Wekalet el Ghouri and the Egyptian Whirling Dervishes
By Kenzy Fahmy
Colorful skirts whirl against the backdrop of a 16th century caravanserai in an ecstatically hypnotic trance that can be traced back to the great Sufi poet, Jalal ad-Din Rumi in the 1200s. More meditation than dance, Sufi whirling is a ritual that brings the dervishes closer to God and to the abandonment of the ego, or nafs. It’s a practice that has endured for centuries, kept alive by various Sufi orders and performed in historic and cultural landmarks around the region, including Cairo.
Until today, the training to become a dervish requires an incredible amount of dedication and devotion, although the practice has been diluted significantly in order to cater to tourists. You can now find dervishes performing in hotels, on boats, and many other venues around the country, and while training is definitely not easy, many of these performers are not members of any Sufi order, but are considered instead to be folk dancers. Wekalet el Ghouri is one of the few remaining places in Egypt where you can still find authentic Sufi whirling.
Built in 1504 as an inner city inn for and commercial hub for trade and import by Sultan Qansuh al Ghouri, one of Egypt’s last ruling Mamluks, Wekalet el Ghouri is one of the best preserved caravanserais in Egypt and now serves as an important cultural center that houses different workshops and offices, and perhaps most famously, the Egyptian tanoura performances.
The word tanoura, often assumed to refer to the dance itself, is actually the name of the colorful skirt worn by Egyptian dervishes, an adaptation of the original white skirt worn by Turkish Sufi orders until today. The colors, like every other aspect of the ritual, are deeply symbolic, each representing a different Sufi order.
As the men spin in seemingly endless circles, always right to left, their arms outstretched and open, the colors melt and become one, a reflection of the infinite motion of the universe. The dervishes extend one hand to the sky and the other to the ground in an expression of the deep connection between the divine above and all that exists on the earth below. Spinning faster and faster, they chant in unison until they reach a state of trance, of annihilation of the self and spiritual perfection.
The low percussive vibrations of the drums, the hypnotic hum of the flute and the psychedelic colors of the mens’ skirts as they spin around themselves and each other is enough to entrance both dancers and spectators alike, driving the message of unity and oneness with the divine even closer to home; one need not be a believer to feel the immense spiritual power of these performances.
The Wekala, located deep in the heart of Old Cairo, hosts performances on a weekly basis, all year round, and spots are limited, so it’s best to arrive early in order to find a good seat in the open air courtyard.