Whilst He Sat
With Us, Kabir Khalil, One Of The Principal Ulema, And One Haji Abdullah,
A Shaykh Of Distinguished Fame Who Had Been Dreaming Dreams In Our Favour,
Sent Their Salams.
This is one of the many occasions in which, during a
long residence in the East, I have had reason to be grateful to the
learned, whose influence over the people when unbiassed by bigotry is
decidedly for good.
That evening there was great joy amongst the Somal,
who had been alarmed for the safety of my companions: they brought them
presents of Harari Tobes, and a feast of fowls, limes, and wheaten bread
for the stranger.
On the 11th of January I was sent for by the Gerad and received the second
mule. At noon we were visited by the Shaykh Jami, who, after a long
discourse upon the subject of Sufiism [44], invited me to inspect his
books. When midday prayer was concluded we walked to his house, which
occupies the very centre of the city: in its courtyard is "Gay Humburti,"
the historic rock upon which Saint Nur held converse with the Prophet
Khizr. The Shaykh, after seating us in a room about ten feet square, and
lined with scholars and dusty tomes, began reading out a treatise upon the
genealogies of the Grand Masters, and showed me in half a dozen tracts the
tenets of the different schools. The only valuable MS. in the place was a
fine old copy of the Koran; the Kamus and the Sihah were there [45], but
by no means remarkable for beauty or correctness. Books at Harar are
mostly antiques, copyists being exceedingly rare, and the square massive
character is more like Cufic with diacritical points, than the graceful
modern Naskhi. I could not, however, but admire the bindings: no Eastern
country save Persia surpasses them in strength and appearance. After some
desultory conversation the Shaykh ushered us into an inner room, or rather
a dark closet partitioned off from the study, and ranged us around the
usual dish of boiled beef, holcus bread, and red pepper. After returning
to the study we sat for a few minutes,--Easterns rarely remain long after
dinner,--and took leave, saying that we must call upon the Gerad Mohammed.
Nothing worthy of mention occurred during our final visit to the minister.
He begged me not to forget his remedies when we reached Aden: I told him
that without further loss of time we would start on the morrow, Friday,
after prayers, and he simply ejaculated, "It is well, if Allah please!"
Scarcely had we returned home, when the clouds, which had been gathering
since noon, began to discharge heavy showers, and a few loud thunder-claps
to reverberate amongst the hills. We passed that evening surrounded by the
Somal, who charged us with letters and many messages to Berberah. Our
intention was to mount early on Friday morning. When we awoke, however, a
mule had strayed and was not brought back for some hours.
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