Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One NightsLane, Edward William
Islamic
Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One Nights
Lane, Edward William
Arabian nights; Egypt -- Social life and customs; Islamic Empire -- Social life and customs; Social history -- Medieval, 500-1500
The funeral procession of a
man of wealth is sometimes preceded by several camels, bearing bread and
water to give to the poor at the tomb; and closed by the led horses of
some of the attendants, and by a buffalo or other animal to be
sacrificed at the tomb, where its flesh is distributed to the poor, to
atone for some of the minor sins of the deceased.[292]
The bier used for conveying the corpse of a boy or a female has a cover
of wood, over which a shawl is spread; and at the head is an upright
piece of wood: upon the upper part of this, in the case of a boy, is
fixed a turban, with several ornaments of female head-dress; and in the
case of a female, it is similarly decked, but without the turban.
A short prayer is recited over the dead, either in a mosque or in a
place particularly dedicated to this service in or adjacent to the
burial-ground. The body is then conveyed, in the same manner as before,
to the tomb. This is a hollow, oblong vault, one side of which faces the
direction of Mekkeh, generally large enough to contain four or more
bodies, and having an oblong monument of stone or brick constructed over
it, with a stela at the head and foot. Upon the former of these two
stelae (which is often inscribed with a text from the Ḳur-án, and the
name of the deceased, with the date of his death), a turban, cap, or
other head-dress, is sometimes carved, showing the rank or class of the
person or persons buried beneath; and in many cases, a cupola supported
by four walls, or by columns, is constructed over the smaller monument.
The body is laid on its right side, or inclined by means of a few crude
bricks, so that the face is turned towards Mekkeh; and a person is
generally employed to dictate to the deceased the answers which he
should give when he is examined by the two angels Munkar and Nekeer. If
the funeral be that of a person of rank or wealth, the bread and water
before mentioned are then distributed to the poor.[293]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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