I believe one has the right to feel passion… either
when he is in the company of his or her beloved one… or in
the company of a feeling or meaning that haunts his human composition… as
feelings and meanings vary as much as the human existence does.
I also believe that one has the right to turn his
illusion into a reality… meaning I often doubted – as per the medical reports,
x-rays and due to my current state that makes me either lay in bed or crouch
down on the sofa for a disorder in my upper and lower backbone disks – that I can
stay for an hour walking or standing still among the crowds and stampede who
have no idea that this man they see is really sick… however, I was able to
survive such state from the afternoon to the sunset… it was this state of
passion that haunted me… I wore that white-linen Kaftan… beneath it was the Baladi
vest… and above them the woolen Galabiya with the hand-woven laces I had
them made at Abu Gerges; the Baladi tailor at Quesna.
At Bab Al-Fotouh, I got off and called my old friend
Saeed Faramawi; the poet, ney player and visual artist whom we awarded the
unique title “digital al-Jabarti” as he has hundreds of thousands of photos and
videos of our beloved Egypt; north, south, east and west on his PC… the
occasion was the big night or Mawled of Sidi Ali al-Bayoumi who
once inhabited al-Hussayniyya district.
In my childhood, boyhood and early youth, I knew that
my family has a blood relation to a Sufi Tariqa or order; that is
al-Bayoumiya… for a long time I did not care to check the veracity of such
thing... until last Thursday.
He is Ali Ibn Hegazi Al-Bayoumi… born in Al-Bayoum town
in Daqahlyyia governorate in 1108 Hijri calendar… he is a descendent of Imam
al-Hussain Ibn Imam Ali – Peace be upon them both… of the books he authored: Al-Moraba’a
fi Al-Mazaheb Al-Arba’a or Al-Moraba’a in the four Mezhabs… Sharh
Al-Gamea’e Al-Saghir or interpretation of Al-Gamea’e Al-Saghir… Sharh
Al-Sira Al-Ahmadiya or interpretation of prophet Muhammed biography… Resala
fil-Hudud or a thesis on Islamic punishments… Resala fil-Fawz wal-intebah…
a third one in Fath al-Rahman wal-Anwar Al-Galyyia wal-Noor Al-Satea’e… a
fourth in Al-Khalwatiyya Al-Demerdashiyya Tariqa or order… a fifth in Sharh
Al-Asma’a Al-Idriesiyya.
Sidi Ali
al-Bayoumi was adopting the order or Tariqa of Sidi Ahmed
el-Badawi… he used to gather with his Muridin or committed ones in the
mosque of Al-Zaher with the very strong stone pillars… what is really strange
that some of the big criminals, gangsters and thugs used to go to him to
blackmail his Muridin in the beginning… but unexpectedly, they repented
and turned to be of his Muridin... Mawlana or Sidi
al-Bayoumi used to tie them with iron chains to the mosque pillars… and
sometimes encircle their necks with iron straps and pull them to the pillar
while they were fully obedient… and when he used to ride his horse heading from
Al-Hussainiyya to Al-Gammaliyya where the mosque of al-Hussain is, his Muridin
used to accompany him including those past-criminals holding weapons and clubs…
he looked like a crowned king… until he arrives at the shrine of al-Hussain
inside the mosque and then he goes into Dhikr spiritual session of
practicing repeating the names of God until he becomes like a wild beast… but
once he finishes, he sits looking very weak…
It happened once that some religion scholars objected
to his presence along with his Muridin because they make such noise in
the mosque of al-Hussain and even asked to stop him from coming… but Imam
Abdullah al-Shabrawi stood to them and asked them to be patient… then he asked
al-Bayoumi to give them a sermon and then Sidi al-Bayoumi went on interpreting
Al-Arba’een Al-Nawawiyya or the forty Hadith of an-Nawawi until he captured
their hearts and they found he knew what they did not know.
I walked with my friend Faramawi and our friend Hisham
al-Tohami to the mosque of Al-Bayoumi then back to Bab Al-Fotouh and Al-Moa’z
street until the grand procession started to show… the procession of
Al-Bayoumiyya Tariqa or order with their red badges, flags and banners…
their songs, big percussion instruments and Muridin; those who were in a
state of passion… but everyone on his own way.
What I saw some may consider a sign of retardation and
obstacle on the way to build the modern state, especially those so called “strategic
logical gentlemen” or others who consider all that is popular vulgar… to
others, including me, this popular spirit that goes back to Osir or Osiris…
then to Saint Menas… to Saint George… to Sidi ad-Dosouki… Sidi
al-Badawi… Sidi Ash-Shazli… Sidi al-Bayoumi… and tens others like
them… is the spirit in which mentioning God is in conciliation with music and swinging
with it… such conciliation is inscribed on the arch heading Bab Al-Fotouh where
you can find the symbol of Judaism with that of Christianity along with other
symbols that represent Islam… here I ask everyone who have the desire and
capacity to go to Bab Al-Fotouh and stand before the shrine of az-Zouq who did
not leave Egypt… and then go to the outer yard before the gate and look up to
the arch and see the symbols I am talking about.
In that procession, people were in thousands happy and
generous in distributing Sherbet, dates and sweets on anyone they meet…
everyone were chanting with passion the name of Allah as if you feel yourself
listening to the most beautiful Operatic voices.
At that moment, I said to myself that our beloved
Egypt will always be protected and have good in it… its old-in-history roots
will come back again stronger and stronger no matter how the salafist muslim
brotherhood trend is emotionless or passionless.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in
Almasry alyoum newspaper on April 5, 2017.
To see the original article,
go to:
#almasry_alyoum
#ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #mawaled #egyptian_heritage
No comments:
Post a Comment