Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah Volume I Part 32

[p.410]It is called "Takat al-Kashf" or "Niche of Disclosure," by those who believe that as the Prophet was standing undecided about the direction of Meccah, the Archangel Gabriel removed all obstructions to his vision. There again we went through the two-bow prayer, the Supplication, the Testification, and the Fatihah, under difficulties, for people mobbed us excessively. During our devotions, I vainly attempted to decipher a Cufic inscription fixed in the wall above and on the right of the Mihrab,-my regret however, at this failure was transitory, the character not being of an ancient date. Then we left the Riwak, and despite the morning sun which shone fiercely with a sickly heat, we went to the open area where stands the "Mabrak al-Nakah," or the "Place of kneeling of the she-Dromedary.[FB#23]"

This, the exact spot where Al-Kaswa sat down, is covered with a diminutive dome of cut stone, supported by four stone pillars: the building is about eight feet high and a little less in length and in breadth. It has the appearance of being modern. On the floor, which was raised by steps above the level of the ground, lay, as usual, a bit of dirty matting, upon which we again went through, the ceremonies above detailed.

Then issuing from the canopy into the sun, a little outside the Riwak and close to the Mabrak, we prayed upon the "Makan al-Ayat,[FN#24]" or the "Place of Signs." Here was revealed to Mohammed a pa.s.sage in the Koran especially alluding to the purity of the place and of the people of Kuba, "a Temple founded in Purity from its first Day;" and again: "there live Men who love to be

[p.411]cleansed, and verily Allah delights in the Clean." The Prophet exclaimed in admiration, "O ye Sons of Amr! what have ye done to deserve all this Praise and Beneficence?" when the people offered him an explanation of their personal cleanliness which I do not care to repeat. The temple of Kuba from that day took a fresh t.i.tle-Masjid al-Takwa, or the "Mosque of Piety."

Having finished our prayers and ceremonies at the Mosque of Piety, we fought our way out through a crowd of importunate beggars, and turning a few paces to the left, halted near a small chapel adjoining the South-West angle of the larger temple. We there stood at a grated window in the Western wall, and recited a Supplication, looking the while reverently at a dark dwarf archway under which the Lady Fatimah used to sit grinding grain in a hand-mill. The Mosque in consequence bears the name of Sittna Fatimah. A surly-looking Khadim, or guardian stood at the door demanding a dollar in the most authoritative Arab tone-we therefore did not enter.

At Al-Madinah and at Meccah the traveller's hand must be perpetually in his pouch: no stranger in Paris or in London is more surely or more severely taken in. Already I began to fear that my eighty pounds would not suffice for all the expenses of sight-seeing, and the apprehension was justified by the sequel. My only friend was the boy Mohammed, who displayed a fiery economy that brought him into considerable disrepute with his countrymen. They saw with emotion that he was preaching parsimony to me solely that I might have more money to spend at Meccah under his auspices. This being palpably the case, I threw all the blame of penuriousness upon the young Machiavel's shoulders, and resolved, as he had taken charge of my finances at Al-Madinah, so at Meccah to administer them myself.

After praying at the window, to the great disgust of the Khadim, who openly a.s.serted that we were "low

[p.412]fellows," we pa.s.sed through some lanes lined with beggars and Badawi children, till we came to a third little Mosque situated due South of the larger one. This is called the Masjid Arafat, and is erected upon a mound also named Tall Arafat, because on one occasion the Prophet, being unable to visit the Holy Mountain at the pilgrimage season, stood there, saw through the intervening s.p.a.ce, and in spirit performed the ceremony. Here also we looked into a window instead of opening the door with a silver key, and the mesquin appearance of all within prevented my regretting the necessity of economy. In India or in Sind every village would have a better Mosque. Our last visit was to a fourth chapel, the Masjid Ali, so termed because the Apostle's son-in-law had a house upon this spot.[FN#25] After praying there-and terribly hot the little hole was!-we repaired to the last place of visitation at Kuba-a large deep well called the Bir al-Aris, in a garden to the West of the Mosque of Piety, with a little oratory adjoining it. A Persian wheel was going drowsily round, and the cool water fell into a tiny pool, whence it whirled and bubbled away in childish mimicry of a river. The music sounded sweet in my ears; I stubbornly refused to do any more praying-though Shaykh Hamid, for form's sake, reiterated with parental emphasis, "how very wrong it was,"-and I sat down, as the Prophet himself did not disdain to do, with the resolution of enjoying on the brink of the well a few moments of unwonted "Kayf." The heat was overpowering, though it was only nine o'clock, the sound of the stream was soothing, that water-wheel was creaking a lullaby, and the limes and pomegranates, gently rustling, shed voluptuous fragrance through the morning air. I fell asleep, and-wondrous the contrast!-dreamed that I was once more standing

