right foot, ejaculating Bismillah, &c. Next we repair to the Mayza'ah,
or large tank, for ablution, without which it is unlawful to appear in
the House of Allah. We then seek some proper place for devotion, place
our slippers on some other object in front of us to warn the lounger,
and perform a two-bow prayer in honour of the Mosque.[FN#16] This done,
we may wander about, and inspect the several objects of curiosity.
The moon shines splendidly upon a vast open court, paved with stones
which are polished like glass by the feet of the Faithful. There is
darkness in the body of the building, a large oblong hall, at least
twice too lengthy for its height, supported by a forest of pillars,
thin, poor-looking, crooked marble columns, planted avenue-like, upon
torn and dirty matting. A few oil lamps shed doubtful light over scanty
groups, who are debating some point of grammar, or are listening to the
words of wisdom that fall from the mouth of a Wa'iz.[FN#17] Presently
they will leave the hypostyle, and throw themselves upon the flags of
the quadrangle, where they may enjoy the open air and avoid some fleas.
It is now "long vacation": so the holy building has become a kind of
Caravanserai for travellers;
[p.101]perhaps a score of nations meet in it; there is a confusion of
tongues, and the din at times is deafening. Around the court runs a
tolerably well-built colonnade, whose entablature is garnished with
crimson arabesques, and in the inner wall are pierced apartments, now
closed with plank doors. Of the Riwak, as the porches are called, the
Azhar contains twenty-four, one for each recognised nation in Al-Islam,
and of these fifteen are still open to students.[FN#18] Inside them we
find nothing but matting and a pile of large dingy wooden boxes, which
once contained the college library; they are now, generally speaking,
empty.[FN#19]
There is nothing worth seeing in the cluster of little dark chambers
that form the remainder of the Azhar. Even the Zawiyat al-Umyan (or the
Blind men's Oratory), a place where so many "town and gown rows" have
emanated, is rendered interesting only by the fanaticism of its
inmates, and the certainty that, if recognised in this
[p.102]sanctum, we shall run the gauntlet under the staves of its
proprietors, the angry blind.
The Azhar is the grand collegiate Mosque of this city,-the Christ
Church, in fact, of Cairo,-once celebrated throughout the world of
Al-Islam. It was built, I was told, originally in poor style by one
Jauhar al-Kaid,[FN#20] originally the slave of a Moorish merchant, in
consequence of a dream that ordered him to "erect a place whence the
light of science should shine upon Al-Islam."
It gradually increased by "Wakf[FN#21]" (entailed bequests) of lands,
money, and books; and pious rulers made a point of adding to its size
and wealth. Of late years it has considerably declined, the result of
sequestrations, and of the diminished esteem in which the purely
religious sciences are now held in the land of Egypt.[FN#22] Yet it is
calculated that between 2000 and 3000 students of all nations and ages
receive instruction here gratis.
[p.103]Each one is provided with bread, in a quantity determined by the
amount of endowment, at the Riwak set apart for his nation,[FN#23] with
some article of clothing on festival days, and a few piastres once a
year. The professors, who are about 150 in number, may not take fees
from their pupils; some lecture on account of the religious merit of
the action, others to gain the high title of "Teacher in Al
Azhar.[FN#24]" Six officials receive stipends from the government,-the
Shaykh al-Jami' or dean, the Shaykh al-Sakka, who regulates the
provision of water for ablution, and others that may be called heads of
departments.
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