No sooner had Ghareeb lain down than he heard a commotion, mixed with the voice of a woman wailing and lamenting. He focused his hearing and realised the noise was coming from the house opposite. He looked out the window and saw a woman as beautiful as the full moon, being chased by a man in tattered clothes, who was beating her as if he had authority over her.
Ghareeb's heart was stirred with chivalry and honour, so he ordered some of his Lebanese companions to go down and rescue the woman from that man. They rushed down faster than lightning, after first asking Ahmad for directions. He led them to the house's entrance, instructing them not to tell anyone, then returned to Ghareeb's room, where he found him still leaning from the window, watching the man, boiling with anger, so much so that he was about to throw himself out the window to save the woman.
When Ahmad entered, Ghareeb turned to him and said, "Who is this beast beating that poor woman?"
Ahmad replied, "Those people, my lord, have a story I shall now tell you."
Then they heard the voices of strangers in the woman's house ... Ghareeb's men had entered, beaten the man, and rescued the woman, bringing her to the women's quarters. All the while, the man cried at the top of his lungs, "How dare you take my wife from me? Is she not my property? Do I not have the right to treat her as I please?"
Ghareeb was shocked by this, and turned to Ahmad, asking, "Is it true that she is his wife?"
Ahmad said, "Yes, my lord."
Ghareeb replied, "It seems the two of them are completely different in thought and temperament."
Ahmad said, "Indeed. The reason for that is that, several centuries ago, this land was ruled by a group of Circassians and others called the Mamluks. At first, they were servants in the palaces of the Abbasid caliphs and others, sent from the governors of Turkestan among other tribute gifts.
But when they embraced Islam, became educated and cultured, the caliphs grew fond of them and entrusted them with managing many...
...of the state's affairs. Some were entrusted with governorships, others with collecting taxes, and some with overseeing the private affairs of the court, and so on. Their souls constantly longed for power and dominance, and eventually, they achieved it in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. They became rulers akin to provincial governors, but their desire for absolute authority led the Ottoman government to attempt their extermination ... yet they failed.
Until the time of Mohamed Ali Pasha, the current ruler of Egypt, who about twelve years ago carried out a plot to slaughter them all in the Citadel, which you saw from a distance this morning. He then confiscated all their wealth and belongings and allowed his soldiers and officers to marry their women. Those women were left in a state where death would have been more merciful, for after living in dignity and luxury, they had become concubines to men whom they would never have accepted even as their slaves.
This woman, in particular, was the wife of one of those Mamluk princes, and her fate was to marry this man, one of the Pasha's soldiers, who now beats her for the slightest reason. It's been ten years or more, and she has lived in such torment, especially when he comes home every night drunk, treating her just as you saw."
Ghareeb was deeply moved by the story—nearly brought to tears. While they were still speaking, a servant came in and said to her master, "Madam Kamila wishes to enter and speak to the young lord."
Ghareeb asked about the woman. Ahmad replied, "She is the very one we've been talking about."
He said, "Let her enter."
She came in, eyes full of tears, and threw herself at Ghareeb's feet, saying:
"I seek refuge with you, my lord. I beg you by the soul of your father to save me from this hardship. Order your men to take me from this place to wherever you wish, so I can escape this savage man."
She said this while sobbing.
Ghareeb's heart became even more tender and compassionate. He lifted her and seated her, saying:
"Don't be afraid, my aunt. I will speak with my father tonight, God willing, and beg him to save you from this man and let you come with us to Lebanon."
She replied, "How wonderful that would be!"
Then Ghareeb said to Ahmad,
"Do you want to keep her in your house until tomorrow, so we can meet my father and speak to him?"
Ahmad replied, "Alright, but I fear consequences."
Ghareeb said, "Don't worry ... I will tell my father the truth."
The lady approached and kissed Ghareeb, begging him not to forget her. He promised her, his heart now overflowing with pity.
As for her husband, he had gone to present a complaint to the officer in charge. But he was told that his dispute was with the son of the American (Ghareeb), who was known to be a close friend of the beloved Pasha of Egypt. So the man hesitated, hoping he might win her back peacefully.
As for Ghareeb, he went out with his men and Ahmad, touring the city until they reached the Citadel of the Mountain (Qal'at al-Jabal).
Ahmad said:
"This is the Citadel of the Mountain. It houses the government council, and it is in this very citadel that the Mamluks were slaughtered, just as I told you before."
She had been saying all this while weeping bitterly, which had made Ghareeb's heart overflow with even more tenderness and compassion. He had lifted her and seated her gently, saying:
"Don't be afraid, Madam!"
