Master Haroon's Miraculous Benefits

Let me tell you of the last of the legends of the Cretan Woman house, the tale of the beneficent Saint Haroon al-Husseini, son of the Prophet's grandson, who was slain at Kerbela and whose blessed head still rests in the midst of Bait Al-kretliya.

During the reign of the Fatimites, with much state in procession, they brought the body of master Haroon to Cairo, and buried him in Bait Al-Kretliya, where a tomb had been made ready to harbor him  and where those good people of Al-kretly family who once lived in this house, rejoiced to have in their midst and keep in their care such a cherished and blessed relic, and under a domed tomb; he has lain ever since bringing peace to the place and miraculous benefits to those who dwell  in this house.

For example, when a young child of the house was playing in the court, stretched out his hands in his innocence to caress a mad dog that had entered by chance, the saint's unseen hands caught him up by the hair of his head out of harm's way, and once when a child fell by ill-chance from the roof from high above the tomb of Master Haroon, and under the condition would have been killed for sure, but in this case he was hung, suspended by the breath of the saint, in mid air and was let down so lightly that not a bone in his body was broken nor any hurt came to him.

One, moreover, the saint appeared to a young woman in the house who, at night, seeing a light in the qa'ah, peeped in through a chink in the door and beheld there a young man who, with others, conducted zikr and again, though there were no lamps in the room, the place was illumined by light shining from the young man, and he said to her-although she was not in the room with him but without-'Fear not, good woman, I make this rhythmic intercession for the recovery of thy husband who is grievously ill.'
Now the woman knew nothing of this, for her husband, was at the time far away on a journey. Yet it proved just as the Saint had said, the husband recovered and came back to tell her how he had been sick unto death until he saw the Saint in a vision as the woman had seen him, and at the same time as she, and from then on he recovered his strength until he was now stronger than ever before.

But Perhaps the strangest of all strange happenings has to do with a thief, an evil man who entered the house to rob it. One day when the children of the house were playing on the roof, saw this man as a shadow thrown upon a wall and, in terror thinking this is an afreet and fearing to look round and behold it, the children ran off screaming to tell their mother. By the time she had reassured the children and come back to see what was amiss, behold, an ill-looking man was there who groped his way through daylight, and she perceived at one that this was no ghost but a blind man who could not harm anyone.At that the children ran towards him and. striking him with their fists and small sticks and called out in derision 'Bad man, what do you here?'

To all this he made no resistance but only threw up his arms and cried with many tears, saying 'I am indeed a thief and came here to steal but I have been struck blind by some unseen power.' Thereupon the mother silenced the children while she caused food and drinks to be brought for the man, who was too weak to say more. After he had drunk and eaten he greatly revived and recounted his story.

He told how he entered the house unobserved between dusk and dark while the door was unguarded, three days before as he judged it, for he could tell night from day only by the sounds in the house; how, creeping into hareem with intent to lay hands on what jewels he could find, he had hidden there til midnight before venturing forth; how, scarce had he come into the room where the women lay sleeping than a bright light shone forth intensely and, wherever he looked, it was there, burning his eyes till it blinded him; how, in affright, he had then felt his way to the door bust since he could no longer see nor judge daylight from darkness, he had lost himself in the house and knew not whither he went; how he had hidden for those three days in a chests and in cupboards with nothing to eat or to drink, and by night he groped stealthily about, unable to find either food or his way out of the house, even though empty-handed, so that now he was well-night dead from hunger and thirst and weakness.

It was of course, the protective presence and power of Saint Haroon that had confused and afflicted him thus, though the Saint himself did not appear. On hearing all this the mother, a kind and compassionate woman, was moved in her pity to say, 'Oh  thief, if our Saint hath seen fit to smite thee thus blind for thy sins, nought then remains for me to do but to pardon thy thee. Therefore go now and take this coin in thy wallet to meet thy needs and come no more.' With this benediction she led him to the door of the house and dismissed him.

So that it was that he who had come to steal went away empty-handed  but for the mother's alms, being thus both rewarded and punished for what he had set out to do but had failed to accomplish, thanks for the good benefits of Saint Haroon. Nor did the thief ever recover his sight, for his life had been evil and this affliction which had thus been laid upon him was just.For long thereafter he dwelt in these parts as a blind bigger who had once been a rich man; for, seeing him helpless, his women and accomplices forsook him and divided up between them all he had amassed by his cunning. Thus he was left penniless, an object of pity and warning to others; for t hose of the neighborhood would point him out to strangers and tell them the tale I have told you.