"By the wall whereon hangeth the crucified vine,"

[p.413]looking upon the valley of the Lianne, with its glaucous seas and grey skies, and banks here and there white with snow.

The Bir al-Aris,[FN#26] so called after a Jew of Al-Madinah, is one which the Apostle delighted to visit. He would sit upon its brink with his bare legs hanging over the side, and his companions used to imitate his example. This practice caused a sad disaster. In the sixth year of his caliphate, Osman, according to Abulfeda and Yakut, dropped from his finger the propheti[c] ring which, engraved in three lines with "Mohammed-Apostle-(of) Allah," had served to seal the letters sent to neighbouring kings, and had descended to the first three successors.[FN#27] The precious article was not recovered after three days' search, and the well was thenceforward called Bir al-Khatim-of the Seal Ring. It is also called the Bir al-Taflat-of Saliva[FN#28]-because the Prophet honoured it by expectoration, as, by-the-bye, he seems to have done to almost all the wells in Al-Madinah. The effect of the operation upon the Bir al-Aris, says the historians, was to sweeten the water, which before was salt. Their testimony, however, did not prevent my detecting a p.r.o.nounced medicinal taste in the lukewarm draught drawn for me by Shaykh Hamid. In Mohammed's days the total number of wells is recorded to

[p.414] have been twenty: most of them have long since disappeared; but there still remain seven, whose waters were drunk by the Prophet, and which, in consequence, the Zair is directed to visit.[FN#29] They are known by the cla.s.sical t.i.tle of Saba Abar, or the seven wells, and their names are included in this couplet:

"Aris and Ghars, and Rumah and Buza'at And Busat, with Bayruha and Ihn."[FN#30]

[p.415]After my sleep, which was allowed to last until a pipe or two of Latakia had gone round the party, we remounted our animals. Returning towards Al-Madinah, my companions pointed out to me, on the left of the village, a garden called Al-Madshuniyah. It contains a quarry of the yellow loam or bole-earth, called by the Arabs, Tafl, by the Persians, Gil-i-Sarshui, and by the Sindians, Metu. It is used as soap in many parts of the East, and, mixed with oil, it is supposed to cool the body, and to render the skin fresh and supple. It is related that the Prophet cured a Badawi of the Benu Haris tribe, of fever, by washing him with a pot of Tafl dissolved in water, and hence the earth of Al-Madinah derived its healing fame. As far as I could learn from the Madani, this clay is no longer valued by them, either medicinally or cosmetically: the only use they could mention was its being eaten by the fair s.e.x, when in the peculiar state described by "chlorosis."

[FN#1] The Baradiyah or gugglets of Al-Madinah are large and heavy, of a reddish-grey colour, and celebrated for cooling water, a property not possessed by those of Meccan fabric.

[FN#2] I afterwards found reason to doubt this location. Ibn Jubayr (12th century), places it an arrow-shot from the Westward wall of Al-Madinah, and seems to have seen it. M.C. de Perceval states, I know not upon whose authority, that it was dug to protect the North-west, the North, and the North-eastern sides of the town: this is rendered highly improbable by the features of the ground. The learned are generally agreed that all traces of the moat had disappeared before our 15th century.

[FN#3] In Egypt, the lower branches of the date are lopped off about Christmas time to increase the flavour of the fruit; and the people believe that without this "Taklim," as it is called, the tree would die. In Upper Egypt, however, as at Al-Madinah, the fronds are left untouched.

