IDIOTS

Arabic majnūn ( مجنون‎ ), pl. majānīn . Mr. Lane, in his Modern Egyptians , vol. i. p. 288, says:— “An idiot or a fool is vulgarly regarded by them as a being whose mind is in heaven, while his gro er part mingles among ordinary mortals; consequently he is considered an especial favourite of heaven. Whatever enormities a reputed saint may commit (and there are many who are constantly infringing precepts of their religion), such acts do not affect his fame for sanctity; for they are considered as the results of the abstraction of his mind from worldly things; his soul, or reasoning faculties, being wholly absorbed in devotion, so that his pa ions are left without control. Lunatics who are dangerous to society are kept in confinement; but those who are harmle are generally regarded as saints. Most of the reputed saints of Egypt are either lunatics, or idiots, or impostors.”