[p.157]PART III.
[p.159]CHAPTER XXVII.
THE boy Mohammed left me in the street, and having at last persuaded the sleepy and tired Indian porter, by violent kicks and testy answers to twenty cautious queries, to swing open the huge gate of his fortress, he rushed up stairs to embrace his mother. After a minute I heard the Zaghritah,[FN#1] Lululu, or shrill cry which in these lands welcomes the wanderer home; the sound so gladdening to the returner sent a chill to the strangers heart.
Presently the youth returned. His manner had changed from a boisterous and jaunty demeanour to one of grave and attentive courtesyI had become his guest. He led me into the gloomy hall, seated me upon a large carpeted Mastabah, or platform, and told his bara Miyan[FN#2] (great Sir), the Hindustani porter, to bring a light. [p.160] Meanwhile a certain shuffling of slippered feet above informed my ears that the Kabirah,[FN#3] the mistress of the house, was intent on hospitable thoughts. When the camels were unloaded, appeared a dish of fine vermicelli, browned and powdered with loaf sugar. The boy Mohammed, I, and Shaykh Nur, lost no time in exerting our right hands; and truly, after our hungry journey, we found the Kunafah delicious. After the meal we procured cots from a neighbouring coffee-house, and we lay down, weary, and anxious to snatch an hour or two of repose. At dawn we were expected to perform our Tawaf al-Kudum, or Circumambulation of Arrival, at the Harim.
Scarcely had the first smile of morning beamed upon the rugged head of the eastern hill, Abu Kubays,[FN#4] when we arose, bathed, and proceeded in our pilgrim-garb to the Sanctuary. We entered by the Bab al-Ziyadah, or principal northern door, descended two long flights of steps, traversed the cloister, and stood in sight of the Bayt Allah.
There at last it lay, the bourn of my long and weary Pilgrimage, realising the plans and hopes of many and many a year. The mirage medium of Fancy invested the
[p.161] huge catafalque and its gloomy pall with peculiar charms. There were no giant fragments of hoar antiquity as in Egypt, no remains of graceful and harmonious beauty as in Greece and Italy, no barbarous gorgeousness as in the buildings of India; yet the view was strange, uniqueand how few have looked upon the celebrated shrine! I may truly say that, of all the worshippers who clung weeping to the curtain, or who pressed their beating hearts to the stone, none felt for the moment a deeper emotion than did the Haji from the far-north. It was as if the poetical legends of the Arab spoke truth, and that the waving wings of angels, not the sweet breeze of morning, were agitating and swelling the black covering of the shrine. But, to confess humbling truth, theirs was the high feeling of religious enthusiasm, mine was the ecstasy of gratified pride.
Few Moslems contemplate for the first time the Kaabah, without fear and awe: there is a popular jest against new comers, that they generally inquire the direction of prayer. This being the Kiblah, or fronting place, Moslems pray all around it; a circumstance which of course cannot take place in any spot of Al-Islam but the Harim. The boy Mohammed, therefore, left me for a few minutes to myself; but presently he warned me that it was time to begin. Advancing, we entered through the Bab Benu Shaybah, the Gate of the Sons of the Shaybah[FN#5] (old woman). There we raised our
[p.162] hands, repeated the Labbayk, the Takbir, and the Tahlil; after which we uttered certain supplications, and drew our hands down our faces. Then we proceeded to the Shafeis place of worshipthe open pavement between the Makam Ibrahim and the well Zemzemwhere we performed the usual two-bow prayer in honour of the Mosque. This was followed by a cup of holy water and a present to the Sakkas, or carriers, who for the consideration distributed, in my name, a large earthen vaseful to poor pilgrims.
The word Zemzem has a doubtful origin. Some derive it from the Zam Zam, or murmuring of its waters, others from Zam! Zam! (fill! fill! i.e. the bottle), Hagars impatient exclamation when she saw the stream. Sale translates it stay! stay! and says that Hagar called out in the Egyptian language, to prevent her son wandering. The Hukama, or Rationalists of Al-Islam, who invariably connect their faith with the worship of Venus, especially, and the heavenly bodies generally, derive Zemzem from the Persian, and make it signify the great luminary. Hence they say the Zemzem, as well as the Kaabah, denoting the Cuthite or Ammonian worship of sun and fire, deserves mans reverence. So the Persian poet Khakani addresses these two buildings:
O Kaabah, thou traveller of the heavens!O Venus, thou fire of the world!
Thus Wahid Mohammed, founder of the Wahidiyah sect, identifies the Kiblah and the sun; wherefore he says the door fronts the East. By the names Yaman (right-hand), Sham (left-hand), Kubul, or the East wind (fronting), and Dubur, or the West wind (from the back), it is evident that worshippers fronted the rising sun. According to the Hukama, the original Black Stone represents Venus, which in the border of the heavens is a star of the planets, and symbolical of the
[p.163] generative power of nature, by whose passive energy the universe was warmed into life and motion. The Hindus accuse the Moslems of adoring the Bayt Ullah.
O Moslem, if thou worship the Kaabah,Why reproach the worshippers of idols?
says Rai Manshar. And Musaylimah, who in his attempt to found a fresh faith, gained but the historic epithet of Liar, allowed his followers to turn their faces in any direction, mentally ejaculating, I address myself to thee, who hast neither side nor figure; a doctrine which might be sensible in the abstract, but certainly not material enough and pride-flattering to win him many converts in Arabia.
The produce of Zemzem is held in great esteem. It is used for drinking and religious ablution, but for no baser purposes; and the Meccans advise pilgrims always to break their fast with it. It is apt to cause diarrhoea and boils, and I never saw a stranger drink it without a wry face. Sale is decidedly correct in his assertion: the flavour is a salt-bitter, much resembling an infusion of a teaspoonful of Epsom salts in a large tumbler of tepid water. Moreover, it is exceedingly heavy to the digestion. For this reason Turks and other strangers prefer rain-water, collected in cisterns and sold for five farthings a gugglet. It was a favourite amusement with me to watch them whilst they drank the holy water, and to taunt their scant and irreverent potations.
The strictures of the Calcutta Review (No. 41, art. 1), based upon the taste of Zemzem, are unfounded. In these days a critic cannot be excused for such hasty judgments; at Calcutta or Bombay he would easily find a jar of Zemzem water, which he might taste for himself. Upon this passage Mr. W. Muir (Life of Mahomet, vol. i, p. cclviii.) remarks that the flavour of stale water bottled up for months would not be a criterion of the same water freshly drawn. But it might easily be analysed.