[FN#4] The visitor from Al-Madinah would be badly received by the women of his family, if he did not present them on his return with a few boxes of dates, some strings of the same fruit, and skins full of henna powder. Even the Olema allow such articles to be carried away, although they strictly forbid keepsakes of earth or stone.

[FN#5] This fruit must not be confounded with the enucleated conserve of dates, which in Arabia, as in Egypt, is known by the name of Ajwah.

The Arabs infinitely despise the stuff sold at Alexandria and Cairo, declaring that it is fit only for cows. The Ajwah of the Oases, particularly of Siwah, is of excellent quality.

[FN#6] So in A.D. 1272 the Crucifix spoke to St. Thomas Aquinas.

Superst.i.tions are of no age or country.

[FN#7] At Al-Madinah- 12 Dirhams--------------(drams)------------------make 1 Wukkiyah (ounce).

20 Wukkiyah-------------------------------------------1 Ratl (pound).

33 Wukkiyah and 3-------(drams)-----------------------1 Wukkah (less than 2 lbs).

4 Wukkah---------------------------------------------1 Mudd.

24 Mudd-----------------------------------------------1 Ardeb.

This Ratl, or pound, is the larger one applied to particular articles of commerce-such as meat, vegetables, and clarified b.u.t.ter; coffee, rice, soap, &c., are sold by the smaller Ratl of Meccah, equal to 140 dirhams. In Egypt, the Ratl is 144 Dirhams or 12 Wukkiyahs,-about 1 lb.

2 oz. and 8 dwts. troy.

[FN#8] "Necklace of Syria." I was told they derive this name from the place where they are made. "Al-Safra" (on the Meccah road) being also called Al-Sham (Damascus).

[FN#9] This is a translation of the Arab word "Tazkir," which is certainly more appropriate than our "caprification" applied to dates.

[FN#10] The male tree is known by its sterility. In some countries only the fecundating pollen is scattered over the female flower, and this doubtless must have been Nature's method of impregnating the date.

[FN#11] The resemblance is probably produced by the similarity of treatment. At Al-Madinah, as in Italy, the vine is "married" to some tall tree, which, selfish as a husband, appropriates to itself the best of everything,-sun, breeze, and rain.

[FN#12] This thorn (the Rhamnus Nabeca, or Zizyphus Spina Christi) is supposed to be that which crowned the Saviour's head. There are Mimosas in Syria; but no tree, save the fabled Zakhum, could produce the terrible apparatus with which certain French painters of the modern school have attempted to heighten the terrors of the scene.

[FN#13] For what reason I am entirely unable to guess, our dictionaries translate the word Sidr (the literary name of the tree that bears the Nebek) "Lote-tree." No wonder that believers in "Homeric writ" feel their anger aroused by so poor a realisation of the beautiful myth.

[FN#14] The only pears in Al-Hijaz, I believe, are to be found at Taif, to which place they were transplanted from Egypt.

[FN#15] Travellers always remark the curious pot-bellied children on the banks of the Nile. This conformation is admired by the Egyptians, who consider it a sign of strength and a promise of fine growth.

[FN#16] I believe Kuba to be about three miles S.S.E. of Al-Madinah; but Al-Idrisi, Ibn Haukal, and Ibn Jubayr all agree in saying two miles.

[FN#17] Osman, the fourth Companion, was absent at this time, not having returned from the first or Little Flight to Abyssinia.

[FN#18] Some believe that in this Mosque the direction of prayer was altered from Jerusalem to Meccah, and they declare, as will presently be seen, that the Archangel Gabriel himself pointed out the new line.

M.C. de Perceval forgets his usual accuracy when he a.s.serts "le Mihrab de la Mosquee de Medine, qui fut d'abord place au Nord, fut transfere au Midi: et la Mosquee prit le nom de 'Masjid-el-Kiblatayn,' Mosquee des deux Kiblah. In the first place, the Mihrab is the invention of a later date, about ninety years; and, secondly, the t.i.tle of Al-Kiblatyn is never now given to the Mosque of Al-Madinah.

[FN#19] This degrading report caused certain hypocrites to build a kind of rival chapel called the Mosque Zarar. It was burnt to the ground shortly after its erection, and all known of it is, that it stood near Kuba.

