CHAPTER VI.

El Arils — N^'d — El Kadesia — Meshhed All — Basra — Khqfaja — Khaviarnalc — Wasit — El Oballa

Abbadan — El Ear — Irah — Magun — Ramin — Tostar.

Wh EN things were ready, the Syrian pilgrims proceeded on their pil-

grimage, and I myself with them, with the same intention. This turned

out well ; for, thank God, I duly performed the pilgrimage ; and, then

proceeded with the pilgrims of Irak to the tomb of the prophet at Medina.

After three (days) we descended into the valley of ^ El Arus.! We then

entered the territory of * Nejd, and proceeded on in it till we came to ^ El

Kadisla§ the place in which the remarkable event happened, by which

the fire-worship of Persia was extinguished, and the interest of Islamism

advanced. This was, at that time, a great city, but it is now only a small

village. We next proceeded to the city of ^ Meshhed Ali, where the grave

of Ali is thought to be. It is a handsome place and well peopled ; all

* Alluding to a passage in the Koran.

f It is doubtful whether we ought to read j\J^\ cjG or j\^\ cul j, as the MSS. have both

readings ; if the latter, then residence must be substituted in the translation for flight.

t The name of a fortress in Yemen, according to the Kamoos : but this can hardly be the

place mentioned here.

§ A village near Kufa where Saad, one of the generals of Omar, obtained a decisive victory

over the Persians. See the Annales Muslemici, vol. i. p. 231.

IRAK.

the inhabitants, however, are of the Rafiza (or Shiah) sect. There is no

governor here, except a sort of tribune. The inhabitants consist chiefly of

rich and brave merchants. About the gardens are plastered walls adorned

with paintings, and within them are carpets, couches, and lamps of gold

and silver. Within the city is a large treasury kept by the tribune,

which arises from the votive offerings brought from different parts : for

when any one happens to be ill, or to suffer under any infirmity, he will

make a vow, and thence receive relief. The garden is also famous for

its miracles ; and hence it is believed that the grave of Ali is there. Of

these miracles, the night of revival”* is one ; for, on the 17th day of the

month Rejeb, cripples come from the different parts of ”Fars, "Room,

^Khorasan, ^Irak, and other places, assemble in companies from twenty

* Mr. Wolfe, the missionary, when last in this country, reported that the cLLj or

“ night of revival,” among the Yezidl sect, is a night on which they worship the

devil. I should doubt whether Mr. Wolfe did not misunderstand the accounts he might

have heard of this matter. In the Book of Pilgrimages, by Ali Ibn Abubeker of Herat,

we have a similar account given of a place in the lieutenancy of Aleppo, his words are :

Ub JU3-

. Borak is one of the villages of its lieutenancy, in which there is a sacred

place visited by the aged and infirm of various places, and in it they lodge. Now, if such person

should see (in his dream) some one saying to him, such or such a thing is thy remedy; or

if he should see him rubbing his hand over him, he will then be well, as the people of that

place report.” And further on where the city of Balat (Uj is noticed, we are told, that

this Author saw a man who had been lame many years, but had been recovered merely by bathing,

according to the injunctions of Ali which he had received in a dream. His words are

Ub ^ lb* ijL»~sb CS^

l^L J«syU . That such miracles (if

such they may be called) can be performed, without any extraordinary effort being exerted, has

long been known. A strong persuasion of the mind has always proved wonderfully efficacious :

and to this the Mohammedan, as well as the Roman Catholic, hierarchy owes perhaps more than

half its authority.

IRAK.

to thirty in number. They are placed over the grave soon after sun-set.

People then, some praying, others reciting the koran, and others prostrating

themselves, wait expecting their recovery and rising, when, about night,

they all get up sound and well. This is a matter well known among them;

I heard it from creditable persons, but was not present at one of these nights.

I saw, however, several such afflicted persons, who had not yet received,

but were looking forwards for, the advantages of this “ night of revival.”

I next arrived at ’’ Basra, and proceeded on with the Badawin Arabs of

*Khafaja, for there is no travelling in these parts, except with them. We

next came to ‘Khawarnak, the ancient residence of “El Ndoman Ibn Mond-

hor, whose progenitors were kings of the tribe "'Beni Ma El Sama, (sons of

heavenly seed). There are still traces of his palace to be seen.^ It is si-

tuated in a spacious plain, and upon a river derived from the Euphrates.

We left this place, and came next to the city of Wasit. It is surrounded by

an extensive tract of country, and abounds with gardens and plantations.