The water is transmitted to distant regions in glazed
[p.164] earthern jars covered with basket-work, and sealed by the Zemzemis. Religious men break their lenten fast with it, apply it to their eyes to brighten vision, and imbibe a few drops at the hour of death, when Satan stands by holding a bowl of purest water, the price of the departing soul. Of course modern superstition is not idle about the waters of Zemzem. The copious supply of the well is considered at Meccah miraculous; in distant countries it facilitates the pron[o]unciation of Arabic to the student; and everywhere the nauseous draught is highly meritorious in a religious point of view.
We then advanced towards the eastern angle of the Kaabah, in which is inserted the Black Stone; and, standing about ten yards from it, repeated with upraised hands, There is no god but Allah alone, Whose Covenant is Truth, and Whose Servant is Victorious. There is no god but Allah, without Sharer; His is the Kingdom, to Him be Praise, and He over all Things is potent. After which we approached as close as we could to the stone. A crowd of pilgrims preventing our touching it that time, we raised our hands to our ears, in the first position of prayer, and then lowering them, exclaimed, O Allah (I do this), in Thy Belief, and in verification of Thy Book, and in Pursuance of Thy Prophets Examplemay Allah bless Him and preserve! O Allah, I extend my Hand to Thee, and great is my Desire to Thee! O accept Thou my Supplication, and diminish my Obstacles, and pity my Humiliation, and graciously grant me Thy Pardon! After which, as we were still unable to reach the stone, we raised our hands to our ears, the palms facing the stone, as if touching it, recited the various religious formulae, the Takbir, the Tahlil, and the Hamdilah, blessed the Prophet, and kissed the finger-tips of the right hand. The Prophet used to weep when he touched the Black Stone, and said that it was the place for the pouring forth of tears. According to most authors, the
[p.165] second Caliph also used to kiss it. For this reason most Moslems, except the Shafei school, must touch the stone with both hands and apply their lips to it, or touch it with the fingers, which should be kissed, or rub the palms upon it, and afterwards draw them down the face. Under circumstances of difficulty, it is sufficient to stand before the stone, but the Prophets Sunnat, or practice, was to touch it. Lucian mentions adoration of the sun by kissing the hand.
Then commenced the ceremony of Tawaf,[FN#6] or circumambulation, our route being the Matafthe low oval of polished granite immediately surrounding the Kaabah. I
[p.166] repeated, after my Mutawwif, or cicerone,[FN#7] In the Name of Allah, and Allah is omnipotent! I purpose to circuit seven circuits unto Almighty Allah, glorified and exalted! This is technically called the Niyat (intention) of Tawaf. Then we began the prayer, O Allah (I do this), in Thy Belief, and in Verification of Thy Book, and in Faithfulness to Thy Covenant, and in Perseverance of the Example of the Apostle Mohammedmay Allah bless Him and preserve! till we reached the place Al-Multazem, between the corner of the Black Stone and the Kaabah door. Here we ejaculated, O Allah, Thou hast Rights, so pardon my transgressing them. Opposite the door we repeated, O Allah, verily the House is Thy House, and the Sanctuary Thy Sanctuary, and the Safeguard Thy Safeguard, and this is the Place of him who flies to Thee from (hell) Fire! At the little building called Makam Ibrahim we said, O Allah, verily this is the Place of Abraham, who took Refuge with and fled to Thee from the Fire!O deny my Flesh and Blood, my Skin and Bones to the (eternal) Flames! As we paced slowly round the north or Irak corner of the Kaabah we exclaimed, O Allah, verily I take Refuge with Thee from Polytheism, and Disobedience, and Hypocrisy, and evil Conversation, and evil Thoughts concerning Family, and Property, and Progeny! When fronting the Mizab, or spout, we repeated the words, O Allah, verily I beg of Thee Faith which shall not decline, and a Certainty which shall not perish, and the good Aid of Thy Prophet Mohammedmay Allah bless Him and preserve! O Allah, shadow me in Thy Shadow on that Day when there is no Shade but Thy Shadow, and cause me to drink from the Cup of Thine Apostle Mohammedmay Allah bless Him and preserve!that pleasant Draught after which is no Thirst to all Eternity, O Lord of Honour and Glory! Turning the
[p.167] west corner, or the Rukn al-Shami, we exclaimed, O Allah, make it an acceptable Pilgrimage, and a Forgiveness of Sins, and a laudable Endeavour, and a pleasant Action (in Thy sight), and a store which perisheth not, O Thou Glorious! O Thou Pardoner! This was repeated thrice, till we arrived at the Yamani, or south corner, where, the crowd being less importunate, we touched the wall with the right hand, after the example of the Prophet, and kissed the finger-tips. Finally, between the south angle and that of the Black Stone, where our circuit would be completed, we said, O Allah, verily I take Refuge with Thee from Infidelity, and I take Refuge with Thee from Want, and from the Tortures of the Tomb, and from the Troubles of Life and Death. And I fly to Thee from Ignominy in this World and the next, and I implore Thy Pardon for the Present and for the Future. O Lord, grant to me in this Life Prosperity, and in the next Life Prosperity, and save me from the Punishment of Fire.
Thus finished a Shaut, or single course round the house. Of these we performed the first three at the pace called Harwalah, very similar to the French pas gymnastique, or Tarammul, that is to say, moving the shoulders as if walking in sand. The four latter are performed in Taammul, slowly and leisurely; the reverse of the Sai, or running. These seven Ashwat, or courses, are called collectively one Usbu ([Arabic]). The Moslem origin of this custom is too well known to require mention. After each Taufah[,] or circuit, we, being unable to kiss or even to touch the Black Stone, fronted towards it, raised our hands to our ears, exclaimed, In the Name of Allah, and Allah is omnipotent! kissed our fingers, and resumed the ceremony of circumambulation, as before, with Allah, in Thy Belief, &c.
