Gamification by Design Implementing Game

Mechanics in Web and Mobile Apps 1st Edition

Gabe Zichermann pdf download

https://ebookname.com/product/gamification-by-design-
implementing-game-mechanics-in-web-and-mobile-apps-1st-edition-
gabe-zichermann/

Get Instant Ebook Downloads – Browse at https://ebookname.com

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Irresistible Apps Motivational Design Patterns for Apps

Games and Web based Communities 1st Edition Chris Lewis
(Auth.)

https://ebookname.com/product/irresistible-apps-motivational-
design-patterns-for-apps-games-and-web-based-communities-1st-
edition-chris-lewis-auth/

Creating Mobile Apps with jQuery Mobile 1st Edition

Shane Gliser

https://ebookname.com/product/creating-mobile-apps-with-jquery-
mobile-1st-edition-shane-gliser-2/

Creating Mobile Apps with jQuery Mobile 1st Edition

Shane Gliser

https://ebookname.com/product/creating-mobile-apps-with-jquery-
mobile-1st-edition-shane-gliser/

Regulating Prostitution in China Gender and Local

Statebuilding 1900 1937 1st Edition Elizabeth Remick

https://ebookname.com/product/regulating-prostitution-in-china-
gender-and-local-statebuilding-1900-1937-1st-edition-elizabeth-
remick/
Resources for the Teaching of Anthropology David G.
Mandelbaum (Editor)

https://ebookname.com/product/resources-for-the-teaching-of-
anthropology-david-g-mandelbaum-editor/

Latin American Foreign Policies 2011th Edition Peter

Lambert

https://ebookname.com/product/latin-american-foreign-
policies-2011th-edition-peter-lambert/

WTO at the Margins Small States and the Multilateral

Trading System 1st Edition Roman Grynberg

https://ebookname.com/product/wto-at-the-margins-small-states-
and-the-multilateral-trading-system-1st-edition-roman-grynberg/

Politics for Dummies Ann Delaney

https://ebookname.com/product/politics-for-dummies-ann-delaney/

Desalination A National Perspective 1st Edition

National Research Council

https://ebookname.com/product/desalination-a-national-
perspective-1st-edition-national-research-council/
Geometry and Physics of Branes Series in High Energy
Physics Cosmology and Gravitation 1st Edition U Bruzzo

https://ebookname.com/product/geometry-and-physics-of-branes-
series-in-high-energy-physics-cosmology-and-gravitation-1st-
edition-u-bruzzo/
Gamification by Design
Implementing Game Mechanics in
Web and Mobile Apps
 Gamification by Design
Implementing Game Mechanics in
Web and Mobile Apps

Gabe Zichermann and Christopher Cunningham

Beijing · Cambridge · Farnham · Köln · Sebastopol · Tokyo

Gamification by Design
by Gabe Zichermann and Christopher Cunningham

Copyright © 2011 Gabriel Z, Inc. All rights reserved.

Printed in Canada.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions
are also available for most titles (safari.oreilly.com). For more information, contact our corporate/
institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.com.

Editor: Mary Treseler Indexer: Ellen Troutman Zaig

Production Editor: Kristen Borg Cover Designer: Mark Paglietti
Copyeditor: Marlowe Shaeffer Interior Designer: Ron Bilodeau
Proofreader: Kristen Borg Illustrator: Robert Romano

Printing History:
August 2011: First Edition.

Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of
O’Reilly Media, Inc. Gamification by Design, the image of rhesus monkeys, and related trade dress are
trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed
as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc., was aware of a
trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors
assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the informa-
tion contained herein.

978-1-449-39767-8
[TI]
 This book is dedicated to the designers of the scavenger hunt, tag,
bridge, chess, poker, and solitaire. We may never know your names,
but you truly made the world a whole lot more fun.
 Contents

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Introduction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

1. Foundations.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Fun Quotient 2
The Evolution of Loyalty 5
Status at the Wheel 9
The House Always Wins 13

2. Player Motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Powerful Human Motivators 15
Why People Play 20
Player Types 21
Social Games 24
Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation 26
Progression to Mastery 29
Motivational Moment: Be the Sherpa 33

3. Game Mechanics: Designing for Engagement (Part I). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

MDA Framework 35
Game Mechanics 36
Points 36
Levels 45
Leaderboards 50

4. Game Mechanics: Designing for Engagement (Part II).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Badges 55
Onboarding 59
Challenges and Quests 64
Social Engagement Loops 67
viii Contents

Customization 70
Gaming the System 72
Agile and Gamification Design 73
Empty Bar Problem: Foursquare 74
Dashboards 75

5. Game Mechanics and Dynamics in Greater Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Feedback and Reinforcement 77
Game Mechanics in Depth 81
Putting It Together 94

6. Gamification Case Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Nike Plus: Making Fitness Fun 96
Gamify Questions—or Answers 98
Health Month 105
Conclusion 109

7. Tutorial: Coding Basic Game Mechanics.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Planning a Gamification Makeover 112
A System for Tracking Scores and Levels 116
Badges 125
Displaying Player Scores and Levels on the Site 128
The Trophy Case 135
Summary 139

8. Tutorial: Using an Instant Gamification Platform.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Game On 141
Critical Elements of an Online Rewards Experience 142
Planning a Rewards Project 142
Developing a Rewards Program 156
Analytics 165
The Game’s Just Beginning 168

Index.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
 Preface

Gamification may be a new term, but the idea of using game-thinking and game
mechanics to solve problems and engage audiences isn’t exactly new. The military
has been using games and simulations for hundreds (if not thousands) of years, and
the U.S. military has been a pioneer in the use of video games across branches. Three
hundred years ago, Scottish philosopher David Hume laid the groundwork for under-
standing player motivation with his views on the primacy of the irrational self. Since
the 1960s, authors have been writing books that explore the “gamey” side of life and
psychology, while since at least the 1980s, Hollywood has been hot on the trail of
gamification with movies like War Games.
And behind all this is our general love affair with games themselves. Play and games
are enshrined in our cultural record, emerging with civilizations, always intertwined.
We are also now coming to understand that we are hardwired to play, with research-
ers increasingly discovering the complex relationships between our brains, neural
systems, and game play (hint: play and games help you get smarter, faster). There’s
even an emerging scientific idea that games can help you live longer by staving off
dementia and improving general health.
Therefore, seeing business and product designers embrace the concept of gamifica-
tion should come as no surprise. As our society becomes more and more game-
obsessed, much of the conventional wisdom about how to design products and
market to consumers is no longer absolute. To further engage our audiences, we need
to consider reward structures, positive reinforcement, and subtle feedback loops
alongside mechanics like points, badges, levels, challenges, and leaderboards.
x Preface

When done well, gamification helps align our interests with the intrinsic motivations
of our players, amplified with the mechanics and rewards that make them come in,
bring friends, and keep coming back. Only by carefully unpacking consumer emotions
and desires can we design something that really sticks—and only through the power
of gamification can we make that experience predictable, repeatable, and financially
rewarding.
We wrote this book to help demystify some of the core concepts of game design as
they apply to business, written from the perspective of what a marketer, product
designer, product manager, or strategist would want to know. In that regard, we are
indebted to the work of notable game designers who helped clarify and amplify
the process of game design, making it into a quantifiable art and science. We have
leveraged their work and refined the concepts to focus on those elements that are
most relevant to business. We extracted good and bad patterns from both famous
and lesser-known case studies, and we tested our concepts on countless (valiant) real-
world customers to arrive at the set of demonstrable, high-impact ideas presented in
this book.
When used together with the Gamification Master Class (also available from O’Reilly,
at http://oreilly.com/catalog/0636920017622) and the supplemental videos, exercises,
challenges, and resources available at http://GamificationU.com, this book becomes
even more powerful. You can take a concept for gamifying your product, service, or
idea and bring it to fruition using the techniques we describe. Gamification by Design
takes a unique approach to this exciting, fast-moving, and powerful trend, and makes
it practical. We hope you’ll find it as useful as we enjoyed writing it.

