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egypt-第8部分

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sunshine。 Beyond; quite open; the mosque spreads out its endless

arcades; which are continued and repeated till they are lost in the

gloom of the far interior; and in this dim place; with its perplexing

depths; innumerable people in turbans; sitting in a close crowd; are

singing; or rather chanting; in a low voice; and marking time as it

were to their declamation by a slight rhythmic swaying from the hips。

They are the ten thousand students come from all parts of the world to

absorb the changeless doctrine of El…Azhar。



At the first view it is difficult to distinguish them; for they are

far down in the shadow; and out here we are almost blinded by the sun。

In little attentive groups of from ten to twenty; seated on mats

around a grave professor; they docilely repeat their lessons; which in

the course of centuries have grown old without changing like Islam

itself。 And we wonder how those in the circles down there; in the

aisles at the bottom where the daylight scarcely penetrates; can see

to read the old difficult writings in the pages of their books。



In any case; let us not trouble themas so many tourists nowadays do

not hesitate to do; we will enter a little later; when the studies of

the morning are over。



This court; upon which the sun of the forenoon now pours its white

fire; is an enclosure severely and magnificently Arab; it has isolated

us suddenly from time and things; it must lend to the Moslem prayer

what formerly our Gothic churches lent to the Christian。 It is vast as

a tournament list; confined on one side by the mosque itself; and on

the others by a high wall which effectively separates it from the

outer world。 The walls are of a reddish hue; burnt by centuries of sun

into the colour of raw sienna or of bloodstone。 At the bottom they are

straight; simple; a little forbidding in their austerity; but their

summits are elaborately ornamented and crowned with battlements; which

show in profile against the sky a long series of denticulated

stonework。 And over this sort of reddish fretwork of the top; which

seems as if it were there as a frame to the deep blue vault above us;

we see rising up distractedly all the minarets of the neighbourhood;

and these minarets are red…coloured too; redder even than the jealous

walls; and are decorated with arabesques; pierced by the daylight and

complicated with aerial galleries。 Some of them are a little distance

away; others; startlingly close; seem to scale the zenith; and all are

ravishing and strange; with their shining crescents and outstretched

shafts of wood that call to the great birds of space。 Spite of

ourselves we raise our heads; fascinated by all the beauty that is in

the air; but there is only this square of marvellous sky; a sort of

limpid sapphire; set in the battlements of El…Azhar and fringed by

those audacious slender towers。 We are in the religious East of olden

days and we feel how the mystery of this magnificent courtwhose

architectural ornament consists merely in geometrical designs repeated

to infinity; and does not commence till quite high up on the

battlements; where the minarets point into the eternal bluemust cast

its spell upon the imagination of the young priests who are being

trained here。



*****



 〃He who instructs the ignorant is like a living man amongst the

  dead。〃



 〃If a day passes without my having learnt something which brings me

  nearer to God; let not the dawn of that day be blessed。〃



        Verses from the Hadith。



He who has brought me to this place to…day is my friend; Mustapha

Kamel Pacha; the tribune of Egypt; and I owe to his presence the fact

that I am not treated like a casual visitor。 Our names are taken at

once to the great master of El…Azhar; a high personage in Islam; whose

pupil Mustapha formerly was; and who no doubt will receive us in

person。



It is in a hall very Arab in its character; furnished only with

divans; that the great master welcomes us; with the simplicity of an

ascetic and the elegant manners of a prelate。 His look; and indeed his

whole face; tell how onerous is the sacred office which he exercises:

to preside; namely; at the instruction of these thousands of young

priests; who afterwards are to carry faith and peace and immobility to

more than three hundred millions of men。



And in a few moments Mustapha and he are busy discussingas if it

were a matter of actual interesta controversial question concerning

the events which followed the death of the Prophet; and the part

played by Ali。 。 。 。 In that moment how my good friend Mustapha; whom

I had seen so French in France; appeared all at once a Moslem to the

bottom of his soul! The same thing is true indeed of the greater

number of these Orientals; who; if we meet them in our own country;

seem to be quite parisianised; their modernity is only on the surface:

in their inmost souls Islam remains intact。 And it is not difficult to

understand; perhaps; how the spectacle of our troubles; our despairs;

our miseries; in these new ways in which our lot is cast; should make

them reflect and turn again to the tranquil dream of their

ancestors。 。 。 。



While waiting for the conclusion of the morning studies; we are

conducted through some of the dependencies of El…Azhar。 Halls of every

epoch; added one to another; go to form a little labyrinth; many

contain /Mihrabs/; which; as we know already; are a kind of portico;

festooned and denticulated till they look as if covered with rime。 And

library after library; with ceilings of cedarwood; carved in times

when men had more leisure and more patience。 Thousands of precious

manuscripts; dating back some hundreds of years; but which here in El…

Azhar are no whit out of date。 Open; in glass cases; are numerous

inestimable Korans; which in olden times had been written fair and

illuminated on parchment by pious khedives。 And; in a place of honour;

a large astronomical glass; through which men watch the rising of the

moon of Ramadan。 。 。 。 All this savours of the past。 And what is being

taught to…day to the ten thousand students of El…Azhar scarcely

differs from what was taught to their predecessors in the glorious

reign of the Fatimitesand which was then transcendent and even new:

the Koran and all its commentaries; the subtleties of syntax and of

pronunciation; jurisprudence; calligraphy; which still is dear to the

heart of Orientals; versification; and; last of all; mathematics; of

which the Arabs were the inventors。



Yes; all this savours of the past; of the dust of remote ages。 And

though; assuredly; the priests trained in this thousand…year…old

university may grow to men of rarest soul; they will remain; these

calm and noble dreamers; merely laggards; safe in their shelter from

the whirlwind which carries us along。



*****



 〃It is a sacrilege to prohibit knowledge。 To seek knowledge is to

  perform an act of adoration towards God; to instruct is to do an

  act of charity。〃



 〃Knowledge is the life of Islam; the column of faith。〃



        Verses from the Hadith。



The lesson of the morning is now finished and we are able; without

disturbing anybody; to visit the mosque。



When we return to the great courtyard; with its battlemented walls; it

is the hour of recreation for this crowd of young men in robes and

turbans; who now emerge from the shadow of the sanctuary。



Since the early morning they have remained seated on their mats;

immersed in study and prayer; amid the confused buzzing of their

thousands of voices; and now they scatter themselves about the

contiguous Arab quarters until such time as the evening lessons

commence。 They walk along in little groups; sometimes holding one

another's hands like children; most of them carry their heads high and

raise their eyes to the heavens; although the sun which greets them

outside dazzles them a little with its rays。 They seem innumerable;

and as they pass show us faces of the most diverse types。 They come

from all quarters of the world; some from Baghdad; others from

Bassorah; from Mossul and even from the interior of Hedjaz。 Those from

the north have eyes that are bright and clear; and amongst those from

Moghreb; from Morocco and the Sahara; are many whose skins are almost

black。 But the expression of all the faces is alike: something of

ecstasy and of aloofness marks them all; the same detachment; a

preoccupation with the self…same dream。 And in the sky; to which they

raise their eyes; the heavensframed always by the battlements of El…

Azharare almost white from the excess of light; with a border of

tall; red minarets; which seem to be aglow with the refection of some

great fire。 And; watching them pass; all these young priests or

jurists; at once so different and so alike; we understand better than

before how Islam; the old; old Islam; keeps still its cohesion and its

power。



The mosque in which they pursue their studies i
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