At the conclusion of the Tawaf it was deemed advisable to attempt to kiss the stone. For a time I stood
[p.168] looking in despair at the swarming crowd of Badawi and other pilgrims that besieged it. But the boy Mohammed was equal to the occasion. During our circuit he had displayed a fiery zeal against heresy and schism, by foully abusing every Persian in his path[FN#8]; and the inopportune introduction of hard words into his prayers made the latter a strange patchwork; as Ave Maria purissima,arrah, dont ye be letting the pig at the pot,sanctissima, and so forth. He might, for instance, be repeating And I take Refuge with Thee from Ignominy in this World, when O thou rejected one, son of the rejected! would be the interpolation addressed to some long-bearded Khorasani,And in that to comeO hog and brother of a hoggess! And so he continued till I wondered that none dared to turn and rend him. After vainly addressing the pilgrims, of whom nothing could be seen but a mosaic of occupits and shoulder-blades, the boy Mohammed collected about half a dozen stalwart Meccans, with whose assistance, by sheer strength, we wedged our way into the thin and light-legged crowd. The Badawin turned round upon us like wild-cats, but
[p.169] they had no daggers. The season being autumn, they had not swelled themselves with milk for six months; and they had become such living mummies, that I could have managed single-handed half a dozen of them. After thus reaching the stone, despite popular indignation testified by impatient shouts, we monopolised the use of it for at least ten minutes. Whilst kissing it and rubbing hands and forehead upon it I narrowly observed it, and came away persuaded that it is an aerolite. It is curious that almost all travellers agree upon one point, namely, that the stone is volcanic. Ali Bey calls it mineralogically a block of volcanic basalt, whose circumference is sprinkled with little crystals, pointed and straw-like, with rhombs of tile-red feldspath upon a dark background, like velvet or charcoal, except one of its protuberances, which is reddish. Burckhardt thought it was a lava containing several small extraneous particles of a whitish and of a yellowish substance.
Having kissed the stone we fought our way through the crowd to the place called Al-Multazem. Here we pressed our stomachs, chests, and right cheeks to the Kaabah, raising our arms high above our heads and exclaiming, O Allah! O Lord of the Ancient House, free my Neck from Hell-fire, and preserve me from every ill Deed, and make me contented with that daily bread which Thou hast given to me, and bless me in all Thou hast granted! Then came the Istighfar, or begging of pardon; I beg Pardon of Allah the most high, who, there is no other God but He, the Living, the Eternal, and unto Him I repent myself! After which we blessed the Prophet, and then asked for ourselves all that our souls most desired.[FN#9]
[p.170] After embracing the Multazem, we repaired to the Shafeis place of prayer near the Makam Ibrahim, and there recited two prostrations, technically called Sunnat al-Tawaf, or the (Apostles) practice of circumambulation. The chapter repeated in the first was Say thou, O Infidels: in the second, Say thou He is the one God.[FN#10] We then went to the door of the building in which is Zemzem: there I was condemned to another nauseous draught, and was deluged with two or three skinfuls of water dashed over my head en douche. This ablution causes sins to fall from the spirit like dust.[FN#11] During the potation we prayed, O Allah, verily I beg of Thee plentiful daily Bread, and profitable Learning, and the healing of every Disease! Then we returned towards the Black Stone, stood far away opposite, because unable to touch it, ejaculated the Takbir, the Tahlil, and the Hamdilah; and thoroughly worn out with scorched feet and a burning head,both extremities, it must be remembered, were bare, and various delays had detained us till ten A.M.,I left the Mosque.[FN#12]
The boy Mohammed had miscalculated the amount of lodging in his mothers house. She, being a widow
[p.171] and a lone woman, had made over for the season all the apartments to her brother, a lean old Meccan, of true ancient type, vulture-faced, kite-clawed, with a laugh like a hyena, and a mere shell of body. He regarded me with no favouring eye when I insisted as a guest upon having some place of retirement; but he promised that, after our return from Arafat, a little store-room should be cleared out for me. With that I was obliged to be content, and to pass that day in the common male drawing-room of the house, a vestibule on the ground floor, called in Egypt a Takhta-bush.[FN#13] Entering, to the left (A) was a large Mastabah, or platform, and at the bottom (B) a second, of smaller dimensions and foully dirty. Behind this was a dark and unclean store-room (C) containing the Hajis baggage. Opposite the Mastabah was a firepan for pipes and coffee (D), superintended by a family of lean Indians; and by the side (E) a doorless passage led to a bathing-room (F) and staircase (G).
I had scarcely composed myself upon the carpeted Mastabah, when the remainder was suddenly invaded by the Turkish, or rather Slavo-Turk, pilgrims inhabiting the house, and a host of their visitors. They were large, hairy men, with gruff voices and square figures; they did not take the least notice of me, although[,] feeling the intrusion, I stretched out my legs with a provoking nonchalance.[FN#14] At last one of them addressed me in Turkish, to which I
[p.172] replied by shaking my head. His question being interpreted to me in Arabic, I drawled out, My native place is the land of Khorasan. This provoked a stern and stony stare from the Turks, and an ugh! which said plainly enough, Then you are a pestilent heretic. I surveyed them with a self-satisfied simper, stretched my legs a trifle farther, and conversed with my water-pipe. Presently, when they all departed for a time, the boy Mohammed raised, by request, my green box of medicines, and deposited it upon the Mastabah; thus defining, as it were, a line of demarcation, and asserting my privilege to it before the Turks. Most of these men were of one party, headed by a colonel of Nizam, whom they called a Bey. My acquaintance with them began roughly enough, but afterwards, with some exceptions, who were gruff as an English butcher when accosted by a lean foreigner, they proved to be kind-hearted and not unsociable men. It often happens to the traveller, as the charming Mrs. Malaprop observes, to find intercourse all the better by beginning with a little aversion.
In the evening, accompanied by the boy Mohammed, and followed by Shaykh Nur, who carried a lantern and a praying-rug, I again repaired to the Navel of the World[FN#15]; this time aesthetically, to enjoy the delights of the hour after the gaudy, babbling, and remorseful day. The moon, now approaching the full, tipped the brow of Abu Kubays, and lit up the spectacle with a more solemn light. In the midst stood the huge bier-like erection,
Black as the wingsWhich some spirit of ill oer a sepulchre flings,
[p.173] except where the moonbeams streaked it like jets of silver falling upon the darkest marble. It formed the point of rest for the eye; the little pagoda-like buildings and domes around it, with all their gilding and fretwork, vanished. One object, unique in appearance, stood in viewthe temple of the one Allah, the God of Abraham, of Ishmael, and of their posterity. Sublime it was, and expressing by all the eloquence of fancy the grandeur of the One Idea which vitalised Al-Islam, and the strength and steadfastness of its votaries.