[FN#20] Some say on Monday, probably because on that day Mohammed alighted at Kuba. But the present practice of Al-Islam, handed down from generation to generation, is to visit it on the Sat.u.r.day.

[FN#21] There is on this day at Kuba a regular Ziyarat or visitation.

The people pray in the Harim of Al-Madinah, after which they repair to the Kuba Mosque, and go through the ceremonies which in religious efficacy equal an Umrah or Lesser pilgrimage. In books I have read that the 15th of Ramazan is the proper day.

[FN#22] This is believed to be the spot where the Prophet performed his first Rukat, or prayer-bow.

[FN#23] "Mabrak" is the locative noun from the triliteral root "Baraka-he blessed, or he (the camel) knelt upon the ground." Perhaps this philological connection may have determined Mohammed to consider the kneeling of the dromedary a sign that Allah had blessed the spot.

[FN#24] "Ayat" here means a verset of the Koran. Some authors apply the above quoted lines to the Prophet's Mosque at Al-Madinah exclusively, others to both buildings.

[FN#25] Ibn Jubayr informs us that Abu Bakr, Ayishah, and Omar had habitations at Kuba.

[FN#26] Some authors mention a second Bir al-Aris, belonging in part to the Caliph Osman. According to Yakut, "Aris" is the Hebrew or Syriac word for a peasant; he quotes the plural form Arisun and Ararisah.

[FN#27] Others a.s.sert, with less probability, that the article in question was lost by one Ma'akah, a favourite of Osman. As that ill-fated Caliph's troubles began at the time of this accident, the ring is generally compared to Solomon's. Our popular authors, who a.s.sert that Mohammed himself lost the ring, are greatly in error.

[FN#28] According to some authors, Mohammed drew a bucket of water, drank part of the contents, spat into the rest, and poured it back into the well, which instantly became sweet. Ibn Jubayr applies the epithet Bir Al-Taflat peculiarly to the Aris well: many other authors are not so exact.

[FN#29] The pious perform the Lesser Ablution upon the brink of the seven wells, and drink of the remnant of the water in "Tabarruk" or to secure the blessings of G.o.d.

[FN#30] Some alter the 3rd, the 5th, and the 7th names to Bir al-Nabi, a well in the Kuba gardens, Bir al-Ghurbal, and Bir al-f.u.kayyir, where the Prophet, together with Salman the Persian and others of his companions, planted date trees. The Bir al-Aris has already been described. The Bir al-Ghars, Gharas or Ghurs, so called, it is said, from the place where it was sunk, about half a mile N.E. of the Kuba Mosque, is a large well with an abundance of water. Mohammed used to perform ablution on its brink, and directed Ali to wash his corpse with seven skins full of the water. The Bir Rumah is a large well with a spring at the bottom, dug in the Wady al-Akik, to the north of the Mosque Al-Kiblatayn. It is called "Kalib Mazni" (the old well of Mazni), in this tradition; "the best of old wells is the old well of Mazni." And ancient it must be if the legend say true, that when Abu Karb besieged Al-Madinah (A.D. 495), he was relieved of sickness by drinking its produce. Some a.s.sert that it afforded the only sweet water in Al-Madinah when the Prophet arrived there. The town becoming crowded by an influx of visitors, this water was sold by its owner, a man of the Benu Ghaffar tribe, or according to others, by one Mazni, a Jew.

Osman at last bought it by paying upwards of 100 camels. The Bir Buza'at, or Biza'at, or Bisa'at, is in the Nakhil or palm plantations, outside the Bab al-Shami or North-western gate of Al-Madinah on the right of the road leading to Ohod. Whoever washes in its waters three times shall be healed. The Bir Busat is near the Bakia cemetery, on the left of the road leading to Kuba. The Prophet used to bathe in the water, and he declared it healthy to the skin. The Bir Bayruha, under whose trees the Prophet was fond of sitting, lies outside the Bab Dar al-Ziyafah, leading to Mount Ohod. The Kamus gives the word "Bayruha upon the measure of Fayluha." Some authorities upon the subject of Ziyarat, write Bayruha, "Bir Ha,"-the well of Ha, and variously suppose "Ha" to be the name of a man, a woman, or a place. Yahut mentions other p.r.o.nunciations: "Bariha," "Bariha," "Bayriha," &c. The Bir Ihn is in a large garden E. of Kuba. Little is said in books about this well, and the people of Al-Madinah do not know the name.

