DISCOVERY 



285 



lowered. The officials are trying to put a stop to this 

 practice, as so many dead bodies have been found from 

 time to time in the foul water of this pond. 



A Mad Sheikh 



The Sheikh 'Abdu'l-Latlf lived in a small village in 

 Fayum Province, where some of his family still reside. 

 An old man, the son of the sheikh's paternal uncle, 

 is well known to me. The Sheikh 'Abdu'l-Latif was, 

 in his life-time, looked upon as a icali. Insanity 

 is the usual qualification for this high standing among 

 the Moslim saints of Egypt, persons thus afflicted being 

 regarded as the favourites of God. The sheikh had a 

 habit of entering the houses of the people at night, 

 after the doors had been locked and while the evening 

 meal was being cooked, for locked doors formed no 

 barriers to the egress or ingress of this holy man. On 

 entering he would immediately eat up all the food ; 

 meat, bread, and vegetables, no matter how large the 

 quantity, would all be devoured on the spot. .Any 

 glass bottles that happened to be lying about might 

 be included in this repast, for these he would bite up 

 and swallow without drawing any blood. There was 

 only one thing he feared, and that was water. If 

 anyone threw a few drops of water at him, he would 

 run away in terror, as fast as his legs 

 could carry him. Mv informant, Hideib 

 '.\bd-el-Shafy, remembered him well, and 

 he told me that on one occasion the 

 sheikh entered his house after the entrance 

 door had been securely locked, and ate 

 up all the food, including the soup, pre- 

 pared for the evening meal. 



\\'hen the sheikh died, hundreds of 

 people attended his funeral, and, being a 

 very good man, he made his bearers walk 

 quickly to the grave. ^ Above it has 

 been erected the usual domed tomb which 

 is situated near that of the venerated 

 Sheikh Umbarak, for whom a mulid is 

 held once every year (see Fig. 3).^ One 

 year, on the occasion of this festival, a man 

 climbed on to the outside of the tomb of 

 the Sheikh 'Abdu'l-Latif without first re- 

 moving his shoes. Some of the people 

 standing around remonstrated with him for 

 this act of irreverance, but he replied : ' ' Who is the 

 Sheikh 'AbduT-LatIf ? He is nobody ! ' ' and refused 



1 If a man or woman has led a good and religious life, 

 when they die they will make their bearers walk quickly to the 

 grave ; but if they have led lives contrary to the rules of their 

 religion, they make their bearers walk slowly, as they fear death 

 and the grave, where they will be examined on the following 

 night by the two angels Nakir and Nahfr. 



- See my article Festivals celebrating Local Saints in Modern 

 Egypt, in Discovery, vol. iv, January 1923. 



to climb down or to take off his shoes. However, 

 when he wanted to climb down and join the festive 

 crowds, he found that he could not move, and that, 

 when he tried to do so, his limbs were rigid and his 

 whole body paralysed. On seeing the plight of the 

 wretched man, cries to the sheikh were immediately 

 raised. People came with drums and tambourines, 

 others sang and clapped their hands in rhythmic 

 accompaniment to the music, till at last, after about 

 two hours of such intercession, the man regained his 

 power of locomotion, and so was able to move away. 



Some time after this exhibition of his power, the 

 Sheikh 'Abdu'l-Latif appeared to a man in a village 

 a few miles distant, telling him to build him a tomb 

 there. The people of this village went in triumph to 

 the sheikh's native place and exultantly told the 

 inhabitants that their sheikh had now come to them. 



The original tomb still exists, but it is in a dilapi- 

 dated state and, no doubt, in course of time it will 

 wholly disappear, unless something happens to revive 

 the veneration formerly paid to the holy man in his 

 native village. Meanwhile, the people of the village 

 where 'Abdu'l-Latif's later resting-place is built 

 hold a mulid, or festival, every year in honour of their 

 acquired sheikh. 



ir.. J.— THK TOIIB I ir TUF. SHEIKH IIASAX AI.I. 



During the Sheikh 'Abdu'l-Latif's life-time he was 

 visited on one occasion by the Sheikh Suliman, who 

 resided in a village some miles distant. Wherever he 

 went the Sheikh Suliman was always accompanied by 

 his faithful servant. On the occasion of this visit the 

 two sheikhs conversed together in an unknown language. 

 This roused the curiosity of the Sheikh Suliman's 

 servant, who after the interview asked his master 

 what they had been talking about. The sheikh told 