The oval pavement round the Kaabah was crowded with men, women, and children, mostly divided into parties, which followed a Mutawwif; some walking staidly, and others running, whilst many stood in groups to prayer. What a scene of contrasts! Here stalked the Badawi woman, in her long black robe like a nuns serge, and poppy-coloured face-veil, pierced to show two fiercely flashing orbs. There an Indian woman, with her semi-Tartar features, nakedly hideous, and her thin legs, encased in wrinkled tights, hurried round the fane. Every now and then a corpse, borne upon its wooden shell, circuited the shrine by means of four bearers, whom other Moslems, as is the custom, occasionally relieved. A few fair-skinned Turks lounged about, looking cold and repulsive, as their wont is. In one place a fast Calcutta Khitmugar stood, with turband awry and arms akimbo, contemplating the view jauntily, as those gentlemens gentlemen will do. In another, some poor wretch, with arms thrown on high, so that every part of his person might touch the Kaabah, was clinging to the curtain and sobbing as though his heart would break.
From this spectacle my eyes turned towards Abu Kubays. The city extends in that direction half-way up the grim hill: the site might be compared, at a humble distance, to Bath. Some writers liken it to Florence; but conceive a Florence without beauty! To the South
[p.174] lay Jabal Jiyad the Greater,[FN#16] also partly built over and crowned with a fort, which at a distance looks less useful than romantic[FN#17]: a flood of pale light was sparkling upon its stony surface. Below, the minarets became pillars of silver, and the cloisters, dimly streaked by oil lamps, bounded the views of the temple with horizontal lines of shade.
Before nightfall the boy Mohammed rose to feed the Mosque pigeons, for whom he had brought a pocketful of barley. He went to the place where these birds flockthe line of pavement leading from the isolated arch to the Eastern cloisters. During the day women and children are to be seen sitting here, with small piles of grain upon little plaited trays of basket-work. For each they demand a copper piece; and religious pilgrims consider it their duty to provide the reverend blue-rocks with a plentiful meal.
The Hindu Pandits assert that Shiwa and his spouse, under the forms and names of Kapot-Eshwara (pigeon god) and Kapotesi, dwelt at Meccah. The dove was the device of the old Assyrian Empire, because it is supposed Semiramis was preserved by that bird. The Meccan pigeons, resembling those of Venice, are held sacred probably in consequence of the wild traditions of the Arabs about Noahs dove. Some authors declare that in Mohammeds time, among the idols of the Meccan Pantheon, was a pigeon carved in wood, and above it another, which Ali, mounting upon the Prophets shoulder, pulled down. This might have been a Hindu, a Jewish, or a Christian symbol. The Moslems connect the pigeon
[p.175] on two occasions with their faith: first, when that bird appeared to whisper in Mohammeds ear; and, secondly, during the flight to Al-Madinah. Moreover, in many countries they are called Allahs Proclaimers, because their movement when cooing resembles prostration.
Almost everywhere the pigeon has entered into the history of religion, which probably induced Mr. Lascelles to incur the derision of our grandfathers by pronouncing it a holy bird. At Meccah they are called the doves of the Kaabah, and they never appear at table. They are remarkable for propriety when sitting upon the holy building. This may be a minor miracle: I would rather believe that there is some contrivance on the roof. My friend Mr. Bicknell remarks: This marvel, however, having of late years been suspended, many discern another omen of the approach of the long-predicted period when unbelievers shall desecrate the sacred soil.
Late in the evening I saw a negro in the state called Malbusreligious frenzy. To all appearance a Takruri, he was a fine and a powerful man, as the numbers required to hold him testified. He threw his arms wildly about him, uttering shrill cries, which sounded like le le le le! and when held, he swayed his body, and waved his head from side to side, like a chained and furious elephant, straining out the deepest groans. The Africans appear unusually subject to this nervous state which, seen by the ignorant and the imaginative, would at once suggest demoniacal possession.[FN#18] Either their organisation is more impressionable, or more probably, the hardships, privations, and fatigues endured whilst wearily traversing inhospitable wilds, and perilous seas, have exalted their
[p.176] imaginations to a pitch bordering upon frenzy. Often they are seen prostrate on the pavement, or clinging to the curtain, or rubbing their foreheads upon the stones, weeping bitterly, and pouring forth the wildest ejaculations.
That night I stayed in the Harim till two A.M., wishing to see if it would be empty. But the morrow was to witness the egress to Arafat; many, therefore, passed the hours of darkness in the Harim. Numerous parties of pilgrims sat upon their rugs, with lanterns in front of them, conversing, praying, and contemplating the Kaabah. The cloisters were full of merchants, who resorted there to talk shop, and to vend such holy goods as combs, tooth-sticks, and rosaries. Before ten P.M. I found no opportunity of praying the usual two prostrations over the grave of Ishmael. After waiting long and patiently, at last I was stepping into the vacant place, when another pilgrim rushed forward; the boy Mohammed, assisted by me, instantly seized him, and, despite his cries and struggles, taught him to wait. Till midnight we sat chatting with the different ciceroni who came up to offer their services. I could not help remarking their shabby and dirty clothes, and was informed that during pilgrimage, when splendour is liable to be spoiled, they wear out old dresses; and appear endimanches for the Muharram fete, when most travellers have left the city. Presently my two companions, exhausted with fatigue, fell asleep; I went up to the Kaabah, with the intention of annexing a bit of the torn old Kiswat or curtain, but too many eyes were looking on. At this season of the year the Kiswat is much tattered at the base, partly by pilgrims fingers, and partly by the strain of the cord which confines it when the wind is blowing. It is considered a mere peccadillo to purloin a bit of the venerable stuff; but as the officers of the temple make money by selling it, they certainly would visit detection with an [p.177] unmerciful application of the quarterstaff. The piece in my possession was given to me by the boy Mohammed before I left Meccah. Waistcoats cut out of the Kiswah still make the combatants invulnerable in battle, and are considered presents fit for princes. The Moslems generally try to secure a strip of this cloth as a mark for the Koran, or for some such purpose. The opportunity, however, was favourable for a survey, and with a piece of tape, and the simple processes of stepping and spanning, I managed to measure all the objects concerning which I was curious.