Acknowledgments
We want to recognize the game-design writing and work of key thinkers, including
Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses (Morgan Kaufmann), Jon Radoff’s
Game On (Wiley), and Ralph Koster’s A Theory of Fun for Game Design (Paraglyph Press).
We are also lucky to have been able to access and distill the insights of Sebastian
Deterding, Susan Bonds, Jane McGonigal, Amy Jo Kim, Ian Bogost, Nick Fortugno,
Nicole Lazzaro, Rajat Paharia, Kris Duggan, Keith Smith, and Tim Chang. And a special
thanks to the folks at Badgeville who sponsored Chapter 8, providing insight into their
groundbreaking product, as well as practical coding and design tips that can be used
in any implementation.
We’d also like to recognize the efforts of Jeff Lopez, Danyell Thillet, and Joselin Linder,
who each contributed in their own way by helping us research, refine, and produce
this work. And, of course, to the O’Reilly Media team, including Mary Treseler, Sara
Peyton, Kirk Walter, Keith (Steve) Thompson, and Betsy Waliszewski.
 Preface xi

Gabe would like to thank his mother, father, (not-evil) stepdad, sister, and brother
(why say in-law?), without whose support none of this would have been possible.
Also, thanks to Veronica Cseke and the Fraizingers (Mary, Izzy, Rochelle, Shoshanna,
and Elliot)—proof that family need not always be related by blood. And extra special
thanks to Jason Evege, one of the most driven and inspirational people he’s ever met.
Christopher would like to thank his family, especially his mother and father, for their
limitless patience and encouragement of a child who would never stop asking
questions—and then debating the answers. And special thanks to Pablo López Yáñez,
for always supporting and encouraging an adult who hasn’t changed all that much.
—New York City, 2011
 Introduction

Summer. At dusk, children run between trees and fireflies, shouting through laughter
and squealing, “You’re it!”
Math class is ending. A cheer erupts as the teacher tells her students to put their
books away. She splits the class into teams. In twos, they approach the chalkboard
and face off for the love of numbers and grade-school honor.
It’s Saturday night. A roomful of suburban mothers are playing Mahjong. As the tiles
click and scores get recorded, they laugh, complain, and bond.
It is no wonder that the simple idea of a game can induce some of life’s strongest and
most satisfying memories. After childhood, games were relegated to the fringes of our
lives—the downtime, the fun between the drudgery of work, the opposite of real life.
But the tides are turning. Games have begun to influence our lives every day. They
affect everything from how we vacation to how we train for marathons, learn a new
language, and manage our finances. What we once called “play” at the periphery of
our lives is quickly becoming the way we interact. Games are the future of work, fun
is the new “responsible,” and the movement that is leading the way is gamification.
xiv Introduction

Gamification
Bandied about as the marketing buzzword of our time, gamification can mean differ-
ent things to different people. Some view it as making games explicitly to advertise
products or services. Others think of it as creating 3D virtual worlds that drive behav-
ioral change or provide a method for training users in complex systems.
They are all correct. Gamification brings together all the disparate threads that have
been advanced in games for nongaming contexts. In this way, we unite concepts
such as serious games, advergaming, and games-for-change into a cohesive world-
view that’s informed by the latest research into behavioral psychology and the suc-
cess of social games.
For our purposes we will define the term gamification as follows:

The process of game-thinking and game mechanics to engage users and solve
problems.

This framework for understanding gamification is both powerful and flexible—it can
readily be applied to any problem that can be solved through influencing human
motivation and behavior.
Take broccoli consumption. There are a lot of children in the world that consider broc-
coli to be a real problem. In fact, 70% of us have a gene that makes it taste bitter. This
genetic adaptation (found on gene Htas2r38) is likely linked to the fact that cruciferous
vegetables (which include broccoli and cabbage, among others) historically blocked
the uptake of iodine to the thyroid. Thus, in environments with low amounts of natural
iodine, our perception of bitterness in these vegetables actually once protected us.
It took about 10,000 years to domesticate these vegetables so they became safe
to eat. However, statistics show that it takes the average child 12 years to go from
hating broccoli to loving it. And research shows that if you possess the Htas2r38
gene, you still perceive the bitterness—even into adulthood. So what has changed?
Certainly not the broccoli-eating taste buds. Yet something is different, and that dif-
ference lies in perception. The palate changes, and bitter is no longer bad.
But what if we wanted to change kids’ minds about eating broccoli in fewer than a
dozen years? We could certainly force them to eat the vegetable, but they would be
likely to strongly dislike or rebel against the order. We could try to convince them to
like it using facts, reasoning against their taste buds, or with social proof—“Mikey
likes it”—but these methods are unreliable.
 Introduction xv

The two workable approaches—used by parents for generations—are to make a

game out of it (e.g., the “airplane” landing) or to slather the broccoli with cheese sauce.
Approach #1 tends to stop working after a while—there are only so many airplanes a
child will consent to land. And approach #2 tends to produce a love of cheese sauce,
and outweighs the health benefits of getting the kid to eat broccoli in the first place.
The obvious solution is to combine the two ideas. Make eating the broccoli both
more fun (with a little game) and more rewarding (with a little cheese sauce, or
dessert afterwards). The interplay among challenge, achievement, and reward not
only allows you to train children to eat their broccoli, but it releases dopamine in the
brain, intrinsically reinforcing the action as biologically positive.
In other words, by turning the experience into a game—including some reward for
achievement—we can produce unprecedented behavior change. And when we
amplify this loop with social proof and feedback, the sky’s the limit for viral growth.
Heck, your kids might even show their friends how to turn broccoli into dopamine
and chocolate cake (for dessert, and only after they eat their veggies) if you’re
lucky…and good.
Or, consider a surprisingly similar but business-related challenge: professional service
marketplaces. There are numerous online sites—including major sites like oDesk
(http://odesk.com) and specialized ones like Behance (http://behance.com)—that help
marketers connect with skilled developers, and where competition for customers
and the best practitioners can be fierce. Once the novelty of marketplaces wears off,
how do the respective parties decide to choose one over the other? How do the mar-
kets ensure loyalty and engagement among their fickle and price-conscious users?
One such marketplace, DevHub (www.devhub.com), thinks it’s found the answer:
gamification. By deploying some of the basic tenets of the discipline—and with the
judicious use of game mechanics such as points, badges, levels, challenges, and
rewards—DevHub has quickly differentiated itself as a market leader. The company
has raised various engagement metrics, such as time on site, by as much as 20% over
pregamified levels. With a clear emphasis on making things more fun and rewarding,
DevHub has broken the dour cycle of quoting, bidding, coding, and follow-up neces-
sary to run a successful web project.
Make no mistake, the core work is unchanged, and nothing has fundamentally shift-
ed in the mechanics of designing a website. Only the perceptions of DevHub’s users
have been altered—for the better. Understanding our potential to experience the
same things in two ways is the first step to understanding the power of gamification.
xvi Introduction

Engagement
The term “engagement,” in a business sense, indicates the connection between a
consumer and a product or service. Unsurprisingly, the term is also used to name
the period in a romantic couple’s relationship during which they are preparing and
planning to spend the rest of their lives together. Engagement is the period of time
at which we have a great deal of connection with a person, place, thing, or idea.
There is no single metric on the Web or in mobile technology that breaks down
or sufficiently measures engagement. Page views and unique viewers don’t quite
answer the question of who is engaging with our products, services, ideas, websites,
and businesses as a whole.
We would be better off thinking of engagement as being comprised of a series of
potentially interrelated metrics that combine to form a whole. These metrics are:
• Recency
• Frequency
• Duration
• Virality
• Ratings
Collectively, they can be amalgamated as an “E” (or engagement) score. The relative
proportion, or importance, of each of these metrics will vary depending on the type
of business you are in. For example, a café might care more about frequency and re-
cency, but less about duration; whereas a dating site may live or die by the duration
of each interaction. See Figure I-1 for an image of this concept.
The importance of E is obvious given the current prevailing theory. What is being
proved as we move toward a more peer-to-peer, viral, and social marketing environ-
ment is that traditional brand marketing isn’t working anymore.
Rather than the antiquated idea of pushing consumers to “buy more!”, engaging
users in order to generate revenue is the marketing model of the future. Simply put,
engagement does not follow revenue. Instead, behind engagement, revenue follows.
 Introduction xvii

Figure I-1. Some sample E proportions that might be appropriate in the contexts of a café, a dating site,
and e-commerce.