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The Enamored Well

If thou be maiden without stain

Or lad till now unversed in love,

That yet no knife has cut or fire burnt,

Nor dog has bit, then not in vain

To this old well-head turn and look within,

And down a little pebble throw;

At the night's noon, that milk-white hour

When the moon full-grown,

Doth ride through heaven like a houri fair

In her full loveliness,

And when the troubled circles cease

If in the mirror thou shalt see

The face of one look'st up to thee

As thou at it look'st down,

Then know for sure thy true love's face,

This magic well reveals to thee.

I shall tell you a tale of love with which the magic Well of the Bats has much to do. Know then that once upon a time, long ago, there lived in the Bait al-kertliya a rich, widowed lady with her daughter Lutfiya, a maiden as fair as a full moon and simple and sweet as a flower. At the same time there dwelt in a house over the way a handsome youth called Ameen, like Lutfiya that only child of his mother, who was also a widow.

Now, much to both parents regret, their young ones showed no desire to marry, being yet scarce acquainted with love and cautious by nature. Having heard of each others loveliness and yet how averse to be wed, the young ones interest was aroused, Lutfiya found herself deeply in love with her vision of Ameen just as he was with his fancy of her. All day Ameen would sit thus, gazing out through  the mashrabiya at  the house over the way, watching and waiting, but no door opened, nor even a window though indeed, unknown to him, Lutfiya, even as he, was all the while peeping through a chink in the hope that she might spy young Ameen. Thus sat they, sighing these two, each unknown to the other.

Now one day Lutifiya, after some hesitation, arose and, pulling a shawl that was by her over her head. Across the court-yard she ran to the well in the corner, the Well of the Bats, that magic well of which I have told you how, in the days of old Noah when the Ark was stranded here on hill Yushkur, the last waters of the Flood subsided into its depth, endowing them with miraculous and amorous powers. and the Sultan of  the Dijnn who resides amid his treasure at the depth within this well.

Now Lutifiya had head those legends and, for that reason, had always been frightened of the well so that she could scarce bring herself to look down into it, half hoping as she did, yet half fearing to see, as many had told her she might, her lover's reflection therein. On this occasion, though frightened as ever, she none the less could not resist hastily looking down into the well-shaft, for she hoped to see Ameen gazing up at her. But no such sight met her eyes, for as she looked down, lo and behold! those waters that reflected her own face awoke and were agitated because of the beauty cast upon them and, becoming enamored for her loveliness, they rose and swelled up till they filled the whole shaft of the well to the very top and then they flowed over. Now indeed was Lutifiya alarmed, as well she might be, for the waters began to embrace her feet! With a cry, she turned to escape and, she ran, her shawl fell from her head on to her shoulder. Cross the court she ran, out into the street.

Ameen was gazing, as he become his wont, out through the lattice of a window, when all of a sudden he saw the great eastern door of Bait al-Kretliya thrown open, and out ran a maiden, frightened and he saw how the waves kissed her feet as she ran.

 Ameen hurried down and reached the street in time to see Lutifya turn the corner of the wall of Ibn Tulun mosque that stands adjacent to the Bait al-Kretliya, moving as if her feet are not touching the ground and by the time she reached the spiral minaret, Lutifya was above the ground. Tiny fingers, sharp like claws, carried her to safety. Her body was lifted up high towards the top of the spiral minaret above the raging flood, unable to catch its prey, on rushed these waters, mad with desire, tumbling over and over till they came to the foot of the hill and were lost in the Khalig, the ancient canal that flowed through Cairo in those days and into the great River Nile.

When Ameen reached the base of the minaret he could only hear a muffled voice coming from beyond the spiral minaret, from the direction of the great River Nile. One word calling again and again, until it faded away and he can no longer hear anything: "Lutfiya, Lutfiya."

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Sultan al-Watawit & The Secret Chamber

This ancient Well under the arch in a corner of the court of the Bait al-Kretliya, now little used and little considered, was once famous far and wide. So much was this the case that the road leading uphill to the House and the Mosque is still called 'The Way to the Well of Bats,' which is still writ up in order to direct all who wish to visit this famous well; and they were many in the olden days, for its waters have always been known to possess magical and beneficent properties; and that is hardly to be wondered at, since they flowed into this shaft from the Great Flood as it subsided, and left Noah's ark stranded on this hill of Yashkur.