[p.416]CHAPTER XX.

THE VISITATION OF HAMZAH'S TOMB.

ON the morning of Sunday, the twenty-third Zu'l Ka'adah (28th August, 1853), arrived from Al-Sham, or Damascus,[FN#1] the great Caravan popularly called Hajj al-Shami, the "Damascus pilgrimage," as the Egyptian Cafila is Al-Misri,[FN#2] or the Cairo pilgrimage. It is the main stream which carries off all the small currents that, at this season of general movement, flow from Central Asia towards the great centre of the Islamitic world, and in 1853 it amounted to about seven thousand souls. The arrival was anxiously expected by the people for several reasons. In the first place, it brought with it a new curtain for the Prophet's Hujrah, the old one being in a tattered condition; secondly, it had charge of the annual stipends and pensions of the citizens; and thirdly, many families expected members returning under its escort to their homes. The popular anxiety was greatly increased by the disordered state of the country round about; and, moreover, the great caravan had been one day late, generally arriving on the morning of the twenty-second Zu'l Ka'adah.[FN#3]

[p.417]During the night three of Shaykh Hamid's brothers, who had entered as Muzawwirs with the Hajj, came suddenly to the house: they leaped off their camels, and lost not a moment in going through the usual scene of kissing, embracing, and weeping bitterly for joy. I arose in the morning, and looked out from the windows of the Majlis.

The Barr al-Manakhah, from a dusty waste dotted with a few Badawi hair-tents, had a.s.sumed all the various shapes and the colours of a kaleidoscope. The eye was bewildered by the shifting of innumerable details, in all parts totally different from one another, thrown confusedly together in one small field; and, however jaded with sight-seeing, it dwelt with delight upon the variety, the vivacity, and the intense picturesqueness of the scene. In one night had sprung up a town of tents of every size, colour, and shape; round, square, and oblong; open and closed,-from the shawl-lined and gilt-topped pavilion of the Pasha, with all the luxurious appurtenances of the Harim, to its neighbour the little dirty green "rowtie" of the tobacco-seller. They were pitched in admirable order: here ranged in a long line,

[p.418]where a street was required; there packed in dense ma.s.ses, where thoroughfares were unnecessary. But how describe the utter confusion in the crowding, the bustling, and the vast variety and volume of sound?

Huge white Syrian dromedaries, compared with which those of Al-Hijaz appeared mere pony-camels, jingling large bells, and bearing Shugdufs[FN#4] (litters) like miniature green tents, swaying and tossing upon their backs; gorgeous Takht-rawan, or litters carried between camels or mules with scarlet and bra.s.s trappings; Badawin bestriding naked-backed "Daluls[FN#5]" (dromedaries), and clinging like apes to the hairy humps; Arnaut, Kurd, and Turkish Irregular Cavalry, fiercer looking in their mirth than Roman peasants in their rage; fainting Persian pilgrims, forcing their stubborn camels to kneel, or dismounted grumbling from jaded donkeys; Kahwajis, sherbet sellers, and ambulant tobacconists crying their goods; country-people driving flocks of sheep and goats with infinite clamour through lines of horses fiercely snorting and biting and kicking and rearing; townspeople seeking their friends; returned travellers exchanging affectionate salutes; devout Hajis jostling one another, running under the legs of camels, and tumbling over the tents' ropes in their hurry to reach the Harim; cannon roaring from the citadel; shopmen, water-carriers, and fruit vendors fighting over their bargains; boys with loud screams bullying heretics; a well-mounted