This is clearly demonstrated in the model of hugely successful social game com-
panies such as Zynga. One of their key innovations in the field of marketing is that
Zynga views customers in terms of a funnel, with a large potential target population
at the top. Those users are generally not paying to interact with a product, service,
or brand, but as they progress down the funnel, users are self-selected based on
engagement. Their corresponding spending and commitment to the experience
increase in tandem. In this model, the most loyal customers pay the most, while the
average (or novice user) is being slowly drawn into the ecosystem. It is a reversal of
the classic customer acquisition and loyalty model, and a very powerful view.

Note. Did you know that in a typical social game, more

than 90% of the users don’t pay anything at all? The
remaining group may pay thousands of dollars per month
to play, based on their level of engagement. But no matter
which group you’re in, the social game designer considers
you a player.
xviii Introduction

Loyalty
The word most frequently used to describe engagement, particularly in a marketing
context, is loyalty. In fact, to a great extent, engagement and loyalty are synonymous.
However, when you hear the word “loyalty,” it conjures up several meanings. One
meaning is the type of loyalty that a dog feels toward his master—an unfailing obe-
dience that allows the dog’s owner to do no wrong in the eyes of the pet. However,
blind acquiescence is not the kind of loyalty we’re interested in developing through-
out this book, and is a fool’s errand in most business contexts. With few exceptions,
we cannot and likely should not attempt to get absolute fealty from our users.
What we will look at is a form of loyalty that gets users to make incremental choices
in your favor when all things are mostly equal. When products, price, or place are
grossly unequal, gamification—and the loyalty it engenders—is much less meaning-
ful. But when you have great product-market fit, gamification can provide a powerful
accelerant to your efforts.
As with broccoli and children, if given enough time and incentive, we can overcome
our natural programming. Not to put too fine a point on it, but why wait?

What Gamification Isn’t

As we begin our journey into what gamification can do, we also need to be clear
about what it cannot do. At least in the scope of this book, gamification is not merely
about slapping some badges on your website; you need to take a more thoughtful
approach, as advocated here. Also, if you expect gamification to fix your business’
core problems—bad products or poor product-market fit—it will not.
Moreover, this book will not help you build a world where your consumer’s avatar is
chasing gremlins with an AK-47 in order to save the spaghetti sauce your company
is trying to sell in outer space. It will also not teach you how to build a Facebook
game where users match colored jewels to get discounts on insurance. While these
may be viable options for some businesses (in 2003), we posit they are not really the
best techniques for building long-term engagement or loyalty. Simply put, building
actual games-with-a-capital-G is not this book’s purpose.
Instead, we will share an understanding of the design process used by some of
the world’s biggest brands and hottest startups to gamify their customer interac-
tions. We’ll start by looking at what drives users to play and the core psychology
that makes games so compelling. We’ll separate the wheat from the chaff within
the social and video game design rubric, and share what’s relevant from the dis-
cipline with you, the builder. And finally, we’ll show you—in concrete terms—how
to architect and implement various core elements of gamification on the Web and
mobile platforms, including some practical implementation concepts from one of
the world’s leading gamification technology pioneers.
 Introduction xix

Our objective is to give you the tools, techniques, and process-thinking you’ll need
to design gamification into your unique experience. It’s not unlike learning how to
bake—and a cake metaphor is apt considering the dialogue about gamification
today. While we can spread gamified “icing” on your product or service with relative
ease, unless the underlying cake is also delicious, most users won’t want to take a
second bite. Exactly the way a great baker creates treats through the interplay of
structure and sweetness, so too must a well-designed gamified site marry substance
with reward.
To achieve this, we will explore how—with a keen understanding of your customer —
baking gamification into your business can produce the ideal product. Through the
basics of gamification, player motivation, game mechanics, and their implementa-
tion, you will be handed the recipe that will take your business from everyday to
gamified. We’re going to make something absolutely irresistible.
Put on your apron, and hold on to your toque. Gamification is about to change
everything.
 Chapter 1

Foundations

As we mentioned in the Introduction, game mechanics cannot solve fundamental

business problems. It will not rebuild poor infrastructure, nor will it heal disastrous
customer service. And unless your actual business purpose is making games, it is
unlikely that the result of gamification will give your product the full viral power of
Zynga’s Facebook games, such as FarmVille and CityVille.
As you arrive at the concept of gamification, you might bring with you even more
preconceived ideas. For example, perhaps you believe that location-based services
like Foursquare serve no real purpose beyond their game elements. Simply put,
Foursquare allows players to “check in” at locations using mobile devices, and in
doing so the player can earn badges, signal their location to friends, and keep track
of where they’ve been. If someone checks in at a location more than any other
player, he is deemed “mayor” of the establishment and is recognized as such by
fellow players, the business, and the game itself. But as we delve into this sweeping
phenomenon, it will be clear that there is more on the line than badges and mayorships—
the desire to be connected drives the player’s location-based journey.
To some extent, it is the sheer simplicity of Foursquare and similar games that have
made them successful. Gamification can fix large-scale, complex problems, but that
doesn’t mean its application needs to be large-scale and complex. Gamification that
is simple, rewarding, and fun can be equally or more effective. And in focusing on
game mechanics that meet these criteria, you will be amazed by how much can be
accomplished.
Finally, for the purposes of this book, we are going to try and refrain from using the
terms “customer” or “user,” and instead use the word “player” from this point forward.
By thinking of our clients as players, we shift our frame of mind toward their engage-
ment with our products and services. Rather than looking at the immediacy of a
single financial transaction, we are considering a long-term and symbiotic union
wrapped in a ribbon of fun.
2 Chapter 1: Foundations

The Fun Quotient

Let’s start here: everything has the potential to be fun.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “No way. How about going to the dentist? Going to the
dentist isn’t fun!”
Or maybe your first thought is, “Waiting in line is boring. Waiting in a line is the opposite
of fun.”
We’re sure you can think of an endless array of things in life that are just not fun.
Surgery, for example, or changing a baby’s dirty diaper, or clipping someone else’s
toenails. However, some of the most popular games of the past five years have
used incredibly banal ideas as their thematic hooks. In fact, four of the most popu-
lar games in the past decade include such thrilling activities as planting crops
(FarmVille), waiting tables (Diner Dash), diapering a baby (Diaper Dash), and doing
other people’s hair and nails (Sally’s Salon).
Another highly rated online game has its players perform one of the most stressful
jobs in our society (which boasts one of the highest career-related suicide rates in
the entire world): air traffic control. In the blockbuster game Flight Control (see Figure
1-1), players are expected to guide airplanes safely to a runway without killing any of
the hundreds of passengers onboard.

Figure 1-1. Flight Control is an immensely popular iOS game that puts you in the shoes of an air traffic
controller—a high-stress job. Why is this concept fun?
 The Fun Quotient   3

So, why did these brazen game designers pitch games based on banal activities to a
room full of executives? And why didn’t every single one of them get laughed out of
the building? The answer is simple: it is the mechanics of a game—not the theme—
that make it fun.
At any casino in the world, a player is overwhelmed by myriad slot machines. From
Wheel of Fortune to Harley-Davidson, slot machine branding is as outwardly different
as a juicy steak is to a bunch of organic carrots. But the machines are not different. In
fact, other than the logo, those machines are almost identical mechanically: push the
button, pull the arm, and let the cherries align to win. With all due respect to Wheel of
Fortune, it is not the game show’s logo that keeps players at those machines—it’s the
underlying mechanics.
This does not mean that the brand is an unimportant feature. In fact, it is the way
we dress the game mechanics that attracts most people to pull that lever in the first
place. While some might think that nearly killing hundreds of imaginary passengers
in an air traffic control-related incident is as exciting as it gets, others will be drawn in
by the muscled heroes of a Harlequin romance novel. Although the underlying game
mechanics hook the player, what brought each of them into the experience was
different—and more than likely made to pique a particular interest.