Yes, the Well had long been renowned for the many cures it has wrought, lovers it has served, and countless strange happenings concerning it which have taken place in the Bait al-Kretliya. But above all, it is renowned as the haunt and home of Sultan al-Watawit, the King of the Jinn, who inhabits a palace within it with his seven fair daughters amidst vast treasures which are guarded by his magic.This explains why, at the Sultan's demand, the Bait al-Kretliya was built round the magic well, instead of a shaft being sunk in the midst of the house as was the usual procedure. 

The Sultan is still in his palace and his seven fair daughters-in another version of the story it is seven sons- lie around him under a spell, each in her golden bed; and all so fast asleep that if any intrude and arouse them they hardly stir, but murmur, 'Take all you will and leave us to our slumbers.' Their father guards them-and his treasure-by his sorceries, changing himself at times into a bat, a shape he assumes at will, in which guise he may sometimes be seen of an evening to enter or leave the mouth of the well. All that closely guarded treasure remains still for the finding, but it is by no means easy to come by, for very many have tried but so far no one has succeeded.

Some of those who have set out on that venture have never returned, but were either lost in perdition or chose to abide where they found themselves. And, strange though as it may sound, the good King of the Djinn sometimes helps the wives or the widows of those who have not returned from the venture of seeking to rob him, should they be needy, and he does it in the following manner. He sees to it that, now and again, when such a one lowers her bucket into the well, a coin of gold or silver is dropped into it for her to recover.

Though, as I say, no one so far has come by this treasure, it is well known through the writing in magical books how best to obtain it. First of all, well provided with rope, rations, a lantern, and all else that such a venture may need, and not forgetting the holly book and to commend yourself to God's care, you are lowered on the end of a rope to where the shaft opens out at the water's level into a chamber. From the east and west of this space issue two hidden passages, and at the entrance stands an Ifrit who works a shadoof, lifting water out of the well and pouring it down these two inclined ways, one of which leads to the palace of the Sultan and the treasure, the other to an unknown bottomless pit of destruction.

Now which is which of these two passages no one can tell, save by divination, divine intuition or by some sorcerer's spell. Yet on the choice of direction depends whether the seeker shall survive and emerge a rich man, or fall and disappear entirely, never again to be seen or heard of: for so steep are the two paths, and so slippery, that once started on either one cannot stop.

Before setting out on this adventures one must also learn, through sorcery, not only which way to turn at the well's end but also the magical word that shall open the door of  the palace if one gets there, for it is locked and sealed with Solomon's seal.

(Though it is the primary conjunction in Arabic, the letter waw "و", never connects to the letter following it)

There were also various secret reasons which caused the Sultan to remain for long in league with al-Kretlie family, to whom he gave much gold as a reward, and this they stored away in a secret chamber under the floor of the hareem, a procedure that resulted in a catastrophe to al-Kretlie family. When Agha Saleem al-Kretli who lived in Bait al-Kretliya long ago, though a pious man, was avaricious for gold, had made a pact with the Sultan al-Watawit concerning some secret matter of great import, and for his help in the affair the Sultan paid him vast sums in the form of gold-dust which he drew up in a bucket from the bottom of the well and stored it away in the secret chamber under the floor of the hareem. and if any of the women would ask what he was hiding there, he would say 'it's only tibn, chaff for the donkey to eat, for the bins are full in the stable below.'

All things went well, and the secret chamber was nigh filled with the yellow dust when, alas! Agha Saleem took to him a new wife,and one day, while he was away on a journey, his new wife called out the serving maids and ordered them to clear the secret chamber of all donkey chaff. After considerable labor, with shovel and basket, they left not one speck in  the secret chamber, for they had thrown out of the window the gold dust into the street below where it was swept, trod and lost forever and ever.

When Agha Saleem returned from his journey and after he learned what had happened to his precious gold-dust he cried in horror 'My golden tibn, My gold!'  And those were the last words he ever spoke, for there on the spot he was struck dumb! Some say it was by the Sultan al-Watawit, lest his secret be given away. Be that it may, the power of his limbs also forsook him, so that he could but lie abed with out speech.
The Agha Saleem never recovered. He withered way and soon afterwards died.