At last sleep began to weigh heavily upon my eyelids. I awoke my companions, and in the dizziness of slumber they walked with me through the tall narrow street from the Bab al-Ziyadah to our home in the Shamiyah. The brilliant moonshine prevented our complaining, as other travellers have had reason to do, of the darkness and the difficulty of Meccahs streets. The town, too, appeared safe; there were no watchmen, and yet people slept everywhere upon cots placed opposite their open doors. Arrived at the house, we made some brief preparations for snatching a few hours sleep upon the Mastabah, a place so stifling, that nothing but utter exhaustion could induce lethargy there.
[FN#1] The Egyptian word is generally pronounced Zaghrutah, the plural is Zagharit, corrupted to Ziraleet. The classical Arabic term is Tahlil; the Persians call the cry Kil. It is peculiar to women, and is formed by raising the voice to its highest pitch, vibrating it at the same time by rolling the tongue, whose modulations express now joy, now grief. To my ear it always resembled the brain-piercing notes of a fife. Dr. Buchanan likens it to a serpent uttering human sounds. The unsavoury comparison, however, may owe its origin to the circumstance that Dr. Buchanan heard it at the orgies of Jagannath. [FN#2] As an Indian is called Miyan, sir, an elderly Indian becomes bara Miyan, great or ancient sir. I shall have occasion to speak at a future period of these Indians at Meccah. [FN#3] Sitt al-Kabirah, or simply Al-Kabirah, the Great Lady, is the title given to the mistress of. the house. [FN#4] This hill bounds Meccah on the East. According to many Moslems, Adam, with his wife and his son Seth, lie buried in a cave here. Others place his tomb at Muna; the Majority at Najaf. The early Christians had a tradition that our first parents were interred under Mount Calvary; the Jews place their grave near Hebron. Habil (Abel), it is well known, is supposed to be entombed at Damascus; and Kabil (Cain) rests at last under Jabal Shamsan, the highest wall of the Aden crater, where he and his progeny, tempted by Iblis, erected the first fire-temple. It certainly deserves to be the sepulchre of the first murderer. The worship, however, was probably imported from India, where Agni (the fire god) was, as the Vedas prove, the object of mans earliest adoration. [FN#5] The popular legend of this gate is, that when Abraham and his son were ordered to rebuild the Kaabah, they found the spot occupied by an old woman. She consented to remove her house on condition that the key of the new temple should be entrusted to her and to her descendants for ever and ever. The origin of this is, that Benu Shaybah means the sons of an old woman as well as descendants of Shaybah. And history tells us that the Benu Shaybah are derived from one Shaybah (bin Osman, bin Talhah, bin Shaybah, bin Talhah, bin Abd al-Dar), who was sent by Muawiyah to make some alterations in the Kaabah. According to others, the Kaabah key was committed to the charge of Osman bin Talhah by the Prophet. [FN#6] The Moslem in circumambulation presents his left shoulder; the Hindus Pradakshina consists in walking round with the right side towards the fane or idol. Possibly the former may be a modification of the latter, which would appear to be the original form of the rite. Its conjectural significance is an imitation of the procession of the heavenly bodies, the motions of the spheres, and the dances of the angels. These are also imitated in the circular whirlings of the Darwayshes. And Al-Shahristani informs us that the Arab philosophers believed this sevenfold circumambulation to be symbolical of the motion of the planets round the sun. It was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, whose Ambarvalia and Amburbalia appear to be eastern superstitions, introduced by Numa, or by the priestly line of princes, into their pantheism. And our processions round the parish preserve the form of the ancient rites, whose life is long since fled. Moslem moralists have not failed to draw spiritual food from this mass of materialism. To circuit the Bayt Ullah, said the Pir Raukhan (As. Soc. vol. xi. and Dabistan, vol. iii., Miyan Bayazid), and to be free from wickedness, and crime, and quarrels, is the duty enjoined by religion. But to circuit the house of the friend of Allah (i.e. the heart), to combat bodily propensities, and to worship the Angels, is the business of the (mystic) path. Thus Saadi, in his sermons,which remind the Englishman of poor Yorick,He who travels to the Kaabah on foot makes a circuit of the Kaabah, but he who performs the pilgrimage of the Kaabah in his heart is encircled by the Kaabah. And the greatest Moslem divines sanction this visible representation of an invisible and heavenly shrine, by declaring that, without a material medium, it is impossible for man to worship the Eternal Spirit. [FN#7] The Mutawwif, or Dalil, is the guide at Meccah. [FN#8] In A.D. 1674 some wretch smeared the Black Stone with impurity, and every one who kissed it retired with a sullied beard. The Persians, says Burckhardt, were suspected of this sacrilege, and now their ill-fame has spread far; at Alexandria they were described to me as a people who defile the Kaabah. It is scarcely necessary to say that a Shiah, as well as a Sunni, would look upon such an action with lively horror. The people of Meccah, however, like the Madani, have turned the circumstance to their own advantage, and make an occasional avanie. Thus, nine or ten years ago, on the testimony of a boy who swore that he saw the inside of the Kaabah defiled by a Persian, they rose up, cruelly beat the schismatics, and carried them off to their peculiar quarter the Shamiyah, forbidding their ingress to the Kaabah. Indeed, till Mohammed Alis time, the Persians rarely ventured upon a pilgrimage, and even now that man is happy who gets over it without a beating. The defilement of the Black Stone was probably the work of some Jew or Greek, who risked his life to gratify a furious bigotry. [FN#9] Prayer is granted at fourteen places besides Al-Multazem, viz.:
1. At the place of circumambulation. 2. Under the Mizab, or spout of the Kaabah. 3. Inside the Kaabah. 4. At the well Zemzem. 5. Behind Abrahams place of prayer. 6 and 7. On Mounts Safa and Marwah. 8. During the ceremony called Al-Sai. 9. Upon Mount Arafat. 10. At Muzdalifah. 11. In Muna. 12. During the devil-stoning. 13. On first seeing the Kaabah. 14. At the Hatim or Hijr. [FN#10] The former is the 109th, the latter the 112th chapter of the Koran (I have translated it in a previous volume). [FN#11] These superstitions, I must remark, belong only to the vulgar. [FN#12] Strictly speaking we ought, after this, to have performed the ceremony called Al-Sai, or the running seven times between Mounts Safa and Marwah. Fatigue put this fresh trial completely out of the question. [FN#13] I have been diffuse in my description of this vestibule, as it is the general way of laying out a ground-floor at Meccah. During the pilgrimage time the lower hall is usually converted into a shop for the display of goods, especially when situated in a populous quarter. [FN#14] This is equivalent to throwing oneself upon the sofa in Europe. Only in the East it asserts a decided claim to superiority; the West would scarcely view it in that light. [FN#15] Ibn Haukal begins his cosmography with Meccah because the temple of the Lord is situated there, and the holy Kaabah is the navel of the earth, and Meccah is styled in sacred writ the parent city, or the mother of towns. Unfortunately, Ibn Haukal, like most other Moslem travellers and geographers, says no more about Meccah. [FN#16] To distinguish it from the Jiyad (above the cemetery Al-Maala) over which Khalid entered Meccah. Some topographers call the Jiyad upon which the fort is built the lesser, and apply greater to Jiyad Amir, the hill north of Meccah. [FN#17] The Meccans, however, do not fail to boast of its strength; and has stood some sieges. [FN#18] In the Mandal, or palm-divination, a black slave is considered the best subject. European travellers have frequently remarked their nervous sensibility. In Abyssinia the maladies called bouda and tigritiya appear to depend upon some obscure connection between a weak impressionable brain and the strong will of a feared and hated racethe blacksmiths.
