An account of the manners and customs of the modern EgyptiansLane, Edward William
History
An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians
Lane, Edward William
Egypt -- Social life and customs
saluted him, and he returned my salutation, and said to me, ‘God
recompense thee for thy visit to the head of El-Hoseyn my son.’ I said,
‘O Apostle of God, is the head of El-Hoseyn here?’ He answered, ‘Yes, it
is here.’ And I became cheerful: grief fled from me; and my heart was
strengthened. Then I said, ‘O Apostle of God, I will relate to thee what
my sheykh and my preceptor El-Emeer hath affirmed in his lecture:’ and I
repeated to him the words of the sheykh: and he (God favour and preserve
him!) looked down, and then raised his head, and said, ‘The copyists are
excused.’ I awoke from my sleep joyful and happy: but I found that much
remained of the night; and I became impatient of its length; longing for
the morn to shine, that I might go to the sheykh, and relate to him the
dream, in the hope that he might believe me. When the morn arose, I
prayed, and went to the house of the sheykh; but found the door shut. I
knocked it violently; and the porter came in alarm, asking, ‘Who is
that?’ but when he knew me, for he had known my abode from the sheykh,
he opened the door to me: if it had been another person, he would have
beaten him. I entered the court of the house, and began to call out, ‘My
Master! My Master!’ The sheykh awoke, and asked, ‘Who is that?’ I
answered, ‘It is I, thy pupil, Mohammad El-Baháee!’ The sheykh was in
wonder at my coming at this time, and exclaimed, ‘God’s perfection! What
is this? What is the news?’ thinking that some great event had happened
among the people. He then said to me, ‘Wait while I pray.’ I did not sit
down until the sheykh came down to the hall; when he said to me, ‘Come
up:’ and I went up, and neither saluted him, nor kissed his hand, from
the effect of the dream which I had seen; but said, ‘The head of
El-Hoseyn is in this well-known mesh-hed in Masr: there is no doubt of
it.’ The sheykh said, ‘What proof have you of that? If it be a true
record, adduce it.’ I said, ‘From a book, I have none.’ The sheykh said,
‘Hast thou seen a vision?’ I replied, ‘Yes;’ and I related it to him;
and informed him that the Apostle of God (God favour and preserve him!)
had acquainted me that the man who was standing by the door was ’Alee
the son of Aboo-Tálib, and that he who was on the right of the Prophet,
by the throne, was Aboo-Bekr, and that he on his left was ’Omar the son
of El-Khattáb; and that they had come to visit the head of the Imám
El-Hoseyn. The sheykh rose, and took me by the hand, and said, ‘Let us
go and visit the Mesh-hed El-Hoseynee;’ and when he entered the kubbeh,
he said, ‘Peace be on thee, O son of the daughter of the Apostle of God!
I believe that the noble head is here, by reason of the vision which
this person has seen; for the vision of the Prophet is true; since He
hath said, “Whoso seeth Me in his sleep seeth Me truly; for Satan cannot
assume the similitude of My form.”’ Then the sheykh said to me, ‘Thou
hast believed, and I have believed: for these lights are not
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