Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah Volume I Part 24

Thus the learned and religious have settled, one would have thought, accurately enough the spiritual rank and dignity of the Masjid al-Nabawi. But mankind, especially in the East, must always be in extremes. The orthodox school of Al-Malik holds Al-Madinah, on account of the sanct.i.ty of, and the religious benefits to be derived from, Mohammed's tomb, more honourable than Meccah. Some declare that the Apostle preferred his place of refuge, blessing it as Abraham did Meccah. Moreover, as a tradition declares that every man's body is drawn from the ground in which he is buried, Al-Madinah evidently had the honour of supplying materials for the Apostle's person. Others, like Omar, were uncertain which to prefer. The Wahhabis, on the other hand, rejecting the Intercession of the Apostle on the Day of Judgment, considering the grave of a mere mortal unworthy of notice, and highly disgusted by the idolatrous respect paid to it by certain foolish Moslems, plundered the sacred building with sacrilegious violence, and forbade visitors from distant countries to enter Al-Madinah.[FN#4]

The general consensus of Al-Islam admits the superiority of the Bayt Allah ("House of G.o.d") at Meccah to the whole world; and declares Al-Madinah to be more venerable than every part of Meccah, and consequently all the earth, except only the Bayt Allah. This last is a juste milieu view by no means in favour with the inhabitants of either place. In the meanwhile the Meccans claim unlimited superiority over the Madani: the Madani over the Meccans.

[p.307]Pa.s.sing through muddy streets,-they had been freshly watered before evening time,-I came suddenly upon the Mosque. Like that at Meccah, the approach is choked up by ign.o.ble buildings, some actually touching the holy "enceinte," others separated by a lane compared with which the road round St. Paul's is a Vatican Square.[FN#5] There is no outer front, no general prospect of the Prophet's Mosque; consequently, as a building, it has neither beauty nor dignity.

And entering the Bab al-Rahmah[FN#6]-the Gate of Pity,-by a diminutive flight of steps, I was astonished at the mean and tawdry appearance of a place so universally venerated in the Moslem world. It is not, like the Meccan Temple, grand and simple, the expression of a single sublime idea: the longer I looked at it, the more it suggested the resemblance of a museum of second-rate art, an old Curiosity-shop, full of ornaments that are not accessories, and decorated with pauper splendour.

The Masjid al-Nabi is a parallelogram about four hundred and twenty feet in length by three hundred and forty broad, the direction of the long walls being nearly north and south. As usual in Al-Islam, it is a hypaethral building with a s.p.a.cious central area, called Al-Sahn, Al-Hosh, Al-Haswah, or Al-Ramlah,[FN#7] surrounded by a peristyle with numerous rows of pillars like the colonnades of an Italian cloister.

The arcades or porticoes are flat-ceilinged, domed above with the small Media

[p.308] Naranja, or half-orange cupola of Spain, and divided into four parts by narrow pa.s.sages, three or four steps below the level of the pavement. Along the whole inner length of the Northern short wall runs the Majidi Riwak, so called from the then reigning Sultan.[FN#8] The Western long wall is occupied by the Riwak of the Rahmah Gate; the Eastern by that of the Bab al-Nisa, the "Women's Entrance.[FN#9]"

Embracing the inner length of the Southern short wall, and deeper by nearly treble the amount of columns than the other porticoes, is the main colonnade, called Al-Rauzah[FN#10] (the Garden), the adytum containing all that is venerable in the building. These four Riwaks, arched externally, are supported internally by pillars of different shape and material, varying from fine porphyry to dirty plaster. The Southern, where the sepulchre or cenotaph stands, is paved with handsome slabs of white marble and marquetry work, here and there covered with coa.r.s.e matting, and above this by unclean carpets, well worn by faithful feet.[FN#11]

But this is not the time for Tafarruj or lionising.

[p.309] Shaykh Hamid warns me, with a nudge, that other things are expected of a Zair (visitor). He leads me to the Bab al-Salam, fighting his way through a troop of beggars, and inquires markedly if I am religiously pure.[FN#12] Then, placing our hands a little below and on the left of the waist, the palm of the right covering the back of the left, in the position of prayer, and beginning with the dexter feet,[FN#13] we pace slowly forwards down the line called the Muwajihat al-Sharifah, or "the Ill.u.s.trous Fronting," which, divided off like an aisle, runs parallel with the Southern wall of the Mosque. On my right hand walks the Shaykh, who recites aloud the following prayer, making me repeat it after him.[FN#14] It is literally rendered, as, indeed, are all the formulae, and the reader is requested to excuse the barbarous fidelity of the translation.