[p.178]CHAPTER XXVIII.
AT ten A.M., on the 8th Zul Hijjah, A.H. 1269 (Monday, 12th Sept., 1853), habited in our Ihram, or pilgrim garbs, we mounted the litter. Shaykh Masud had been standing at the door from dawn-time, impatient to start before the Damascus and the Egyptian caravans made the road dangerous. Our delay arose from the tyrannical conduct of the boy Mohammed, who insisted upon leaving his little nephew behind. It was long before he yielded. I then placed the poor child, who was crying bitterly, in the litter between us, and at last we started.
We followed the road by which the Caravans entered Meccah. It was covered with white-robed pilgrims, some few wending their way on foot[FN#1]; others riding, and all men barefooted and bareheaded. Most of the wealthier classes mounted asses. The scene was, as usual, one of strange contrasts: Badawin bestriding swift dromedaries; Turkish dignitaries on fine horses; the most picturesque beggars, and the most uninteresting Nizam. Not a little wrangling mingled with the loud bursts of Talbiyat. Dead animals dotted the ground, and carcasses had been cast into a dry tank, the Birkat al-Shami which caused every Badawi to
[p.179] hold his nose.[FN#2] Here, on the right of the road, the poorer pilgrims, who could not find houses, had erected huts, and pitched their ragged tents. Traversing the suburb Al-Mabdah (Maabadah), in a valley between the two barren prolongations of Kaykaan and Khandamah, we turned to the north-east, leaving on the left certain barracks of Turkish soldiery, and the negro militia here stationed, with the Saniyat Kudaa in the background. Then, advancing about 3000 paces over rising ground, we passed by the conical head of Jabal Nur,[FN#3] and entered the plain of many names.[FN#4] It contained nothing but a few whitewashed walls, surrounding places of prayer, and a number of stone cisterns, some well preserved, others in ruins. All, however, were dry, and water-vendors crowded the roadside. Gravel and lumps of granite grew there like grass, and from under every large stone, as Shaykh Masud took a delight in showing, a small scorpion, with tail curled over its back, fled, Parthian-like, from the invaders of its home. At eleven A.M., ascending a Mudarraj, or flight of stone steps, about thirty yards broad, we passed without difficulty, for we were in advance of the caravans, over the Akabah, or Steeps,[FN#5] and the narrow, hill-girt entrance, to the low gravel basin in which Muna lies.
[p.180] Muna, more classically called Mina,[FN#6] is a place of considerable sanctity. Its three standing miracles are these: The pebbles thrown at the Devil return by angelic agency to whence they came; during the three Days of Drying Meat rapacious beasts and birds cannot prey there; and, lastly, flies do not settle upon the articles of food exposed so abundantly in the bazars.[FN#7] During pilgrimage, houses are let for an exorbitant sum, and it becomes a Worlds Fair of Moslem merchants. At all other seasons it is almost deserted, in consequence, says popular superstition, of the Rajm or (diabolical) lapidation.[FN#8] Distant about three miles from Meccah, it is a long, narrow, straggling village, composed of mud and stone houses of one or two stories, built in the common Arab style. Traversing a narrow street, we passed on the left the Great Devil, which shall be described at a future time. After a quarter of an hours halt, spent over pipes and coffee, we came to an open space, where stands the Mosque Al-Khayf. Here, according to some Arabs, Adam lies, his head being at one end of one long wall, and his feet at another, whilst the dome covers his omphalic region. Grand preparations for fireworks were being made in this square; I especially remarked a fire-ship,
[p.181] which savoured strongly of Stambul. After passing through the town, we came to Batn al-Muhassir, The Basin of the Troubler,[FN#9] (Satan) at the beginning of a descent leading to Muzdalifah (the Approacher), where the road falls into the valley of the Arafat torrent.
At noon we reached the Muzdalifah, also called Mashar al-Haram, the Place dedicated to religious Ceremonies.[FN#10] It is known in Al-Islam as the Minaret without the Mosque, opposed to Masjid Nimrah, which is the Mosque without the Minaret. Half-way between Muna and Arafat, it is about three miles from both. There is something peculiarly striking in the distant appearance of the tall, solitary tower, rising abruptly from the desolate valley of gravel, flanked with buttresses of yellow rock. No wonder that the ancient Arabs loved to give the high-sounding name of this oratory to distant places in their giant Caliph-empire.
Here as we halted to perform the mid-day prayer, we were overtaken by the Damascus Caravan. It was a grand spectacle. The Mahmil, no longer naked as upon the line of march, flashed in the sun all green and gold. Around the moving host of white-robed pilgrims hovered a crowd of Badawin, male and female, all mounted on swift dromedaries, and many of them armed to the teeth. As their drapery floated in the wind, and their faces were veiled with the Lisam, it was frequently difficult to
[p.182] distinguish the sex of the wild being, flogging its animal to speed. These people, as has been said, often resort to Arafat for blood-revenge, in hopes of finding the victim unprepared. Nothing can be more sinful in Al-Islam than such deedit is murder, made sicker by sacrilege; yet the prevalence of the practice proves how feeble is the religions hold upon the race. The women are as unscrupulous: I remarked many of them emulating the men in reckless riding, and striking with their sticks every animal in the way.