Fun Is Job #1
In the past 20 years, there have been no major blockbusters in educational software/
games—the field otherwise known as edutainment. Software focused on children,
the demographic with the biggest claims on fun, are not getting it where they argu-
ably need it most—in learning. Does this mean that it’s impossible to educate by
having fun? Is school forever consigned to be boring?
The famous geography game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (see Figure 1-2)
was the last blockbuster hit in educational games. It was inarguably a tremendously
fun way to learn about country and province capitals, as well as the major exports
and waterways of places far removed from the classroom. Since then, thousands
of educational software companies have attempted and failed to create another
sensation.
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
volume."[210] A more convincing testimony than this, I think, cannot
be required.
The lute (el-´ood) is the only instrument that is generally described
as used at the entertainments which we have been considering.
Engravings of this and other musical instruments are given in my
work on the Modern Egyptians. The Arab viol (called rabáb) was
commonly used by inferior performers.
The Arab music is generally of a soft and plaintive character, and
particularly that of the most refined description, which is
distinguished by a peculiar system of intervals. The singer aims at
distinct enunciation of the words, for this is justly admired; and
delights in a trilling style. The airs of songs are commonly very short
and simple, adapted to a single verse, or even to a single hemistich;
but in the instrumental music there is more variety.
Scarcely less popular as an amusement and mode of passing the
time is the bath, or hammám,—a favourite resort of both men and
women of all classes among the Muslims who can afford the trifling
expense which it requires; and (it is said) not only of human beings,
but also of evil genii; on which account, as well as on that of
decency, several precepts respecting it have been dictated by
Moḥammad. It is frequented for the purpose of performing certain
ablutions required by the religion, or by a regard for cleanliness, for
its salutary effects, and for mere luxury.
The following description of a public bath will convey a sufficient
notion of those in private houses, which are on a smaller scale and
generally consist of only two or three chambers. The public bath
comprises several apartments with mosaic or tesselated pavements,
composed of white and black marble and pieces of fine red tile and
sometimes other materials. The inner apartments are covered with
domes, having a number of small round glazed apertures for the
admission of light. The first apartment is the meslakh, or disrobing
room, which has in the centre a fountain of cold water, and next the
walls wide benches or platforms encased with marble. These are
furnished with mattresses and cushions for the higher and middle
classes, and with mats for the poorer sort. The inner division of the
building, in the more regularly planned baths, occupies nearly a
square: the central and chief portion of it is the principal apartment,
or ḥarárah, which generally has the form of a cross. In its centre is a
fountain of hot water, rising from a base encased with marble, which
serves as a seat. One of the angles of the square is occupied by the
beyt-owwal, or antechamber of the ḥarárah: in another is the fire
over which is the boiler; and each of the other two angles is
generally occupied by two small chambers, in one of which is a tank
filled with warm water, which pours down from a spot in the dome;
in the other, two taps side by side, one of hot and the other of cold
water, with a small trough beneath, before which is a seat. The inner
apartments are heated by the steam which rises from the fountain
and tanks, and by the contiguity of the fire; but the beyt-owwal is
not so hot as the ḥarárah, being separated from it by a door. In cold
weather the bather undresses in the former, which has two or three
raised seats like those of the meslakh.
With a pair of wooden clogs to his feet, and having a large napkin
round his loins, and generally a second wound round his head like a
turban, a third over his chest, and a fourth covering his back, the
bather enters the ḥarárah, the heat of which causes him immediately
to perspire profusely. An attendant of the bath removes from him all
the napkins excepting the first; and proceeds to crack the joints of
his fingers and toes, and several of the vertebrae of the back and
neck; kneads his flesh, and rubs the soles of his feet with a coarse
earthen rasp, and his limbs and body with a woollen bag which
covers his hand as a glove; after which, the bather, if he please,
plunges into one of the tanks. He is then thoroughly washed with
soap and water and fibres of the palm-tree, and shaved, if he wish
it, in one of the small chambers which contain the taps of hot and
cold water; and returns to the beyt-owwal. Here he generally
reclines upon a mattress, and takes some light refreshment, while
one of the attendants rubs the soles of his feet and kneads the flesh
of his body and limbs, previously to his resuming his dress. It is a
common custom now to take a pipe and a cup of coffee during this
period of rest.
The women are especially fond of the bath, and often have
entertainments there; taking with them fruits, sweetmeats, etc., and
sometimes hiring female singers to accompany them. An hour or
more is occupied by the process of plaiting the hair and applying the
depilatory, etc.; and generally an equal time is passed in the
enjoyment of rest or recreation or refreshment. All necessary
decorum is observed on these occasions by most ladies, but women
of the lower orders are often seen in the bath without any covering.
Some baths are appropriated solely to men; others, only to women;
and others, again, to men during the forenoon, and in the afternoon
to women. When the bath is appropriated to women, a napkin, or
some other piece of drapery is suspended over the door to warn
men from entering.
Before the time of Moḥammad, there were no public baths in Arabia;
and he was so prejudiced against them, for reasons already alluded
to, that he at first forbade both men and women from entering
them: afterwards, however, he permitted men to do so, if for the
sake of cleanliness, on the condition of their wearing a cloth; and
women also on account of sickness, child-birth, etc., provided they
had not convenient places for bathing in their houses. But
notwithstanding this license, it is held to be a characteristic of a
virtuous woman not to go to a bath even with her husband's
permission: for the Prophet said, "Whatever woman enters a bath,
the devil is with her." As the bath is a resort of the Jinn, prayer
should not be performed in it, nor the Ḳur-án recited. The Prophet
said, "All the earth is given to me as a place of prayer, and as pure,
except the burial-ground and the bath." Hence also, when a person
is about to enter a bath, he should offer up an ejaculatory prayer for
protection against evil spirits; and should place his left foot first over
the threshold. Infidels have often been obliged to distinguish
themselves in the bath, by hanging a signet to the neck, or wearing
anklets, etc., lest they should receive those marks of respect which
should be paid only to believers.[211]
Hunting and hawking, which were common and favourite diversions
of the Arabs, and especially of their kings and other great men, have
now fallen into comparative disuse among this people. They are,
however, still frequently practised by the Persians, and in the same
manner as they are generally described in the "Thousand and One
Nights."[212] The more common kinds of game are gazelles, or
antelopes, hares, partridges, the species of grouse called "ḳaṭà,"
quails, wild geese, ducks, etc. Against all of these, the hawk is
generally employed, but assisted in the capture of gazelles and hares
by dogs. The usual arms of the sportsmen in mediæval times were
the bow and arrow, the cross-bow, the spear, the sword and the
mace. When the game is struck down but not killed by any weapon,
its throat is immediately cut. If merely stunned and then left to die,
its flesh is unlawful food. Hunting is allowable only for the purpose
of procuring food, or to obtain the skin of an animal, or for the sake
of destroying ferocious and dangerous beasts; but the rule is often
disregarded. Amusement is certainly, in general, the main object of
the Muslim huntsman; but he does not with this view endeavour to
prolong the chase; on the contrary, he strives to take the game as
quickly as possible. For this purpose nets are often employed, and
the hunting party, forming what is called the circle of the chase
(ḥalḳat eṣ-ṣeyd), surround the spot in which the game is found.
"On the eastern frontiers of Syria," says Burckhardt, "are several
places allotted for the hunting of gazelles: these places are called
'masiade' [perhaps more properly, 'maṣyedehs']. An open space in
the plain, of about one mile and a half square, is enclosed on three
sides by a wall of loose stones, too high for the gazelles to leap over.
In different parts of this wall, gaps are purposely left, and near each
gap a deep ditch is made on the outside. The enclosed space is
situated near some rivulet or spring to which in summer the gazelles
resort. When the hunting is to begin, many peasants assemble, and
watch till they see a herd of gazelles advancing from a distance
towards the enclosure, into which they drive them: the gazelles,
frightened by the shouts of these people and the discharge of fire-
arms, endeavour to leap over the wall, but can only effect this at the
gaps, where they fall into the ditch outside, and are easily taken,
sometimes by hundreds. The chief of the herd always leaps first: the
others follow him one by one. The gazelles thus taken are
immediately killed, and their flesh is sold to the Arabs and
neighbouring Felláḥs."[213] Hunting the wild ass is among the most
difficult sports of the Arabs and Persians.