"In the Name of Allah and in the faith of Allah's Apostle! O Lord, cause me to enter the Entering of Truth, and cause me to issue forth the Issuing of Truth, and permit me to draw near to Thee, and make me a Sultan Victorious[FN#15]!" Then follow blessings upon the Apostle, and afterwards: "O Allah! open to me the Doors of Thy Mercy, and grant me Entrance into it, and protect me from the Stoned Devil!"

During this preliminary prayer we had pa.s.sed down two-thirds of the Muwajihat al-Sharifah. On the left hand is a dwarf wall, about the height of a man, painted with arabesques, and pierced with four small doors which

[p.310] open into the Muwajihat. In this barrier are sundry small erections, the niche called the Mihrab Sulaymani,[FN#16] the Mambar, or pulpit, and the Mihrab al-Nabawi.[FN#17]

The two niches are of beautiful mosaic, richly worked with various coloured marbles, and the pulpit is a graceful collection of slender columns, elegant tracery, and inscriptions admirably carved. Arrived at the Western small door in the dwarf wall, we entered the celebrated spot called Al-Rauzah, after a saying of the Apostle's, "Between my Tomb and my Pulpit is a Garden of the Gardens of Paradise.[FN#18]" On the North and West sides it is

[p.311] not divided from the rest of the portico; on the South runs the dwarf wall, and on the East it is limited by the west end of the lattice-work containing the tomb.

Accompanied by my Muzawwir I entered the Rauzah, and was placed by him with the Mukabbariyah[FN#19] behind me, fronting Meccah, with my right shoulder opposite to, and about twenty feet distant from, the dexter pillar of the Apostle's Pulpit.[FN#20] There, after saying the afternoon prayers,[FN#21] I performed the usual two bows in honour of the temple,[FN#22] and at the end of them recited the hundred and ninth and the hundred and twelfth chapters of the Koran-the "Kul, ya ayyuha'l-Kafiruna," and the "Surat al-Ikhlas," called also the "Kul, Huw' Allah," or the Declaration of Unity; and may be thus translated:

"Say, He is the one G.o.d!

"The eternal G.o.d!

"He begets not, nor is He begot!

[p.312] "And unto Him the like is not."

After which was performed a single Sujdah (Prostration) of Thanks,[FN#23] in grat.i.tude to Allah for making it my fate to visit so holy a spot.

This being the recognised time to give alms, I was besieged by beggars, who spread their napkins before us on the ground, sprinkled with a few coppers to excite generosity. But not wishing to be distracted by them, before leaving Hamid's house I had changed two dollars, and had given the coin to the boy Mohammed, who accompanied me, strictly charging him to make that sum last through the Mosque.

My answer to the beggars was a reference to my attendant, backed by the simple action of turning my pockets inside out; and, whilst he was battling with the beggars, I proceeded to cast my first coup-d'oeil upon the Rauzah.

The "Garden" is the most elaborate part of the Mosque. Little can be said in its praise by day, when it bears the same relation to a second-rate church in Rome as an English chapel-of-ease to Westminster Abbey. It is a s.p.a.ce of about eighty feet in length, tawdrily decorated so as to resemble a garden. The carpets are flowered, and the pediments of the columns are cased with bright green tiles, and adorned to the height of a man with gaudy and unnatural vegetation in arabesque. It is disfigured by handsome branched candelabras of cut crystal, the work, I believe, of a London house, and presented to the shrine by the late Abbas Pasha of Egypt.[FN#24]

The only admirable feature of the view is the light

[p.313] cast by the windows of stained gla.s.s[FN#25] in the Southern wall. Its peculiar background, the railing of the tomb, a splendid filigree-work of green and polished bra.s.s, gilt or made to resemble gold, looks more picturesque near than at a distance, when it suggests the idea of a gigantic bird-cage. But at night the eye, dazzled by oil-lamps[FN#26] suspended from the roof, by huge wax candles, and by smaller illuminations falling upon crowds of visitors in handsome attire, with the richest and the n.o.blest of the city sitting in congregation when service is performed,[FN#27] becomes less critical.

Still the scene must be viewed with Moslem bias, and until a man is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the East, the last place the Rauzah will remind him of, is that which the architect primarily intended it to resemble-a garden.

Then with Hamid, professionally solemn, I rea.s.sumed the position of prayer, and retraced my steps. After pa.s.sing through another small door in the dwarf wall that bounds the Muwajihah, we did not turn to the right, which would have led us to the Bab al-Salam; our course was in an opposite direction, towards the Eastern wall of the temple.