Travelling Eastward up the Arafat Fiumara, after about half an hour we came to a narrow pass called Al-Akhshabayn[FN#11] or the Two Rugged Hills. Here the spurs of the rock limited the road to about a hundred paces, and it is generally a scene of great confusion. After this we arrived at Al-Bazan (the Basin),[FN#12] a widening of the plain; and another half-hour brought us to the Alamayn (the Two Signs), whitewashed pillars, or rather thin, narrow walls, surmounted with pinnacles, which denote the precincts of the Arafat plain. Here, in full sight of the Holy Hill, standing boldly out from the deep blue sky, the host of pilgrims broke into loud Labbayks. A little beyond, and to our right, was the simple enclosure called the Masjid Nimrah.[FN#13] We then
[p.183] turned from our eastern course northwards, and began threading our way down the main street of the town of tents which clustered about the southern foot of Arafat. At last, about three P.M., we found a vacant space near the Matbakh, or kitchen, formerly belonging to a Sharifs palace, but now a ruin with a few shells of arches.
Arafat is about six hours very slow march, or twelve miles,[FN#14] on the Taif road, due east of Meccah. We arrived there in a shorter time, but our weary camels, during the last third of the way, frequently threw themselves upon the ground. Human beings suffered more. Between Muna and Arafat I saw no fewer than five men fall down and die upon the highway: exhausted and moribund, they had dragged themselves out to give up the ghost where it departs to instant beatitude.[FN#15] The spectacle showed how easy it is to die in these latitudes[FN#16]; each man suddenly staggered, fell as if shot; and, after a brief convulsion, lay still as marble. The corpses were carefully taken up, and carelessly buried that same evening, in a vacant space amongst the crowds encamped upon the Arafat plain.[FN#17]
The boy Mohammed, who had long chafed at my pertinacious [p.184] claim to Darwaysh-hood, resolved on this occasion to be grand. To swell the party he had invited Omar Effendi, whom we accidentally met in the streets of Meccah, to join us[;] but failing therein, he brought with him two cousins, fat youths of sixteen and seventeen, and his mothers ground-floor servants. These were four Indians: an old man; his wife, a middle-aged woman of the most ordinary appearance; their son, a sharp boy, who spoke excellent Arabic[FN#18]; and a family friend, a stout fellow about thirty years old. They were Panjabis, and the bachelors history was instructive. He was gaining an honest livelihood in his own country, when suddenly one night Hazrat Ali, dressed in green, and mounted upon his charger Duldul[FN#19]at least, so said the narratorappeared, crying in a terrible voice, How long wilt thou toil for this world, and be idle about the life to come? From that moment, like an English murderer, he knew no peace; Conscience and Hazrat Ali haunted him.[FN#20] Finding
[p.185] life unendurable at home, he sold everything; raised the sum of twenty pounds, and started for the Holy Land. He reached Jeddah with a few rupees in his pocket[;] and came to Meccah, where, everything being exorbitantly dear and charity all but unknown, he might have starved, had he not been received by his old friend. The married pair and their son had been taken as house-servants by the boy Mohammeds mother, who generously allowed them shelter and a pound of rice per diem to each, but not a farthing of pay. They were even expected to provide their own turmeric and onions. Yet these poor people were anxiously awaiting the opportunity to visit Al-Madinah, without which their pilgrimage would not, they believed, be complete. They would beg their way through the terrible Desert and its Badawinan old man, a boy, and a woman! What were their chances of returning to their homes? Such, I believe, is too often the history of those wretches whom a fit of religious enthusiasm, likest to insanity, hurries away to the Holy Land. I strongly recommend the subject to the consideration of our Indian Government as one that calls loudly for their interference. No Eastern ruler parts, as we do, with his subjects; all object to lose productive power. To an Empire of Opinion this emigration is fraught with evils. It sends forth a horde of malcontents that ripen into bigots; it teaches foreign nations to despise our rule; and it unveils the present nakedness of once wealthy India. And we have both prevention and cure in our own hands.
As no Moslem, except the Maliki, is bound to pilgrimage without a sum sufficient to support himself and his family, all who embark at the different ports of India should be obliged to prove their solvency before being provided with a permit. Arrived at Jeddah, they should present the certificate at the British Vice-Consulate, where they would become entitled to assistance in case of necessity. The Vice-Consul at Jeddah ought also to be instructed
[p.186] to assist our Indian pilgrims. Mr. Cole, when holding that appointment, informed me that, though men die of starvation in the streets, he was unable to relieve them. The highways of Meccah abound in pathetic Indian beggars, who affect lank bodies, shrinking frames, whining voices, and all the circumstance of misery, because it supports them in idleness.
There are no fewer than fifteen hundred Indians at Meccah and Jeddah, besides seven or eight hundred in Al-Yaman. Such a body requires a Consul.[FN#21] By the representation of a Vice-Consul when other powers send an officer of superior rank to Al-Hijaz, we voluntarily place ourselves in an inferior position. And although the Meccan Sharif might for a time object to establishing a Moslem agent at the Holy City with orders to report to the Consul at Jeddah, his opposition would soon fall to the ground.
With the Indians assistance the boy Mohammed removed the handsome Persian rugs with which he had covered the Shugduf, pitched the tent, carpeted the ground, disposed a Diwan of silk and satin cushions round the interior, and strewed the centre with new Chibuks, and highly polished Shishahs. At the doorway was placed a large copper fire-pan, with coffee-pots singing a welcome to visitors. In front of us were the litters, and by divers similar arrangements our establishment was made to look fine. The youth also insisted upon my removing the Rida, or upper cotton cloth, which had become way-soiled, and he supplied its place by a rich cashmere, left with him, some years before, by a son of the King of Delhi. Little thought I that this bravery of attire would lose me every word of the Arafat sermon next day.
Arafat, anciently called Jabal Ilal ([Arabic]), the Mount
[p.187] of Wrestling in Prayer, and now Jabal al-Rahmah, the Mount of Mercy, is a mass of coarse granite split into large blocks, with a thin coat of withered thorns. About one mile in circumference, it rises abruptly to the height of a hundred and eighty or two hundred feet, from the low gravelly plaina dwarf wall at the Southern base forming the line of demarcation. It is separated by Batn Arnah ([Arabic]), a sandy vale,[FN#22] from the spurs of the Taif hills. Nothing can be more picturesque than the view it affords of the azure peaks behind, and the vast encampment scattered over the barren yellow plain below.[FN#23] On the North lay the regularly pitched camp of the guards that defend the unarmed pilgrims. To the Eastward was the Sharifs encampment, with the bright Mahmils and
[p.188] the gilt knobs of the grandees pavilions; whilst on the Southern and Western sides the tents of the vulgar crowded the ground, disposed in Dowar, or circles. After many calculations, I estimated the number to be not fewer than 50,000 of all ages and sexes; a sad falling off, it is true, but still considerable.