FOOTNOTES:
[150] A pious Muslim generally sits at his meals with the right
knee raised, after the example of the Prophet, who adopted this
custom in order to avoid too comfortable a posture in eating, as
tempting to unnecessary gratification.
[151] Hist. Aegypt. Compend. 180-182. (Oxon. 1800.)
[152] El-Maḳreezee's Khiṭaṭ: Account of the Khaleefehs' Palaces.
[153] Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 329.
[154] Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, 8vo. ed.
i. 178, 179.
[155] Price's Retrospect of Mahom. History, ii. 229.
[156] Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 339.
[157] De Sacy, Chrestomathie Arabe, i. 125-131, Arabic text.
[158] That is, a race-course for sallies of wit and eloquence on
the subject of wine: the word "kumeyt" being used, in preference
to more than a hundred others that might have been employed,
to signify "wine," because it bears also the meaning of "a deep
red horse." The book has been already quoted in these pages.
[159] His name is not mentioned in my copy; but D'Herbelot
states it to have been Shems-ed-Deen Moḥammad ibn-Bedr-ed-
Deen Ḥasan el-Ḳáḍee; and writes his surname "Naouagi," or
"Naouahi."
[160] [Mr. Lane followed the usual custom of travellers of his day
who wished to be intimate with the Egyptians, and took the name
of Manṣoor Effendee. A letter from Bonomi to him, under this
name, exists in the British Museum (25,658, f. 67), and has led
the compilers of the Index to the Catalogue of Additions to the
MSS., published in 1880, into the pardonable error of inventing an
"Edward Mansoor Lane." S. L-P.]
[161] Ḳur. ii. 216.
[162] Ḳur. iv. 46.
[163] Lev. x. 9.
[164] Ḳur. v. 92.
[165] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. ix.
[166] Ibid, khátimeh.
[167] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, 1. 1.
[168] Fakhr-ed-Deen, in De Sacy, Chrest. Arabe.
[169] "While tears of blood trickle from the strainer, the ewer
beneath it giggles." (Eṣ-Ṣadr Ibn-El-Wekeel, quoted in the Ḥalbet
el-Kumeyt, chap. xiii.)—The strainer is called "ráwooḳ."
[170] The Moḥtesib is inspector of the markets, the weights and
measures, and provisions, etc.
[171] Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 295.
[172] The cup, when full, was generally called "kás:" when
empty, "ḳadaḥ," or "jám." The name of kás is now given to a
small glass used for brandy and liqueurs, and similar to our
liqueur-glass: the glass or cup used for wine is called, when so
used, "koobeh:" it is the same as that used for sherbet; but in the
latter case it is called "ḳulleh."
[173] Es-Suyooṭee, account of the fruits of Egypt, in his history of
that country (MS.)
[174] Es-Suyooṭee.
[175] Ibid.
[176] El-Ḳazweenee, MS.
[177] Ibid.
[178] Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.
[179] Ibid.
[180] The Arabic names of these fruits are, tuffáḥ (vulgo, tiffáḥ),
kummetrè, safarjal, mishmish, khókh, teen, jummeyz (vulgo,
jemmeyz), ´eneb, nabḳ or sidr, ´onnáb (vulgo, ´annáb), ijjás or
barḳooḳ, józ, lóz, bunduḳ, fustuḳ, burtuḳán, nárinj, leymoon,
utrujj or turunj, kebbád, toot, zeytoon, and ḳaṣab es-sukkar.
[181] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.; and Es-Suyooṭee, account of
the flowers of Egypt, in his history of that country.
[182] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.
[183] Ibid.
[184] Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.
[185] The night of the Prophet's Ascension [in dream, into
Heaven].
[186] Gabriel, who accompanied the Prophet.
[187] The beast on which Moḥammad dreamed he rode from
Mekkeh to Jerusalem previously to his ascension. These traditions
are from Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.
[188] This flower is called "fághiyeh," and more commonly "temer
el-ḥennà;" or, according to some, the fághiyeh is the flower
produced by a slip of temer el-hennà, planted upside down, and
superior to the flower of the latter planted in the natural way!
[189] Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra.
[190] Ibid.
[191] Es-Suyooṭee.
[192] Shaḳáïḳ. The "adhriyoon," or "ádharyoon," is said to be a
variety of the anemone.
[193] From the former, or from "noạmán," signifying "blood," the
anemone was named "shaḳáïḳ en-noạmán."
[194] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xvii.
[195] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt; Es-Suyooṭee, ubi supra; and El-
Ḳazweenee.
[196] The Arabic names of these flowers are, yásameen, nisreen,
zahr (or zahr nárinj), soosan, reeḥán (or ḥobaḳ), nemám, bahár,
uḳḥowán, neelófar, beshneen, jullanár or julnár, khashkhásh,
khiṭmee, zaạfarán, ´oṣfur, kettán, báḳillà, and lebláb, and lóz.
[197] Bán, and khiláf or khaláf. Both these names are applied to
the same tree (which, according to Forskál, differs slightly from
the salix Ægyptiaca of Linnæus) by the author of the Ḥalbet el-
Kumeyt and by the modern Egyptians.
[198] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.
[199] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xi.
[200] Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ, ii. 425.
[201] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.
[202] Soft boots, worn inside the slippers or shoes.
[203] Halbet el-Kumeyt, chap. xiv.
[204] I am not sure of the orthography of this name, particularly
with respect to the first and last vowels; having never found it
written with the vowel points. It is sometimes written with ḥ for
kh, and f for ḳ.
[205] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, 1.1.
[206] He was born in A.H. 125, and died in 213, or 188.
[207] He was born A.H. 150, and died in 235.
[208] Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 231. He died in this
year.
[209] Ḥalbet el-Kumeyt, chap. vii.
[210] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil.
[211] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section vii.
[212] See Sir John Malcolm's "Sketches in Persia," i. ch. v.
[213] Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, i. 220, ff.
 CHAPTER VIII.
CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION.
In few cases are the Mohammadans so much fettered by the
directions of their Prophet and other religious instructors as in the
rearing and education of their children. In matters of the most trivial
nature, religious precedents direct their management of the young.
One of the first duties is to wrap the new-born child in clean white
linen, or in linen of some other colour, but not yellow. After this
some person (not a female) should pronounce the adán[214] in the
ear of the infant, because the Prophet did so in the ear of El-Ḥasan
when Fáṭimeh gave birth to him; or he should pronounce the adán
in the right ear, and the iḳámeh (which is nearly the same) in the
left.[215]
It was formerly a custom of many of the Arabs, and perhaps is still
among some, for the father to give a feast to his friends on seven
successive days after the birth of a son; but that of a daughter was