Its inhabitants are the best of all Irak. From this place I set out to visit

the tomb of El Wall El Aarif, my Lord Ahmed of Rephaa']', which is

* Some notices of this person and his palace will be found in the Historia imperii vetustis-

simiJoctanidarum in Arabia Felice, by A. Schultens, p. 129. And in his Monumenta vetus-

tiora Arabiae, pp. 11, 39, 47.

f The following is an abstract of the account given of this devotee in the CjIsA"*

Nafahat El Ins, by Jam! : the miraculous intercourse, &c. there ascribed to him, I have not

thought it worth while to copy out.

J ‘’d

^ IsMl

(jV Sheikh my lord Ahmed

Ibn Abu El Hasan El Raphai, may God sanctify (a word wanting'). His rank as a saint and

confessor was high. By him God performed many miracles, and converted to him many persons

(rf distinction. He also did many wonders. Of his disciples, some are good, others bad. Some

of them will enter fires, and play with serpents. This is what the Sheikh the head of saints

taught them. God protect us from Satan, He was one of the sons of the great Imam Musa

Kazim, upon whom be peace. He resided at Om Obaida, and died on the Thursday the 22d

of the first Jumada, in the year (of the Hejira) 578, A. D. 1182.

PERSIA.

situated in a village called “Om Obaida, at the distance of a day from

Wasit. At this place I arrived, and found that the grandson of the

Sheikh, upon whom the dignity of Sheikh had also devolved, had come

thither before me for the same purpose. He was also named Sheikh

Ahmed, and held the dignity of his grandfather, which he exercised

in the cell formerly occupied by him. In the afternoon, and after the

reading of the koran, the religious attached to the cell got together

a great quantity of wood, to which they set fire : they then walked into

it, some eating it, others rolling in it, and others trampling upon it,

till they had entirely extinguished it. Such is the sect called El Re-

phala, and this the custom by which they are particularized. Some of

them too will take great serpents in their teeth and bite the head off. It

happened that, when I was in a certain part of India, there came to

me a company of the religious of the ‘'Hydarla sect,^ having in their

hands and about their necks iron chains. Their leader was a black of a

filthy colour. They requested me to solicit the governor of the place to

bring them some wood to which they may set fire, and then sing and walk

into it. I did so, and he brought them ten bundles; they then set fire to it,

and commencing their song, went into it : nor did they cease dancing and

rolling about in it until they had extinguished it. The leader then asked

me for a shirt. I gave him a very fine one, which he put on, and then pro-

ceeded to’ roll about in the fire, and to strike it with his sleeves, until he

had put it out. He then brought me the shirt, upon which the fire had

not made the least impression. At this I very much wondered.

After visiting this Sheikh I proceeded to Basra, a place much abounding

with palms. The inhabitants are so friendly to strangers that a traveller has

nothing to fear among them. We have here the mosque of Ali, in which

prayers are said every Friday : it is then closed till the next. This was

formerly in the middle of the town ; but is situated two miles']' from its

* When we come to Khorasan in this work, some account of the leader and practices of this

sect will be given.

-|- As the term mile ( will occasionally occur in this work, we shall here determine its

extent. According to the Succardan ofibn Hajila, a mile is = 1,000 baas, a baa = 4> cubits;

a cubit = 24> digits ; a digit : 6 barley-corns placed side by side : and a barleycorn . 6 hairs

taken out of the tail of a mule. A Parasang = 3 miles ; a band = 4> parasangs

PERSIA.

' 35

present population. In this is the koran which Othman had sent (for the use of

the inhabitants), and in which he was reading when he was killed. The marks

of his blood are still visible in the words aJJi , &c. I then went on

board a ‘'Sambuk (Turkish 'Senbuki) which is a small boat, and proceeded

to ■'^El Oballa,* which was once a large city, but is now only a village ;

U^t ^

•^\Ji ^ J . In Golius, sub

voce , we have “ mensura itineraria XII. milliarlum, seu III. parasangarum,” where for III

we ought to read IV. Now, in order to determine the relative value of an Oriental with an

English mile, I take 18f parasangs to the degree, as given in the preface to Koehler’s Syria of

Abulfeda ; and getting rid of the fractions the ratio will be, that of 112 to 139 : and inverting this,

the Oriental mile will be to the English one, as 139 to 112; and, if this be correct, the Oriental

mile will contain 2, 184f English yards. From this the value of the other measures mentioned above

maybe known. According to the author of the Kamoos, however, the mile (J^) is a perfectly

lax and vague measure, and differing just as the parasang did in ancient and times.

