Cairo

فمنها: اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد وسلم ونجنا بجاهه من طغيان الطاعون وسلم الطاعون روع وأمات وابتدأ خبره من الظلمات فواها له من زائر من خمس عشرة سنة دائر ما صين عنه الصين ولا منع منه حصن حصين سل هنديا في الهند واشتد على السند وقبض بكفيه وشبك على بلاد أزبك وكم قصم من ظهر فيما وراء النهر، ثم ارتفع ونجم وهجم على العجم وأوسع الخطا إلى أرض الخطا وقرم القرم ورمى الروم بجمر مضطرم وجر الجرائر إلى قبرص والجزائر ثم قهر خلقا بالقاهرة وتنبهت عينه لمصر فأذاهم بالساهرة وأسكن حركة الإسكندرية فعمل شغل الفقراء مع الحريرية.

From the essay: O God, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace. Through his favor with You, save us from the tyranny of the plague, and keep us safe. The plague brought terror and death. Its story began in the Land of Darkness. Alas for this visitor, making its rounds for fifteen years! China was not shielded from it, and the strongest fortress could not keep it out. It drew its Indian blade in India, and it pressed hard on Sind. It seized the lands of Uzbek with both hands and locked its fingers around them. How many backs it broke in Transoxiana! Then it rose up, came into view, and fell on the Persians. It stretched its stride as far as Cathay. It gnawed at the Crimea and pelted the Rum with blazing coals. It dragged its crimes to Cyprus and the islands. Then it conquered people in Cairo. Its eye woke up to Egypt, and it struck them down on the plain of the Last Day. It stilled the bustle of Alexandria, and there it did the work of the Sufi poor among the Hariri brethren.

وخرج جميع أهل البلد ذكورا وإناثا صغارا وكبارا، وخرج اليهود بتوراتهم، والنصارى بإنجيلهم، ومعهم النساء والولدان وجميعهم باكون متضرعون متوسلون إلى الله بكتبه وأنبيائه، وقصدوا مسجد الأقدام وأقاموا به في تضرعهم إلى قرب الزوال وعادوا إلى البلد فصلوا الجمعة وخفف الله تعالى عنهم فانتهى عدد الموتى إلى ألفين في اليوم الواحد، وقد انتهى عددهم بالقاهرة ومصر إلى أربعة وعشرين ألفا في يوم واحد.

The whole population of the city went out, men and women, young and old. The Jews came out with their Torah, and the Christians with their Gospel, with their women and children. All of them were weeping and pleading, calling on God through his books and his prophets. They went to the Mosque of the Footprints and stayed there, praying humbly, until nearly noon. Then they went back into the city and held the Friday prayer. God lightened the plague for them: the dead in a single day came to two thousand, while in Cairo and Misr the count had reached twenty-four thousand in one day.

ثم إلى الإسكندرية فوجدت الوباء قد خف بها بعد أن بلغ عدد الموتى إلى ألف وثمانين في اليوم، ثم سافرت إلى القاهرة، وبلغني أن عدد الموتى أيام الوباء انتهى فيها إلى أحد وعشرين ألفا في اليوم! ووجدت جميع من كان بها من المشايخ الذين أعرفهم قد ماتوا رحمهم الله تعالى.

Then [I went on] to Alexandria. I found that the pestilence had eased there, after the dead had reached one thousand and eighty a day. Then I traveled to Cairo. I was told that in the days of the pestilence the dead there had reached twenty-one thousand a day. I found that all the scholars I knew there had died, God have mercy on them.

وسبب كثرة العفن والرطوبات الفاسدة في هذا كله كثرة العمران ووفوره آخر الدولة لما كان في أوائلها من حسن الملكة ورفقها وقلة المغرم وهو ظاهر ولهذا تبين في موضعه من الحكمة أن تخلل الخلاء والقفر بين العمران ضروري ليكون تموج الهواء يذهب بما يحصل في الهواء من الفساد والعفن بمخالطة الحيوانات ويأتي بالهواء الصحيح ولهذا أيضا فإن الموتان يكون في المدن الموفورة العمران أكثر من غيرها بكثير كمصر بالمشرق وفاس بالمغرب والله يقدر ما يشاء

The cause of so much rot and foul moisture in all this is the large population at the end of a dynasty. It grew because the dynasty, in its early days, ruled well and gently and taxed lightly. This is plain. For this reason, as is shown in its place in philosophy, there must be empty space and open country between settlements. Then the movement of the air can carry off the corruption and rot that living things give to the air, and bring in healthy air. This is also why deaths are far more frequent in crowded cities than elsewhere, as in Cairo in the East and Fez in the Maghrib. God decrees what he wills.

On the 24th of July, 1844, the writer of this little book went to dine at the —— Club, quite unconscious of the wonderful events which Fate had in store for him. Mr. William was there, giving a farewell dinner to his friend, Mr. James (now Sir James). These two asked Mr. Titmarsh to join company with them, and the conversation naturally fell upon the tour Mr. James was about to take. The Peninsular and Oriental Company had arranged an excursion in the Mediterranean, by which, in the space of a couple of months, as many men and cities were to be seen as Ulysses surveyed and noted in ten years. Malta, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Cairo were to be visited and everybody was to be back in London by Lord Mayor's-day.

On July 24, 1844, the writer of this little book went to dine at the —— Club, quite unaware of the wonderful events that Fate had in store for him. Mr. William was there, giving a farewell dinner to his friend Mr. James (now Sir James). These two asked Mr. Titmarsh to join them, and the talk naturally turned to the tour Mr. James was about to take. The Peninsular and Oriental Company had arranged an excursion in the Mediterranean. In the space of a couple of months, it would show as many men and cities as Ulysses saw and noted in ten years. Malta, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Cairo were to be visited, and everybody was to be back in London by Lord Mayor's Day.