They say too. that the Sultan al-Watawit, in his anger at the waste of all the good gold, smote also the young wife, widowed now, with a lingering illness from which she, too never recovered. Ever since then, even up to our own times, in order to propitiate him and obtain his good office, women in these parts are accustomed to cast offerings to the Jinn through the trap-door into the secret chamber, now empty, which once was brim-full of pure gold.

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The Benevolent Serpent

"In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Listen now, oh honoured friend, I shall begin these Legends concerning this ancient House of the Kretliya which belonged to my Family, and in which I was born and my fathers before me. For every ancient house, and this one even more than most, has strange legends attached to it which, though of the past, are yet kept in mind from generation to generation." ~Sheikh Suliman - Legends of the House of the Cretan Woman

This tale tells of a snake, a benevolent serpent, that inhabits the house of the Cretan woman and has always done so, for such serpents dwell only in those houses that are especially favoured, as this one is, by God's blessing.
Such snakes are guardians that keep the house in their care, allowing no other reptile to enter, nor evil to harbour within its walls, so that those who live in the house need have no fear of Djinn or Afreet and may sleep, if they will, with their doors left unlocked.
Now, though this benevolent serpent comes not forth save at night or in secret and is therefore seldom observed, its young, in their folly, may sometimes adventure, as you will learn from what I am about to tell you.

Once long ago, there lived in the Bait al-Kretliya, a devout and pious man, the Hagg Mohammed, whose children, two little boys, playing together one day in the court-yard, spied two of the young of our benevolent serpent as they ventured out of their hiding. Thereupon these little boys greatly delighted, pounced on the small snakes, each seizing one and acing tied a string round its belly, took it for his own as plaything, unaware in their innocence of the harm they did or the danger they ran. Anon the good parent snake, coming back to her lair from whence she had issued, found her little ones done and, in much agitation, she hastened to search for them, peering this way and that till very soon she perceived what has happened  and that her young ones were now in the hands of their captors, the two little boys of the house. At that, swollen with rage and blind to all else save revenge, she sought out the cupboard where the drinking water is stored in a great Zeer (earthen-ware vessel), and into this jar she spat out her venom and so poisoned that water that anyone drinking thereof must surely die.



Hardly had she done this that good pious man, the Hagg Mohammed, who had been out about some business , returned and, seeing his sons playing each with a little serpent tied by a string around its belly, was greatly alarmed and cried out: 'What in God's name are you doing, O wicked ones? Shame on you! Do you not know you have each made captive a little one of our patron, our protector, our benevolent serpent, without whose blessing that house would surely be desolate? In the name of the Prophet, release your victims at once ere great harm befall you and all of us.'
Thereupon each of those children hung his head much ashamed and affrighted and, hastily obeying his father freed the young reptile he has made captive, which then wriggled off to his cranny none the worse for the adventure.

Now when the good parent-snake, the benevolent serpent who all this time had been lurking nearby, overheard what this pious man said and observed how, in obedience, his little sons had st once released her offspring uninjured, and when she realized that neither the Sheikh nor his sons meant any harm, he anger subsided forthwith and, full of remorse for what she had done to poison their drinking water, she was greatly concerned how to avert the evil that threatened. And Anon her anxiety was greatly increased for she heard the master call out to serving-maid, 'Go, Aisha, fetch me a cup of cold water from the Zeer,' it then being the heat of the summer.

Filled now with immediate alarm on behalf the Hagg Mohammed, the benevolent serpent knew not which way to turn now what best to do till, she was prompted so that, hastening off once again to the cupboard where the water was kept, she wound herself around  the great Zeer that was full of it and drew herself tighter and tighter about the vessel till at last it broke and fell asunder with much splash and clatter.
Into nine and ninety pieces was that water jar splintered-for the Hagg Mohammed counted them one and all afterwards-and the water gushed out and was spilt harmlessly on the floor so that no ill to any came of it.
Then off glided that benevolent serpent back to her hiding place, well pleased at having contrived to avert so great catastrophe, with the serving-maid who had come at that very moment to the Zeer-cupboard to fetch her master the drink he had called for, hearing the clatter ad seeing water spilt out and flowing away without a cause, so it seemed to her, ran off herself with a cry of alarm to tell everyone what has happened; and she was greatly afraid, as indeed who would not have been? For she though an Afreet or Djinn to be the cause of so strange an occurrence.

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