296

EGYPT, PAST AND TEESENT.

' 0 God, free my neck from the fire, and keep me from the
chains, and the collars, and the fetters.' Lastly, he washes
his feet, as high as the ankles ; he washes the right foot first,
saying, at the same time, ' O God, make firm my feet upon
the Sirat, on the day when my feet shall slip upon it;' on
washing the left foot, he says, ' O God, make my lahor to he
approved, and my sin forgiven, and my works accepted,
merchandise that shall not perish, hy thy pardon, 0 mighty,
0 very forgiving, hy thy mercy, 0 most merciful of those
who show mercy !' After having thus completed the ablu-
tion he says, looking towards heaven, ' Thy perfection, O
God! I extol with thy praise: I testify that there is no
deity but thee alone ; Thou hast no companion; I implore
thy forgiveness, and turn to thee with repentance.' Then
looking towards the earth, he adds, ' I testify that there is
no deity but God, and I testify that Mohammed is his ser-
vant, and his apostle.' Having uttered these words, he
should recite once, twice, or three times the Soorat el-Kadr,
or ninety-seventh chapter of the Koran."

This entire purification is performed in a much shorter
time than is occupied in reading the account of it; and a
ceremony altogether beautiful in its conception, and touch-
ingly appropriate in its religious sentiments, is marred by its
mechanical execution. The same is true of the attitudes of
prayer. These are assumed with a mechanical uniformity
quite foreign to a true devotion. The prayer consists
mainly of repetitions of the name of Allah, the enumeration
of his attributes with ascriptions and ejaculations, according
to a prescribed formula. Each attitude has its appropriate
utterance, and a mistake here vitiates the whole perform-
ance, and obliges the suppliant to go back and begin at the
beginning. The routine of a Mohammedan prayer will be
better learned from the accompanying picture, than from
any description. The prostrations are given in their nu-
merical order.