observed with less rejoicing. The general modern custom is to give
an entertainment only on the seventh day, which is called Yóm es-
Subooạ.
On this occasion, in the families of the higher classes, professional
female singers are hired to entertain a party of ladies, friends of the
infant's mother, who visit her on this occasion, in the ḥareem; or a
concert of instrumental music, or a recitation of the whole of the
Ḳur-án, is performed below by men. The mother, attended by the
midwife, being seated in a chair which is the property of the latter,
the child is brought, wrapped in a handsome shawl or something
costly; and, to accustom it to noise, that it may not be frightened
afterwards by the music and other sounds of mirth, one of the
women takes a brass mortar and strikes it repeatedly with the
pestle, as if pounding. After this, the child is put into a sieve and
shaken, it being supposed that this operation is beneficial to its
stomach. Next, it is carried through all the apartments of the
ḥareem, accompanied by several women or girls, each of whom
bears a number of wax candles, sometimes of various colours, cut in
two, lighted, and stuck into small lumps of paste of ḥennà, upon a
small round tray. At the same time the midwife, or another female,
sprinkles upon the floor of each room a mixture of salt with seed of
the fennel-flower, or salt alone, which has been placed during the
preceding night at the infant's head; saying as she does this, "The
salt be in the eye of the person who doth not bless the Prophet!" or,
"The foul salt be in the eye of the envier!" This ceremony of the
sprinkling of salt is considered a preservative for the child and
mother from the evil eye; and each person present should say, "O
God, bless our lord Moḥammad!" The child, wrapped up and placed
on a fine mattress, which is sometimes laid on a silver tray, is shewn
to each of the women present, who looks at its face, says, "O God,
bless our lord Moḥammad! God give thee long life!" etc., and usually
puts an embroidered handkerchief, with a gold coin (if pretty or old,
the more esteemed) tied up in one of the corners, on the child's
head, or by its side. This giving of handkerchiefs and gold is
considered as imposing a debt, to be repaid by the mother, if the
donor should give her the same occasion; or as the discharge of a
debt for a similar offering. The coins are generally used for some
years to decorate the head-dress of the child. After these presents
for the child, others are given for the midwife. During the night
before the seventh-day's festivity, a water-bottle full of water (a
dóraḳ in the case of a boy, and a ḳulleh[216] in that of a girl), with an
embroidered handkerchief tied round the neck, is placed at the
child's head while it sleeps. This, with the water it contains, the
midwife takes and puts upon a tray and presents it to each of the
women; who put presents of money for her into the tray. In the
evening, the husband generally entertains a party of his friends.[217]
On this day, or on the fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth, or
thirty-fifth day after the birth, several religious ceremonies are
required to be performed; but they are most approved if observed
on the seventh day. One of these is the naming. I believe, however,
that it is a more common custom to give the name almost
immediately after the birth, or about three hours after. Astrologers
were often consulted on this occasion; but the following directions
are given on higher authority, and are generally followed.—"The
father should give his son a good name, ... not a name of self-
praise, as Rasheed [Orthodox], Emeen [Faithful], etc.... The Prophet
said, 'The names most approved by God are ´Abd-Allah [Servant of
God] and ´Abd-Er-Raḥmán [Servant of the Compassionate], and
such like.' He also said, 'Give my name, but do not distinguish by my
surname of relationship:' but this precept, they say, respects his own
lifetime, ... because he was addressed, 'O Abu-l-Ḳásim!' and now it is
not disapproved; but some disapprove of uniting the name and
surname, so as to call a person Moḥammad and Abu-l-Ḳásim. And if
a son be called by the name of a prophet it is not allowable to abuse
or vilify him, unless the person so named be facing his reproacher,
who should say, 'Thou' [without mentioning his name]: and a child
named Moḥammad or Aḥmad should be [especially] honoured....
The Prophet said, 'There is no people holding a consultation at which
there is present one whose name is Moḥammad or Aḥmad, but God
blesseth all that assembly:' and again he said, 'Whoever nameth his
child by my name, or by that of any of my children or my
companions, from affection to me or to them, God (whose name be
exalted) will give him in Paradise what eye hath not seen nor ear
heard.' And a son should not be named King of kings, or Lord of
lords; nor should a man take a surname of relationship from the
name of the eldest of his children; nor take any such surname
before a child is born to him."[218] The custom of naming children
after prophets, or after relations or companions of Moḥammad, is
very common. No ceremony is observed on account of the naming.
On the same day, however, two practices which I am about to
mention are prescribed to be observed; though, as far as my
observations and inquiries allow me to judge, they are generally
neglected by the modern Muslims. The first of these is a sacrifice.
The victim is called ´aḳeeḳah. It should be a ram or goat; or two
such animals should be sacrificed for a son, and one for a daughter.
This rite is regarded by Ibn-Ḥambal as absolutely obligatory: he said,
"If a father sacrifice not for his son, and he [the son] die, that son
will not intercede for him on the day of judgment." The founders of
the three other principal sects regard it in different and less
important lights, though Moḥammad slew an ´aḳeeḳah for himself
after his prophetic mission. The person should say, on slaying the
victim, "O God, verily this ´aḳeeḳah is a ransom for my son such a
one; its blood for his blood, and its flesh for his flesh, and its bone
for his bone, and its skin for his skin, and its hair for his hair. O God,
make it a ransom for my son from hell fire." A bone of the victim
should not be broken.[219] The midwife should receive a leg of it. It
should be cooked without previously cutting off any portion of it;
and part of it should be given in alms.
After this should be performed the other ceremony above alluded to,
which is this:—It is a sunneh ordinance, incumbent on the father, to
shave or cause to be shaved the head of the child, and to give in
alms to the poor the weight of the hair in gold or silver. This should
also be done for a proselyte.[220] On the subsequent occasions of
shaving the head of a male child (for the head of the male is
frequently shaven), a tuft of hair is generally left on the crown, and
commonly for several years another also over the forehead.