* Abulfeda says of this place

ing to the^Atwal the longitude is 74° 8' lat. 30° 55' and according to the Kanun long. 74° 8' lat

31° 55'. He then describes it, ^

j jS^\\ IaS)

^\ji ^ j\ Jjb j

diJj A5»-|^ ^ C1.JA^ Aj Iglisf Ai As-!*

(Js-Aj ^ J.U.! ^c=-!^‘^^l! A-« L5'-^ lAV

. ^'LJ! !jlsr b! jy=r !Ali ^ Ibn Hawkal states,

that Oballa is a small, strong, and well peopled city. Its river, the Oballah, after issuing from the

Tigris which is over against the city, makes its way to it, and thence to Basra. The channel of

this river reaches to the sea, and to Abbadan. The length of its course to Basra is four

parasangs, upon the banks of which are palaces and gardens, so close to each other, that they

appear to form one garden passing on in a direct line : its palms also spread out in like manner in

an extended line. All the gardens too of these parts are so situated one by another, that when

the tide of the sea comes out towards them, it passes into all the channels until it comes to their

palms, and into their valleys without the least difficulty : and, when it ebbs, it rolls back, leaving

the gardens and palm-plantations. The channels here mentioned are, according to Dr. Russell,

Nat. Hist. Aleppo, generally so contrived as to bring the water into the gardens, and then, out of

these still smaller channels are cut, which carry the water into the several parterres and

divisions of the gardens. The Psalmist seems to have had these channels in view when he speaks

of the “ tree planted by the rivers of waters,” better, the divisions of the waters, the original being

F 2

PERSIA.

which, with its gardens about it, is about ten miles from Basra. I then

sailed from El Oballa in an arm of the Persian gulf, and arrived the next

morning at ^AbbMan,* * which is a village situated in a salt marsh. It

was my intention to have gone to Bagdad ; but a person at Basra advised

me to go on to the country of ^ El Ear, then to ‘ Irak El Ajam,'|' then to

Arabian Irak : and I did so. I then proceeded from Abbadan by sea ; and

after four days, arrived at the city of * Magun (or Magul, of the quantity

Fa-til, with the g pronounced hard). This is a small town on the Persian

gulf. I passed from this by land, during a journey of three days, through

. and ‘ • jjU' '• • '

D'D which exactly corresponds with Dr. Russell’s description. — See also Asseman’s Bi-

blioth. Orient., tom. iii., P. 2, p. dccvi, and D’Herbelot under Obollah.

* According to El Harawl this is an island in the sea, in which there is a meshhed dedicated

to the prophet. It also has All’s well, and a meshhed sacred to El Khizr, and other establish-

ments : the pious of which are much visited from other parts. His words are

j ^

Abulfeda says this place is in the longitude 74° 30', lat. 25° 20' according to the Atwal : but

others give 75° 55', and 75° 30' longitude. He then thus describes it after Ibn Said.

i-i A ^ ^ 3

^3 iAs>yc !Sj^\ U^3ji^

. has said that Abbadan is on the sea of Ears, which encircles it, leaving only a small

part of land (or isthmus). On the south-east of this place the Tigris joins the sea. Others have

said, that Abbadan is upon the mouth of the Tigris towards its east, and on the sea of Ears. Erom

it to the shores of Mehruban is about four stages. Erom Basra it is a stage and a half. It has been

said too, that on the south and east of Abbadan are the Khushbab, i. e. marks placed in the sea

for the purpose of limiting the approach of vessels, and beyond which they never pass, lest upon

the ebbing of the tide they should strike upon the ground. Khushbab < Castell tells us,

are moderately sized ropes : if so, they are here so placed as to mark the places to which ships

may safely come. See also Asseman’s Biblioth Orient, tom. iii. P. 2. p. dccvi ; Sir Wm.

Ouseley’s Oriental Geography, p. 11, &c. ; and D’Herbelot sub voce Abadan.

f The geography of these parts has been well illustrated by Ulenbroek in his Iracse Per-

sicae descriptio, &c. Lugduni Batavorum, 1822. See pp. 4 and 5. Asseman’s Biblioth. Orient,

tom. iii-, P. 2, p. dccxlv.

PERSIA.

a plain inhabited by Kurds, and came to the city of ' Ramin,* * * § a beautiful

place abounding with fruit and rivers. I then proceeded on through a plain,

in which were villages of the Kurds, and in three days arrived at the city of

”‘Tostar,t which is at the extremity of this plain. On the first of the

mountains there is a large and beautiful city, abounding with fruits and

rivers, surrounded by a river, known by the name of ” El Azrak the blue.

This river is wonderfully clear, and is cold in the summer season.