Now, when they arrived at the gate of the citadel, they were stopped by a guard, dressed in strange clothing, unlike anything Ghareeb had ever seen before.
The guard wore:
A white skirt (a tanoura) that was very wide and pleated, ending just above the knees
Around his waist, a colored silk sash, loosely tied
Over his torso, a buttoned woollen jacket (jumdan)
On his head, a long tarboosh (fez) folded backwards, with a long tassel hanging from it
In his belt, he carried two pistols, a flintlock gun, and a dagger
At his side hung a curved sword
He was long-sworded, straight in posture, with a large moustache and sharp eyes, showing signs of courage and vitality. Ahmad spoke to him, asking permission to enter, and the man allowed them in.
As they passed, Ghareeb asked about the man, and Ahmad replied:
"He is one of the Arna'ut (Albanians). These are soldiers from Albania in Rumelia. When Muhammad Ali Pasha began his involvement in ruling Egypt, he had under his command about four thousand of them. They helped him greatly in many of his missions."
They entered through Bab al-'Azab, overlooking the parade square. The gate is accessed via a raised slope, like a broad mound. Ahmad said:
"Before entering, my lord, let me tell you the story behind this mound and gate."
When they entered through the gate, they walked into a rocky passageway, as the Citadel is built on the mountainside, and many of the walls are hewn directly from the mountain stone. The passage leads to the buildings of the citadel, which are so vast that they resemble a small city.
When they reached the top of the passage, Ahmad said:
"This is the place where the Mamluk princes were slaughtered. There were more than four hundred of them. They were invited in their official garments to drink coffee in the Citadel palace, in celebration of Tosun Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali, departing to fight the Wahhabis in the Arabian Peninsula, at the direction of our Lord the Sultan.
They drank coffee in the hall that you'll see at the heart of the Citadel, where the council of the Pasha is. The men then lined up to exit in a ceremonial procession. But Muhammad Ali had conspired with his commanders to eliminate them.
When the procession neared this very gate, the Mamluks were trapped in this narrow passage ... the Arna'ut blocked one side and the Maghariba blocked the other. The gates of the Citadel were suddenly shut, and the Mamluks were all massacred, every last one of them.
Only one prince survived, due to a personal matter that delayed him from attending. When he arrived at the gate and saw the procession about to leave, he decided to wait until it passed to join in. So, he stood atop his horse outside this gate, on the flattened mound.
No sooner had he paused than he heard the sound of gunfire and saw the gates closing. Realising it was a trap, he spurred his horse and fled into the desert, escaping death. After that, nothing was ever heard of him again."
Throughout this story, Ghareeb and his companions remained silent, listening attentively to Ahmad.
Then they began to tour the Citadel, speaking among themselves about the massacre of the Mamluks as they explored the sights within, such as:
the Mint (Dar al-Darb / Darbkhana)
The armory storerooms,
and the well known as Bir Yusuf (Joseph's Well), named after Sultan Salah al-Din Yusuf al-Ayyubi, the builder of the Citadel.
Afterwards, Ahmad led them to a high place from which they overlooked Cairo. The city appeared vast, densely built, surrounded by orchards filled with palm trees, and gardens woven among its houses.
But they didn't find the clear air in Cairo that they were used to in Syria, due to the…
The air of Cairo was filled with dust rising from the roads, obscuring the clarity.
Beyond all that, they saw the blessed Nile River,
its surface shimmering with the reflection of the sun's rays,
giving it a splendid, enchanting appearance.
They were especially amazed by the sheer number of minarets, which numbered in the hundreds.
Then they descended from the Citadel, with the sun nearing sunset.
Ahmad arranged for them some donkeys to ride, saying:
"Riding donkeys here is a pleasant sport ... they run swiftly and are comfortable for the rider."
They rode back until they reached Old Cairo, where they took a ferry to Roda Island.
When they reached the palace, Ghareeb quickly inquired whether the prince (al-Amiri) had returned.
He was told that he had, so he entered and kissed his hands.
The prince asked him what he had seen, and Ghareeb told him the whole story,
pleading with him to save the poor woman.
But the prince said:
"What do we have to do with her, my son? We are in a foreign land."
Still, Ghareeb insisted and implored him by oath,
So the prince summoned Ahmad, who retold the story.
The prince then said:
"Remind me of this tomorrow."
As for Ghareeb, after dinner, he went to his room and wrote a letter to his mother,
detailing everything he had witnessed from beginning to end.