[p.419]party of fine old Arab Shaykhs of the Hamidah clan, preceded by their varlets, performing the Arzah or war dance,-compared with which the Pyrenean bear's performance is grace itself,-firing their duck-guns upwards, or blowing the powder into the calves of those before them, brandishing their swords, leaping frantically the while, with their bright coloured rags floating in the wind, tossing their long spears tufted with ostrich feathers high in the air, reckless where they fall; servants seeking their masters, and masters their tents, with vain cries of Ya Mohammed[FN#6]; grandees riding mules or stalking on foot, preceded by their crowd-beaters, shouting to clear the way; here the loud shrieks of women and children, whose litters are b.u.mping and rasping against one another; there the low moaning of some poor wretch that is seeking a shady corner to die in: add a thick dust which blurs the outlines like a London fog, with a flaming sun that draws sparkles of fire from the burnished weapons of the crowd, and the bra.s.s b.a.l.l.s of tent and litter; and-I doubt, gentle reader, that even the length, the jar, and the confusion of this description is adequate to its subject, or that any "word-painting" of mine can convey a just idea of the scene.

This was the day appointed for our visiting the martyrs of Ohod. After praying the dawn prayers as directed at the Harim, we mounted our donkeys; and, armed with pistols and knives, we set out from the city.

Our party was large. Sa'ad the Demon had offered to accompany us, and the bustle around kept him in the best of humours; Omar Effendi was also there, quiet-looking and humble as usual, leading his a.s.s to avoid the trouble of dismounting every second minute.[FN#7] I had the boy

[p.420]Mohammed and my "slave," and Shaykh Hamid was attended by half a dozen relations. To avoid the crush of the Barr al-Manakhah, we made a detour Westwards, over the bridge and down the course of the torrent-bed "Al-Sayh." We then pa.s.sed along the Southern wall of the castle, traversed its Eastern outwork, and issued from the Bab al-Shami. During the greater part of the time we were struggling through a living tide; and among dromedaries and chargers a donkey is by no means a pleasant monture. With some difficulty, but without any more serious accident than a fall or two, we found ourselves in the s.p.a.ce beyond and northward of the city. This also was covered with travellers and tents, amongst which on an eminence to the left of the road, rose conspicuous the bright green pavilion of the Emir Al-Hajj, the commandant of the Caravan.[FN#8] Hard by, half its height surrounded by a Kanat or tent wall, stood the Syrian or Sultan's Mahmil (litter), all glittering with green and gilding and gold, and around it were pitched the handsome habitations of the princ.i.p.al officers and grandees of the pilgrimage. On the right hand lay extensive palm plantations, and on the left, strewed over the plain, were signs of wells and tanks, built to supply the Hajj with water. We pa.s.s two small buildings, one the Kubbat Al-Sabak, or Dome of Precedence, where the Prophet's warrior friends used to display their horsemanship;

[p.421]the second the Makan, or burial-place of Sayyidna Zaki al-Din, one of Mohammed's mult.i.tudinous descendants. Then we fall into a plain, resembling that of Kuba, but less fertile. While we are jogging over it, a few words concerning Mount Ohod may not be misplaced. A popular distich says,

"Verily there is healing to the eye that looks Unto Ohod and the two Harrahs[FN#9] (ridges) near."

And of this holy hill the Apostle declared, "Ohod is a Mountain which loves Us and which We love: it is upon the Gate of Heaven[FN#10];"

adding,

[p.422]"And Ayr[FN#11] is a Place which hates Us and which We hate: it is upon the Gate of h.e.l.l." The former sheltered Mohammed in the time of danger; therefore, on Resurrection Day it will be raised to Paradise: whereas Jabal Ayr, its neighbour, having been so ill-judged as to refuse the Prophet water on an occasion while he thirsted, will be cast incontinently into Jahannam. Moslem divines, be it observed, ascribe to Mohammed miraculous authority over animals, vegetables, and minerals, as well as over men, angels, and jinnis. Hence the speaking wolf, the weeping post, the oil-stone, and the love and hate of these two mountains. It is probably one of the many remains of ancient paganism pulled down and afterwards used to build up the edifice of Al-Islam.

According to the old Persians, the sphere has an active soul. Some sects of Hindus believe "mother earth," upon whose bosom we little parasites crawl, to be a living being. This was a dogma also amongst the ancient Egyptians, who denoted it by a peculiar symbol,-the globe with human legs. Hence the "Makrokosmos" of the plagiaristic Greeks, the animal on a large scale, whose diminutive was the "Mikrokosmos"-man. Tota natura, repeats Malpighi, exist.i.t in minimis.