Meanwhile we repeated, "Verily Allah and His Angels[FN#28] bless the Apostle! O ye who believe, bless him,

[p.314] and salute Him with Honour!" At the end of this prayer, we arrived at the Mausoleum, which requires some description before the reader can understand the nature of our proceedings there.

The Hujrah[FN#29] or "Chamber" as it is called, from the circ.u.mstance of its having been Ayishah's room, is an irregular square of from fifty to fifty-five feet in the South-East corner of the building, and separated on all sides from the walls of the Mosque by a pa.s.sage about twenty-six feet broad on the South side, and twenty on the East. The reason of this isolation has been before explained, and there is a saying of Mohammed's, "O Allah, cause not my Tomb to become an Object of Idolatrous Adoration! May Allah's Wrath fall heavy upon the People who make the Tombs of their Prophets Places of Prayer[FN#30]!"

[p.315] Inside there are, or are supposed to be, three tombs facing the South, surrounded by stone walls without any aperture, or, as others say, by strong planking.[FN#31] Whatever this material may be, it is hung outside with a curtain, somewhat like a large four-post bed. The external railing is separated by a dark narrow pa.s.sage from the inner, which it surrounds; and is of iron filigree painted of a vivid gra.s.s green,-with a view to the garden. Here carefully inserted in the verdure, and doubly bright by contrast, is the gilt or burnished bra.s.s work forming the long and graceful letters of the Suls character, and disposed into the Moslem creed, the Profession of Unity, and similar religious sentences.

On the South side, for greater honour, the railing is plated over with silver, and silver letters are interlaced with it. This fence, which connects the columns and forbids pa.s.sage to all men, may be compared to the baldacchino of Roman churches. It has four gates: that to the South is the Bab al-Muwajihah; Eastward is the gate of our Lady Fatimah; westward the Bab al-Taubah (of Repentance), opening into the Rauzah or garden; and to the North, the Bab al-Shami or Syrian gate. They are constantly kept closed, except the fourth, which admits, into the dark narrow pa.s.sage above alluded to, the officers who have charge of the treasures there deposited; and the eunuchs who sweep the floor, light [p.316] the lamps, and carry away the presents sometimes thrown in here by devotees.[FN#32]

In the Southern side of the fence are three windows, holes about half a foot square, and placed from four to five feet above the ground; they are said to be between three and four cubits distant from the Apostle's head. The most Westerly of these is supposed to front Mohammed's tomb, wherefore it is called the Shubak al-Nabi, or the Prophet's window. The next, on the right as you front it, is Abu Bakr's, and the most Easterly of the three is Omar's.

Above the Hujrah is the Green Dome, surmounted outside by a large gilt crescent springing from a series of globes. The glowing imaginations of the Moslems crown this gem of the building with a pillar of heavenly light, which directs from three days' distance the pilgrims' steps towards Al-Madinah. But alas! none save holy men (and perhaps, odylic sensitives), whose material organs are piercing as their spiritual vision, may be allowed the privilege of beholding this poetic splendour.

Arrived at the Shubak al-Nabi, Hamid took his stand about six feet or so out of reach of the railing, and at that respectful distance from, and facing[FN#33] the Hazirah (or presence),

[p.317] with hands raised as in prayer, he recited the following supplication in a low voice, telling me in a stage whisper to repeat it after him with awe, and fear, and love:-

"Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of Allah, and the Mercy of Allah and his Blessings! Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, O Friend of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, O best of Allah's Creation!

Peace be upon Thee, O pure Creature of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, O Chief of Prophets ! Peace be upon Thee, O Seal of the Prophets! Peace be upon Thee, O Prince of the Pious! Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of the Lord of the (three) Worlds! Peace be upon Thee, and upon Thy Family, and upon Thy pure Wives! Peace be upon Thee, and upon all Thy Companions! Peace be upon Thee, and upon all the Prophets, and upon those sent to preach Allah's Word! Peace be upon Thee, and upon all Allah's righteous Worshippers! Peace be upon Thee, O thou Bringer of Glad Tidings! Peace be upon Thee, O Bearer of Threats! Peace be upon Thee, O thou bright Lamp! Peace be upon Thee, O thou Apostle of Mercy!

