On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
Afabic words , and many which I have never seen in European characters in any former work , I have thought it better to write all of them according to a particular system that appears to me best calculated to enable an English reader to pronounce them with tolerable correctness . '" -Introduction , p . xyiii .
A very clear exposition of the sounds , represented by the form of letters he uses , follows this explanation . Every one knows that the political condition of Egypt is considerably altered of late years , and that the present Ba ' sha , Mohham ' rnad 'Al ' ee ( Mahommed Ali ) has nearly attained the
rank of an independent Prince ; but Mr Lane ' s account bears testimony to very little improvement in the state of the people , and clearly shows that exaggerated reports on that head have gone abroad . He predicts , however , that important changes will shortly take place ; for , though the government remains much as it has been for centuries , the new customs introduced
by Mohham mad 'Al ' ee are indirectly ^ sapping the foundations of Islarnism ; a necessary prelude to all improvement , because , as the laws are all derived from the Ckoor-a ' n ( Al Koran ) its supposed Divine origin must present a barrier to their reformation . The Ba ' sha , for instance , lately decreed that the study of Anatomy was lawful , in direct opposition to the letter and spirit of the
law . An indifference to their religious forms is gradually spreading among the best-informed classes , and the drinking of wine is becoming common . The more devout think ( as they do here ) in consequence of these things , that the end of the world is at hand . The successful adoption of the European system of warfare by the Ba ' sha has shaken the faith of the people in their own superiority to all other nations , and will
probably make them less averse to learning other and more useful sciences from them . At present their state of ignorance is extreme . The regular course of study pursued by the best educated Egyptians is quite sufficient to prove the truth of this assertion . Having previously learned in the schools to read , write , and recite the Ckoor-a ' n , they nearly all attend the lectures in the great mosque , El-Az'hai , at Cairo , answering very much to our Universities .
Here" The regular subjects of study are grammatical inflection and syntax , rhetoric , versification , logic , theology , the exposition of the Ckoor-a ' n , the Traditions of the Prophet , the complete science of jurisprudence , or rather of religious , moral , civil , and criminal law , which is chiefly founded on the Ckoor-a ' n and the Traditions ; together with arithmetic as far as it is useful in matters of law . Lectures are also given on algebra , and on the calculations of the Mohhammadan calendar , the times of prayer , &c . "—Vol . I . p . 267 . All this is perhaps nearly as useful for practical purposes , and as elevating to the mind , as the course of studies pursued
Untitled Article
of the Modern Egyptians . 85
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 1, 1837, page 85, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1828/page/38/
-