RECORD OF THE EXODUS OF MÛSA—U. W. B., ETC.—AND HARÛN—U. W. B., ETC.—FROM EGYPT. THE ESCAPE OF THE SONS OF ESRÂIL. THE DESTRUCTION OF FARA’ÛN AND HÂMÂN WITH THE QABATS, THEIR REBELLIOUS ADHERENTS.

When the Lord Mûsa was ordered to quit Egypt, he assembled the chiefs of the sons of Esrâil, declared to them the purport of the divine revelation, and ordered them to keep the whole nation in readiness for the journey. When they left the council and dispersed they endeavoured, during one month, to make the preparations necessary for their departure, but as every day a new obstacle sprang up, they were impeded from executing their designs. Mûsa convoked the notables of the children of Esrâil a second time, and inquired about the cause of the delay, whereon they replied: ‘All this happened because Yusuf had in his last days left the mandate, that when the children of Esrâil leave Egypt, they must take his sarcophagus along with them, and bury it in the sepulchre of his noble ancestors; but as during the lapse of time the place of Yusuf’s tomb has been forgotten, we do not know where it is.’ Mûsa— u. w. b., etc.—then enjoined them, by no means to slacken their researches and not to despair of seeing their efforts crowned with success. The people of Esrâil continued their inquiries, until at last they discovered an old woman who knew the place. As soon as Mûsa was informed of this news he summoned her to his presence, and asked her about the site of the tomb of Yusuf. The old hag answered: ‘I have also my desires. I wish to recover the youthfulness and the vigour of my adolescence, and wish to become thy companion in paradise. If thou wilt satisfy these demands I shall guide thee to the tomb of Yusuf.’ In obedience to an intimation from heaven, Mûsa pledged himself to assist her in her request, and in consequence of his prayers the woman obtained the blessing of youth. She then pointed out the locality of the tomb in the river Nile, the water of which receded therefrom by the invoca­tions of the Lord Mûsa; and the spot having been dug up, the coffin of the veracious one, which was made of stone, or, according to another opinion, of dark-blue glass, made its appearance. The workmen then removed the sarcophagus to a safe place outside the city, returned to their homes, and the children of Esrâil engaged in preparations for their journey.

Many of the chief historians, however, assert that this coffin was discovered only during the night of the departure of the children of Esrâil. In short, when the sons of Esrâil had finished all their preparations and were ready to start, they borrowed, by the order of Mûsa, which he had received through a divine inspiration, great quantities of ornaments and jewellery from the Qabats, under the pretext of requiring them for marriage ceremonies. In this manner they accumulated so much property that it became difficult to transport it. As a sign of the exodus every one of the sons of Esrâil offered a sacrifice according to his ability, and smeared some of the blood of it upon the door of his house; this was called the Fasah* sacrifice. They began to move at midnight, which is a time of rest for all people, and left Egypt with their families and children. They halted at the place where Yusuf’s coffin was, and when all the children of Esrâil had assembled in the locality, Mûsa ordered them to constitute themselves into an army, the opinions about whose numbers vary, one of them has, ever, been recorded previously in these pages. After the army had been divided into several parts, the Lord Mûsa appointed Harûn to take command of the vanguard, entrusted the right and the left wings to generals of the tribe of Yahuda and Lâvi, placed Yoshua’, the son of Nûn, and the nobles of the tribe of Yusuf and of Ebn Yâmin in the centre, while he himself walked in the rear of the army. This took place, according to the most prevalent tradition, on Sunday night, the 9th of the month Muharram. Some scholars, however, assert that the exodus of Mûsa from Egypt took place on Friday, the 15th of Nisân. On account of the great haste in which the people were, they baked unleavened bread and consumed it. The Jews celebrate and solemnize a festival on the Friday preceding the middle of the month Nisân, calling it the feast of unleavened bread, which is their greatest and principal holiday; and whoever partakes on that day of their unleavened bread which they bake like the flat bread-cakes of Moslems, they show him great favours.

When the sons of Esrâil left Egypt that night, they halted at a place which they called A’in-ush-shams, whence they marched to a locality named Baghâr, and remained there.