DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0267
Egyptian Saints
185
At that time large numbers of peasants, especially boatmen, visit his tomb and remain
encamped there while the festival lasts. A full account of the rites performed on these
occasions ought to prove of exceptional interest, for there can be no doubt that, as a dis-
tinguished orientalist has pointed out, Sheykh Haridi is the modern representative of the
pagan Agathadaemon.3
If one wished to cite an example of a great Egyptian saint, the Seyyid Ibrahim ed-
Dasuki might serve. The center of his cult, where his three annual festivals are held,
is the town of Dasuk in the western Delta; but he is widely revered throughout Lower
Egypt. Dasuk is situated on the westernmost branch of the Nile, and on the occasion
of the Saint’s moleds, which are accompanied by great religious fairs, thousands of
visitors come to the town from all quarters. Many of these visitors live on their boats
during the course of the fairs: others find quarters in the town, or set up tents or booths
in the outskirts. In the moleds of the Seyyid Ibrahim, the Sa'diyah dervishes play a con-
spicuous part. They go about, as Lane 4 long ago observed, “some carrying serpents with
silver rings in their mouths, to prevent their biting: others partly devouring these reptiles
alive.” “There are many darweeshes of this order”, he writes, “who handle, with
impunity, live, venemous serpents, and scorpions; and partly devour them.” 5
The greatest of the Egyptian saints is the Seyyid Ahmad el-Bedawi of Tanta. His
importance is more than national — he is a figure in the whole Islamic world. He is
reputed, not without an imposing array of authorities, to have been an historical person-
age; to have been born at Fez in Morocco in A. H. 596; to have passed through Egypt
on his way to Mekkah, and to have made the return journey to Tanta in a single day.
He is said to have lived some thirty years in Tanta and there to have died at the advanced
age of seventy nine. During his life he performed, it is said, a host of miracles — he
raised the dead, healed cripples and paralytics, and restored sight to the blind. The
truth of these cures is supported by traditions which the Moslem world unhesitatingly
accepts as veracious. In A. H. 700 the Sultan Melek en-Nasir erected a superb mosque
over the simple grave of the Seyyid. This mosque, which was extensively repaired about
a century and a half ago by 'Aly Bey, is today one of the most impressive structures of
its kind in Egypt.
Seyyid Ahmad, like Seyyid Ibrahim, is honored with three moleds annually. The
first begins about the 17th of January, the second at the time of the “Greater Sun”, i. e.
about the vernal equinox; and the third, which is the greatest of the moleds, is celebrated
3 A. H. Sayce, ‘Serpent worship in ancient and modern Egypt’ (The Contemporary Review, no, 334, Oct,
1893, p. 523-530).
4 E. W. Lane, Manners and customs of the modern Egyptians,5 London, 1860, p. 240,
5 Ibid., p. 241,
185
At that time large numbers of peasants, especially boatmen, visit his tomb and remain
encamped there while the festival lasts. A full account of the rites performed on these
occasions ought to prove of exceptional interest, for there can be no doubt that, as a dis-
tinguished orientalist has pointed out, Sheykh Haridi is the modern representative of the
pagan Agathadaemon.3
If one wished to cite an example of a great Egyptian saint, the Seyyid Ibrahim ed-
Dasuki might serve. The center of his cult, where his three annual festivals are held,
is the town of Dasuk in the western Delta; but he is widely revered throughout Lower
Egypt. Dasuk is situated on the westernmost branch of the Nile, and on the occasion
of the Saint’s moleds, which are accompanied by great religious fairs, thousands of
visitors come to the town from all quarters. Many of these visitors live on their boats
during the course of the fairs: others find quarters in the town, or set up tents or booths
in the outskirts. In the moleds of the Seyyid Ibrahim, the Sa'diyah dervishes play a con-
spicuous part. They go about, as Lane 4 long ago observed, “some carrying serpents with
silver rings in their mouths, to prevent their biting: others partly devouring these reptiles
alive.” “There are many darweeshes of this order”, he writes, “who handle, with
impunity, live, venemous serpents, and scorpions; and partly devour them.” 5
The greatest of the Egyptian saints is the Seyyid Ahmad el-Bedawi of Tanta. His
importance is more than national — he is a figure in the whole Islamic world. He is
reputed, not without an imposing array of authorities, to have been an historical person-
age; to have been born at Fez in Morocco in A. H. 596; to have passed through Egypt
on his way to Mekkah, and to have made the return journey to Tanta in a single day.
He is said to have lived some thirty years in Tanta and there to have died at the advanced
age of seventy nine. During his life he performed, it is said, a host of miracles — he
raised the dead, healed cripples and paralytics, and restored sight to the blind. The
truth of these cures is supported by traditions which the Moslem world unhesitatingly
accepts as veracious. In A. H. 700 the Sultan Melek en-Nasir erected a superb mosque
over the simple grave of the Seyyid. This mosque, which was extensively repaired about
a century and a half ago by 'Aly Bey, is today one of the most impressive structures of
its kind in Egypt.
Seyyid Ahmad, like Seyyid Ibrahim, is honored with three moleds annually. The
first begins about the 17th of January, the second at the time of the “Greater Sun”, i. e.
about the vernal equinox; and the third, which is the greatest of the moleds, is celebrated
3 A. H. Sayce, ‘Serpent worship in ancient and modern Egypt’ (The Contemporary Review, no, 334, Oct,
1893, p. 523-530).
4 E. W. Lane, Manners and customs of the modern Egyptians,5 London, 1860, p. 240,
5 Ibid., p. 241,