Peace be upon Thee, O Ruler of Thy Faith! Peace be upon Thee, O Opener of Grief! Peace be upon Thee! and Allah bless Thee! and Allah repay Thee for us, O Thou Apostle of Allah! the choicest of Blessings with which He ever blessed Prophet! Allah bless Thee as often as Mentioners have mentioned Thee, and Forgetters have forgotten Thee! And Allah bless Thee among the First and the Last, with the best, the highest, and the fullest of Blessings ever bestowed on Man; even as we escaped Error by means of Thee, and were made to see after Blindness, and after Ignorance were directed

[p.318] into the Right Way. I bear Witness that there is no G.o.d but the G.o.d (Allah), and I testify that Thou art His Servant, and His Apostle, and His Faithful Follower, and Best Creature. And I bear Witness, O Apostle of Allah! that Thou hast delivered thy Message, and discharged Thy Trust, and advised Thy Faith, and opened Grief, and published Proofs, and fought valiantly for Thy Lord, and worshipped Thy G.o.d till Certainty came to Thee (i.e. to the hour of death). And we Thy Friends, O Apostle of Allah! appear before Thee, Travellers from distant lands and far Countries, through Dangers and Difficulties, in the Times of Darkness, and in the Hours of Day, longing to give Thee Thy Rights (i.e. to honour Thee by benediction and visitation), and to obtain the Blessings of Thine Intercession, for our Sins have broken our Backs, and Thou intercedest with the Healer. And Allah said,[FN#34] 'And though they have injured themselves, they came to Thee, and begged Thee to secure their Pardon, and they found G.o.d an Acceptor of Penitence, and full of Compa.s.sion.' O Apostle of Allah, Intercession!

Intercession! Intercession[FN#35]! O Allah, bless Mohammed and Mohammed's Family, and give Him Superiority and high Rank, even as Thou didst promise Him, and graciously allow us to conclude this Visitation.

I deposit on this spot, and near Thee, O Apostle of G.o.d, my everlasting Profession (of faith) from this our Day, to the Day of Judgment, that there is no G.o.d but Allah, and that our Lord Mohammed is His Servant and His Apostle.[FN#36] Amen! O Lord of the (three) Worlds![FN#37]"

[p.319] After which, performing Ziyarat[FN#38] for ourselves, we repeated the Fatihah or "opening" chapter of the Koran.

"In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compa.s.sionate!

"Praise be to Allah, who the (three) Worlds made.

"The Merciful, the Compa.s.sionate.

"The King of the Day of Faith.

"Thee (alone) do we worship, and of Thee (alone) do we ask Aid.

"Guide us to the Path that is straight- "The Path of those for whom thy Love is great, not those on whom is Hate, nor they that deviate.

"Amen! O Lord of Angels, Jinnis, and Men![FN#39]"

After reciting this mentally with upraised hands, the forefinger of the right hand being extended to its full length, we drew our palms down our faces and did alms-deeds, a vital part of the ceremony. Thus concludes the first part of the ceremony of visitation at the Apostle's tomb.

[p.320] Hamid then stepped about a foot and half to the right, and I followed his example, so as to place myself exactly opposite the second aperture in the grating called Abu Bakr's window. There, making a sign towards the mausoleum, we addressed its inmate, as follows:-

"Peace be upon Thee, O Abu Bakr, O Thou Truthful One! Peace be upon Thee, O Caliph of Allah's Apostle over his People! Peace be upon Thee, O Companion of the Cave, and Friend in Travel! Peace be upon Thee, O Thou Banner of the Fugitives and the Auxiliaries! I testify Thou didst ever stand firm in the right Way, and wast a Smiter of the Infidel, and a Benefactor to Thine own people. Allah grant Thee through His Apostle Weal! We pray Almighty G.o.d to cause us to die in Thy Friendship, and to raise us up in Company with His Apostle and Thyself, even as He hath mercifully vouchsafed to us this Visitation.[FN#40]"

After which we closed one more step to the right, and standing opposite Omar's window, the most easterly of the three, after making a sign with our hands, we addressed the just Caliph in these words:-

"Peace be upon Thee, O Omar! O Thou Just One! Thou Prince of True Believers! Peace be upon Thee, who spakest with Truth, and who madest Thy Word agree with the Strong Book! (the Koran): O Thou Faruk! (the Separator).[FN#41] O Thou Faithful One! who girdedst thy Loins with the Apostle, and the First Believers, and with them didst make up the full Number forty,[FN#42] and thus causedst to be accomplished the Apostle's Prayer,[FN#43] and

[p.321] then didst return to Thy G.o.d a Martyr leaving the World with Praise! Allah grant Thee, through his Apostle and his Caliph and his Followers, the best of Good, and may Allah feel in Thee plenary Satisfaction!"