Circumcision is most approved if performed on the same day;[221]

but the observance of this rite is generally delayed until the child has
attained the age of five or six years, and sometimes several years
later. (See p. 200).
The Muslims regard a child as a trust committed by God to its
parents, who, they hold, are responsible for the manner in which
they bring it up, and will be examined on this subject on the day of
judgment. But they further venture to say, that "the first who will lay
hold of a man on the day of judgment will be his wife and children,
who [if he have been deficient in his duty to them] will present
themselves before God, and say, 'O our Lord, take for us our due
from him; for he taught us not that of which we were ignorant, and
he fed us with forbidden food, and we knew not:' and their due will
be taken from him."[222] By this is meant, that a certain proportion
of the good works which the man may have done, and his children
and wife neglected, will be set down to their account: or that a
similar proportion of their evil works will be transferred to his
account.
The mother is enjoined by the law to give suck to her child two full
years, unless she have her husband's consent to shorten the period,
or to employ another nurse. "For suckling the child, a virtuous
woman, who eateth only what is lawful, should be chosen; for the
unlawful [food] will manifest its evil in the child; as the Prophet ...
said, 'Giving suck altereth the tempers.' But it is recommended by
the Sunneh that the mother herself suckle the child; for it is said in a
tradition, 'There is nothing better for a child than its mother's milk.'
'If thou wouldst try,' it is added, 'whether the child be of an
ingenuous disposition in its infancy or not, order a woman who is
not its mother to suckle it after its mother has done so: and if it
drink of the milk of the woman who is not its mother, it is not of an
ingenuous disposition.'"[223]
Children, being regarded by Muslim parents as enviable blessings,
are to them objects of the most anxious solicitude. To guard them
from the supposed influence of the envious or evil eye, they have
recourse to various expedients. When they are taken abroad, they
are usually clad in a most slovenly manner, and left unwashed, or
even purposely smeared with dirt; and as a further precaution a
fantastic cap is often put upon the child's head, or its head-dress is
decorated with one or more coins, a feather, a gay tassel, or a
written charm or two sewed up in leather or encased in gold or
silver, or some other appendage to attract the eye, that so the infant
itself may pass unnoticed. If a person express his admiration of
another's child otherwise than by some pious ejaculation, as for
instance by praising its Creator (with the exclamation of "Subḥána-
lláh!" or Má sháa-lláh!" etc.) or invoking a blessing on the Prophet,
he fills the mind of the parent with apprehension; and recourse is
had to some superstitious ceremony to counteract the dreaded
influence of his envious glance. The children of the poor from their
unattractive appearance are less exposed to this imaginary danger:
they generally have little or no clothing and are extremely dirty. It is
partly with the view of protecting them from the evil eye that those
of the rich are so long confined to the ḥareem: there they are petted
and pampered for several years, at least until they are of age to go
to school; but most of them are instructed at home.
The children of the Muslims are taught to show to their fathers a
degree of respect which might be deemed incompatible with the
existence of a tender mutual affection; but I believe that this is not
the case. The child greets the father in the morning by kissing his
hand, and then usually stands before him in a respectful attitude,
with the left hand covered by the right, to receive any order or to
await his permission to depart; but after the respectful kiss, is often
taken on the lap. After the period of infancy, the well-bred son
seldom sits in the presence of his father; but during that period he is
generally allowed much familiarity. A Syrian merchant, who was one
of my near neighbours in Cairo, had a child of exquisite beauty,
commonly supposed to be his daughter, whom, though he was a
most bigoted Muslim, he daily took with him from his private house
to his shop. The child followed him, seated upon an ass before a
black slave, and until about six years old was dressed like most
young ladies, but without a face-veil. The father then thinking that
the appearance of taking about with him a daughter of that age was
scandalous, dressed his pet as a boy, and told his friends that the
female attire had been employed as a protection against the evil
eye, girls being less coveted than boys. This indeed is sometimes
done, and it is possible that such might have been the case in this
instance; but I was led to believe that it was not so. A year after, I
left Cairo: while I remained there, I continued to see the child pass
my house as before, but always in boy's clothing.
It is not surprising that the natives of Eastern countries, where a
very trifling expense is required to rear the young, should be
generally desirous of a numerous offspring. A motive of self-interest
conduces forcibly to cherish this feeling in a wife; for she is
commonly esteemed by her husband in proportion to her
fruitfulness, and a man is seldom willing to divorce a wife, or to sell
a slave, who has borne him a child. A similar feeling also induces in
both parents a desire to obtain offspring, and renders them at the
same time resigned to the loss of such of their children as die in
tender age. This feeling arises from their belief of certain services, of
greater moment than the richest blessings this world can bestow,
which children who die in infancy are to render to their parents.
The Prophet is related to have said, "The infant children [of the
Muslims] shall assemble at the scene of judgment on the day of the
general resurrection, when all creatures shall appear for the
reckoning, and it will be said to the angels, 'Go ye with these into
Paradise:' and they will halt at the gate of Paradise, and it will be
said to them, 'Welcome to the offspring of the Muslims! enter ye
Paradise: there is no reckoning to be made with you:' and they will
reply, 'Yea, and our fathers and our mothers:' but the guardians of
Paradise will say, 'Verily your fathers and your mothers are not with
you because they have committed faults and sins for which they
must be reckoned with and inquired of.' Then they will shriek and cry
at the gate of Paradise with a great cry; and God (whose name be
exalted, and who is all-knowing respecting them) will say, 'What is
this cry?' It will be answered, 'O our Lord, the children of the
Muslims say, We will not enter Paradise but with our fathers and our
mothers.' Whereupon God (whose name be exalted) will say, 'Pass
among them all, and take the hands of your parents, and introduce
them into Paradise.'" The children who are to have this power are
such as are born of believers, and die without having attained to the
knowledge of sin; and according to one tradition, one such child will
introduce his two parents into Paradise. Such infants only are to
enter Paradise; for of the children who die in infancy, those of
believers alone are they who would believe if they grew to years of
discretion. On the same authority it is said, "When a child of the
servant [of God] dies, God (whose name be exalted) saith to the
angels, 'Have ye taken the child of my servant?' They answer, 'Yea.'
He saith, 'Have ye taken the child of his heart?' They reply, 'Yea.' He
asketh them, 'What did my servant say?' They answer, 'He praised
thee, and said, Verily to God we belong, and verily unto Him we
return!' Then God will say, 'Build for my servant a house in Paradise,
and name it the House of Praise.'"
To these traditions, which I find related as proofs of the advantages
of marriage, the following anecdote, which is of a similar nature, is
added. A certain man who would not take a wife awoke one day
from his sleep, and demanded to be married, saying as his reason,
"I dreamed that the resurrection had taken place, and that I was
among the beings collected at the scene of judgment, but was
suffering a thirst that stopped up the passage of my stomach; and
lo, there were youths passing through the assembly, having in their
hands ewers of silver, and cups of gold, and giving drink to one
person after another; so I stretched forth my hand to one of them,
and said, 'Give me to drink; for thirst overpowereth me;' but they
answered, 'Thou hast no child among us; we give drink only to our
fathers.' I asked them, 'Who are ye?' They replied, 'We are the
deceased infant children of the Muslims.'"[224] Especial rewards in
heaven are promised to mothers. "When a woman conceives by her
husband," said the Prophet, "she is called in heaven a martyr [i.e.
she is ranked, as a martyr in dignity]; and her labour in childbed and
her care for her children protect her from hell fire."[225]
"When the child begins to speak, the father should teach him first
the kelimeh [or profession of faith], 'There is no deity but God:
[Moḥammad is God's apostle]'—he should dictate this to him seven
times. Then he should instruct him to say, 'Wherefore exalted be
God, the King, the Truth! There is no deity but He, the Lord of the
honourable throne.'[226] He should teach him also the Throne-verse,
[227] and the closing words of the Ḥashr, 'He is God, beside whom

there is no deity, the King, the Holy,'" etc.[228]

