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The Tombs of the Caliphs and Mamelukes 223
Then the precious cashmere shawl, in which the body was
wrapped, was rent in twain, and a little earth was gently
placed upon the corpse by the dignitaries, as there were no
relations, and the Instructor of the Dead began his solemn
address
:
" ' O servant of God !
O
son of a handmaid of God !
know
that at this time there will come down to thee two angels
commissioned respecting thee, and the like of thee. When
they say to thee, " Who is thy Lord ? " answer them, " God is
my Lord," in truth ; and when they ask thee concerning thy
Prophet, or the man who hath been sent unto you, say to
them, " Mohammed is the Apostle of God," with veracity, and
when they ask thee concerning thy religion, say to them,
" El-Islam is my religion " ; and when they ask thee concerning
thy book of direction, say to them, " The Koran is my
book of direction, and the Moslems are my brothers " ; and
when they ask thee concerning thy Kibleh, say to them,
" The Kaabeh is my Kibleh ; and I have lived and died in the
assertion that there is no deity but God, and Mohammed is
God's apostle " ; and they will say, " Sleep, O servant of God,
in the protection of God." '
" And then the buffalo was sacrificed, and its flesh, with the
camel-loads of bread and water, was distributed to the poor
sitting in the dust with dust upon their heads.
" And then the body of Hoseyn Hassan, the Descendant of
the Prophet, was left for the visit of the Angels Nakir and
Nekir, to whom he would have to account for his actions."
Probably there is no one alive in Egypt to-day who would
receive such a funeral if he died ; but some features of it are
preserved in every Moslem funeral that you see winding its
way through the Arab city.
Except for the presence of the Cross, Coptic funerals are
very like those of Moslems.
I once had the opportunity of seeing the funeral of a rich
Jew, more magnificent than any funeral I ever saw, except
the procession of a dead monarch or a national hero. I will
not describe it in detail. Everything about it was not only
sumptuous but in charming taste, from the little boys chosen