It's difficult to know just where the Nile is at its most beautiful. At Aswan, where white-sailed feluccas glide across the clear blue water, it is certainly at its most romantic, but it is at Rashid, just before the river's mouth, that the Nile is at its most majestic, pouring gracefully into the Mediterranean Sea, some 6,680 kilometres from its source at Lake Victoria. Lying some sixty-five kilometres east of Alexandria, Rashid sits at the mouth of the Western branch of the Nile. Known more famously to Western visitors as Rosetta, the town was a centre of military significance in Mamluk times and was Egypt's main port in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when it knew great prosperity, until Alexandria overtook it in the nineteenth century and Rashid fell into something of a decline. Known nowadays as the place where the famous Rosetta Stone was discovered, modern-day Rashid is well off the tourist trail and earns its living now by fishing and the growing of dates. Indeed, as you enter the town, a large sign welcomes you to “the city of a million palm-trees”. If mentioned at all in a guidebook, Rashid is often called a sleepy little town. In fact, the town is anything but sleepy. One of the pleasures of visiting Rashid is to wander through its bustling narrow streets, maybe stopping to buy fresh local produce from the fish market or the general market as you make your way to view the many monuments. Perhaps a better description of Rashid would be to call it a proud little town, proud of its rich past and dignified in the present by the honest hard work of its citizens. Rashid is one of Egypt's jewels. To miss it, is to have missed one of her treasures. The approach to Rashid from Alexandria is quite delightful, as the main road passes by the waters of Lake Edku, the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and vast, lush palm groves. An air of expectation grows for those who have made the special trip to see Rashid's main attraction: the finely restored and well-preserved Ottoman merchant houses, of which there are almost two dozen. These distinct Delta-style mansions, unique to this part of Egypt, are usually three or four storeys high and are easily recognised both by their façade of fired brick and white pointing and the expanse of mashrabiya windows which make them so light and airy inside. What is incredible is that the visitor comes upon these Ottoman houses at every turn. Several of them are open to the public and give a good glimpse into the comfortable and elegant lifestyle once enjoyed by their owners. Climbing to the roof terrace of one such house, Beit El-Meizouni, dating back to 1740 and now surrounded by many other buildings, one can imagine the view the house must once have had of the Nile, being fanned by its gentle breezes. Visitors to Rashid can also see such fine examples of Delta architecture as the Ramadan House and Arab Killy House, now the town museum and once the residence of the Governor. They can also visit the wonderful Hammam Azouz, with its warren of marble-floored passages and coloured glass. Although not in use now for several years as a public bath it is easy to imagine the town's bathers appearing in front of you at any moment with their stories from the past. In addition, the town has an incredible 128 mosques. The beautiful Al-Muallaqa, or “hanging” mosque, over two hundred and fifty years old, literally sits on pillars above a row of shops and has some exquisite ceramic tiles inside. The mosque of Zaghloul, the town's oldest, has over three hundred pillars taken from Greek and Roman monuments in Alexandria, and the spacious and delightful mosque of Al-Mahalli, opening onto a narrow but busy little street, is a pleasant place to stop during the heat of the day to collect one's thoughts and to give thanks for the abundance and the richness of life which makes up this delightful town. Muslims read in the holy Qur'an in Surat Ash-Shu'araa: Do they not look at the earth, - how many noble things of all kinds We have produced therein: Verily, in this is a Sign: But most of them do not believe. Holy Qur'an 26:7-8 The glories of the Creator are all around us. The splendid town of Rashid is not only a fine place to spend some happy hours for a visit, but it also recalls to our minds that beautiful things are all around us and that all of Allah's works are to be enjoyed, if we have the eyes and the hearts to see them. Inshallah (if Allah wills it to be so), in visiting places like Rashid, we can delight in many of the beautiful places in Egypt and perhaps spare a moment or two to learn something as well about life and the hereafter. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University. The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