As soon as a son is old enough, his father should teach him the most
important rules of decent behaviour: placing some food before him,
he should order him to take it with the right hand (the left being
employed for unclean purposes), and to say, on commencing, "In
the name of God;" to eat what is next to him, and not to hurry or
spill any of the food upon his person or dress. He should teach him
that it is disgusting to eat much. He should particularly condemn to
him the love of gold and silver, and caution him against
covetousness as he would against serpents and scorpions; and
forbid his spitting in an assembly and every similar breach of good
manners, from talking much, turning his back upon another,
standing in an indolent attitude, and speaking ill of any person to
another. He should keep him from bad companions, teach him the
Ḳur-án and all requisite divine and prophetic ordinances, and instruct
him in the arts of swimming and archery, and in some virtuous
trade; for trade is a security from poverty. He should also command
him to endure patiently the chastisements of his teacher. In one
tradition it is said, "When a boy attains the age of six years he
should be disciplined, and when he attains to nine years he should
be put in a separate bed, and when he attains to ten years he
should be beaten for [neglecting] prayer:" and in another tradition,
"Order your children to pray at seven [years], and beat them for
[neglecting] it at ten, and put them in separate beds."[229]
Circumcision is generally performed before the boy is submitted to
the instruction of the schoolmaster.[230] Previously to the
performance of this rite, he is, if belonging to the higher or middle
rank of society, usually paraded about the neighbourhood of his
parents' dwelling, gaily attired, chiefly with female habits and
ornaments, but with a boy's turban on his head, mounted on a
horse, preceded by musicians, and followed by a group of his female
relations and friends. This ceremony is observed by the great with
much pomp and with sumptuous feasts. El-Jabartee mentions a fête
celebrated on the occasion of the circumcision of a son of the Ḳáḍee
of Cairo, in the year of the Flight 1179 (A.D. 1766), when the
grandees and chief merchants and ´ulamà of the city sent him such
abundance of presents that the magazines of his mansion were filled
with rice and butter and honey and sugar; the great hall, with
coffee; and the middle of the court, with fire-wood: the public were
amused for many days by players and performers of various kinds;
and when the youth was paraded through the streets he was
attended by numerous memlooks with their richly caparisoned
horses and splendid arms and armour and military band, and by a
number of other youths, who, out of compliment to him, were
afterwards circumcised with him. This last custom is usual on such
occasions; and so also is the sending of presents, such as those
above mentioned, by friends, acquaintances, and tradespeople. At a
fête of this kind, when the Khaleefeh El-Muḳtedir circumcised five of
his sons, the money that was scattered in presents amounted to six
hundred thousand pieces of gold, or about £300,000. Many orphans
were also circumcised on the same day, and were presented with
clothes and pieces of gold.[231] The Khaleefeh above mentioned was
famous for his magnificence, a proof of which I have given before
(p. 122 ff.). At the more approved entertainments which are given in
celebration of a circumcision, a recital of the whole of the Ḳur-án, or
a zikr, is performed: at some others, male or female public dancers
perform in the court of the house or in the street before the door.
Few of the children of the Arabs receive much instruction in
literature, and still fewer are taught even the rudiments of any of the
higher sciences; but there are numerous schools in their towns, and
one at least in almost every moderately large village. The former are
mostly attached to mosques and other public buildings, and,
together with those buildings, are endowed by princes or other men
of rank, or wealthy tradesmen. In these the children are instructed
either gratis or for a very trifling weekly payment, which all parents
save those in indigent circumstances can easily afford. The
schoolmaster generally teaches nothing more than to read, and to
recite by heart the whole of the Ḳur-án. After committing to memory
the first chapter of the sacred volume, the boy learns the rest in the
inverse order of their arrangement, as they generally decrease in
length (the longest coming first, and the shortest at the end).
Writing and arithmetic are usually taught by another master; and
grammar, rhetoric, versification, logic, the interpretation of the Ḳur-
án, and the whole system of religion and law, with all other
knowledge deemed useful, which seldom includes the mere
elements of mathematics, are attained by studying at a collegiate
mosque, and at no expense; for the professors receive no pay either
from the students, who are mostly of the poorer classes, or from the
funds of the mosque.
The wealthy often employ for their sons a private tutor; and when
he has taught them to read, and to recite the Ḳur-án, engage for
them a writing-master, and then send them to the college. But
among this class, polite literature is more considered than any other
branch of knowledge, after religion. Such an acquaintance with the
works of some of their favourite poets as enables a man to quote
them occasionally in company, is regarded by the Arabs as essential
to a son who is to mix in good society; and to this acquirement is
often added some skill in the art of versification, which is rendered
peculiarly easy by the copiousness of the Arabic language and by its
system of inflexion. These characteristics of their noble tongue
(which are remarkably exhibited by the custom, common among the
Arabs, of preserving the same rhyme throughout a whole poem),
while on the one hand they have given an admirable freedom to the
compositions of men of true poetic genius, have on the other hand
mainly contributed to the degradation of Arabic poetry. To an Arab of
some little learning it is almost as easy to speak in verse as in prose;
and hence he often intersperses his prose writings, and not
unfrequently his conversation, with indifferent verses, of which the
chief merit generally consists in puns or in an ingenious use of
several words nearly the same in sound but differing in sense. This
custom is frequently exemplified in the "Thousand and One Nights,"
where a person suddenly changes the style of his speech from prose
to verse, and then reverts to the former.
One more duty of a father to a son I should here mention: it is to
procure for him a wife as soon as he has arrived at a proper age.
This age is decided by some to be twenty years, though many young
men marry at an earlier period. It is said, "When a son has attained
the age of twenty years, his father, if able, should marry him, and
then take his hand and say, 'I have disciplined thee and taught thee
and married thee: I now seek refuge with God from thy mischief in
the present world and the next.'" To enforce this duty, the following
tradition is urged: "When a son becomes adult and his father does
not marry him and yet is able to do so, if the youth do wrong in
consequence, the sin of it is between the two"—or, as in another
report,—"on the father."[232] The same is held to be the case with
respect to a daughter who has attained the age of twelve years.
The female children of the Arabs are seldom taught even to read.
Though they are admissible at the daily schools in which the boys
are instructed, very few parents allow them the benefit of this
privilege; preferring, if they give them any instruction of a literary
kind, to employ a sheykhah (or learned woman) to teach them at
home. She instructs them in the forms of prayer and teaches them
to repeat by heart a few chapters of the Ḳur-án, very rarely the
whole book. Parents are indeed recommended to withhold from their
daughters some portions of the Ḳur-án; to "teach them the Soorat
ed-Noor [or 24th chapter], and keep from them the Soorat Yoosuf
[12th chapter]; on account of the story of Zeleekhá and Yoosuf in
the latter, and the prohibitions and threats and mention of
punishments contained in the former."[233]
Needle-work is not so rarely, but yet not generally, taught to Arab
girls, the spindle frequently employs those of the poorer classes, and
some of them learn to weave. The daughters of persons of the
middle and higher ranks are often instructed in the art of embroidery
and in other ornamental work, which are taught in schools and in
private houses. Singing and playing upon the lute, which were
formerly not uncommon female accomplishments among the wealthy
Arabs, are now almost exclusively confined, like dancing, to
professional performers and a few of the slaves in the ḥareems of
the great: it is very seldom now that any musical instrument is seen
in the hand of an Arab lady except a kind of drum called darabukkeh
and a ṭár (or tambourine), which are found in many ḥareems, and
are beaten with the fingers.[234] Some care, however, is bestowed
by the ladies in teaching their daughters what they consider an
elegant gait and carriage, as well as various alluring and voluptuous
arts with which to increase the attachment of their future husbands.
I have heard Arabs confess that their nation possesses nine-tenths
of the envy that exists among all mankind collectively; but I have
not seen any written authority for this. Ibn-´Abbás assigns nine-
tenths of the intrigue or artifice that exists in the world to the Copts,
nine-tenths of the perfidy to the Jews, nine-tenths of the stupidity to
the Maghrabees, nine-tenths of the hardness to the Turks, and nine-
tenths of the bravery to the Arabs. According to Kaạb El-Aḥbár,
reason and sedition are most peculiar to Syria, plenty and
degradation to Egypt, and misery and health to the Desert. In
another account, faith and modesty are said to be most peculiar to
El-Yemen, fortitude and sedition to Syria, magnificence or pride and
hypocrisy to El-´Irák, wealth and degradation to Egypt, and poverty
and misery to the Desert. Of women, it is said by Kaạb El-Aḥbár, that
the best in the world (excepting those of the tribe of Ḳureysh
mentioned by the Prophet) are those of El-Baṣrah; and the worst in
the world, those of Egypt.[235]

FOOTNOTES:
[214] The call to prayer which is chanted from the mádinehs (or
minarets) of the mosques. It is as follows:—"God is most great!"
(four times). "I testify that there is no deity but God!" (twice). "I
testify that Moḥammad is God's Apostle!" (twice). "Come to
prayer!" (twice). "Come to security!" (twice). "God is most great!"
(twice). "There is no deity but God!"
[215] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9. The iḳámeh differs from
the adán in adding "The time for prayer is come" twice after
"come to security."
[216] The dóraḳ has a long narrow neck, the ḳulleh a short wide
one.
[217] See Modern Egyptians, chap. xiv.
[218] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9.
[219] Compare Exodus xiii. 13; and xii. 46.
[220] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9; and Mishkát el-Maṣábeeḥ,
ii. 315, f.
[221] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9.
[222] Ibid.
[223] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, 1.1.
[224] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 2.
[225] Idem., section 7.
[226] Ḳur-án, xxiii. 117.
[227] "God! there is no deity but He," etc., Ḳur. ii. 256.
[228] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9.
[229] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9.
[230] An analogous custom is mentioned in a note appended to
the account of circumcision in chap. ii. of my work on the Modern
Egyptians.
[231] Mir-át ez-Zemán, events of the year 302.
[232] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 9, and Misḳát el-Maṣábeeḥ,
ii. 86.
[233] Nuzhet el-Mutaämmil, section 6.
[234] See Modern Egyptians, ch. xviii.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookname.com