Ali Bey (A.D. 1807) calculates 83,000 pilgrims; Burckhardt (1814), 70,000. I reduce it, in 1853, to 50,000; and in A.D. 1854, owing to political causes, it fell to about 25,000. Of these at fewest 10,000 are Meccans, as every one who can leave the city does so at pilgrimage-time. The Arabs have a superstition that the numbers at Arafat cannot be counted, and that if fewer than 600,000 mortals stand upon the hill to hear the sermon, the angels descend and complete the number. Even this year my Arab friends declared that 150,000 spirits were present in human shape. It may be observed that when the good old Bertrand de la Brocquiere, esquire-carver to Philip of Burgundy, declares that the yearly Caravan from Damascus to Al-Madinah must always be composed of 700,000 persons, and that this number being incomplete, Allah sends some of his angels to make it up, he probably confounds the Caravan with the Arafat multitude.
The Holy Hill owes its name[FN#24] and honours to a well-known legend. When our first parents forfeited Heaven by eating wheat, which deprived them of their primeval purity, they were cast down upon earth. The serpent descended at Ispahan, the peacock at Kabul, Satan at Bilbays (others say Semnan and Seistan), Eve upon Arafat, and Adam at Ceylon. The latter, determining to seek his wife, began a journey, to which earth owes its present mottled appearance. Wherever our first father [p.189] placed his footwhich was largea town afterwards arose; between the strides will always be country. Wandering for many years, he came to the Mountain of Mercy, where our common mother was continually calling upon his name, and their recognition gave the place the name of Arafat. Upon its summit, Adam, instructed by the archangel Gabriel, erected a Madaa, or place of prayer: and between this spot and the Nimrah Mosque the couple abode till death. Others declare that after recognition, the first pair returned to India, whence for 44 years in succession they visited the Sacred City at pilgrimage-time.
From the Holy Hill I walked down to look at the camp arrangements. The main street of tents and booths, huts and shops, was bright with lanterns, and the bazars were crowded with people and stocked with all manner of Eastern delicacies. Some anomalous spectacles met the eye. Many pilgrims, especially the soldiers, were in laical costume. In one place a half-drunken Arnaut stalked down the road, elbowing peaceful passengers and frowning fiercely in hopes of a quarrel. In another part, a huge dimly-lit tent, reeking hot, and garnished with cane seats, contained knots of Egyptians, as their red Tarbushes, white turbands, and black Zaabuts showed, noisily intoxicating themselves with forbidden hemp. There were frequent brawls and great confusion; many men had lost their parties, and, mixed with loud Labbayks, rose the shouted names of women as well as of men. I was surprised at the disproportion of female nomenclaturethe missing number of fair ones seemed to double that of the other sexand at a practice so opposed to the customs of the Moslem world. At length the boy Mohammed enlightened me. Egyptian and other bold women, when unable to join the pilgrimage, will pay or persuade a friend to shout their names
[p.190] in hearing of the Holy Hill, with a view of ensuring a real presence at the desired spot next year. So the welkin rang with the indecent sounds of O Fatimah! O Zaynab! O Khayzran![FN#25] Plunderers, too, were abroad. As we returned to the tent we found a crowd assembled near it; a woman had seized a thief as he was beginning operations, and had the courage to hold his beard till men ran to her assistance. And we were obliged to defend by force our position against a knot of grave-diggers, who would bury a little heap of bodies within a yard or two of our tent.
One point struck me at oncethe difference in point of cleanliness between an encampment of citizens and of Badawin. Poor Masud sat holding his nose in ineffable disgust, for which he was derided by the Meccans. I consoled him with quoting the celebrated song of Maysunah, the beautiful Badawi wife of the Caliph Muawiyah. Nothing can be more charming in its own Arabic than this little song; the Badawin never hear it without screams of joy.
O take these purple robes away,Give back my cloak of camels hair,And bear me from this towring pileTo where the Black Tents flap i the air.The camels colt with faltring tread,The dog that bays at all but me,Delight me more than ambling mulesThan every art of minstrelsy;And any cousin, poor but free,Might take me, fatted ass! from thee.[FN#26]
[p.191] The old man, delighted, clapped my shoulder, and exclaimed, Verily, O Father of Mustachios, I will show thee the black tents of my tribe this year!
At length night came, and we threw ourselves upon our rugs, but not to sleep. Close by, to our bane, was a prayerful old gentleman, who began his devotions at a late hour and concluded them not before dawn. He reminded me of the undergraduate my neighbour at Trinity College, Oxford, who would spout Aeschylus at two A.M. Sometimes the chant would grow drowsy, and my ears would hear a dull retreating sound; presently, as if in self-reproach, it would rise to a sharp treble, and proceed at a rate perfectly appalling. The coffee-houses, too, were by no means silent; deep into the night I heard the clapping of hands accompanying merry Arab songs, and the loud shouts of laughter of the Egyptian hemp-drinkers. And the guards and protectors of the camp were not Charleys or night-nurses.
[FN#1] Pilgrims who would win the heavenly reward promised to those who walk, start at an early hour. [FN#2] The true Badawi, when in the tainted atmosphere of towns, is always known by bits of cotton in his nostrils, or by his kerchief tightly drawn over his nose, a heavy frown marking extreme disgust. [FN#3] Anciently called Hira. It is still visited as the place of the Prophets early lucubrations, and because here the first verse of the Koran descended. As I did not ascend the hill, I must refer readers for a description of it to Burckhardt, vol. i. p. 320. [FN#4] Al-Abtah, low ground; Al Khayf, the declivity; Fina Makkah, the court of Meccah; Al-Muhassib (from Hasba, a shining white pebble), corrupted by our authors to Mihsab and Mohsab. [FN#5] The spot where Kusay fought and where Mohammed made his covenant. [FN#6] If Ptolemys Mini be rightly located in this valley, the present name and derivation Muna (desire), because Adam here desired Paradise of Allah, must be modern. Sale, following Pococke, makes Mina (from Mana) allude to the flowing of victims blood. Possibly it may be the plural of Minyat, which in many Arabic dialects means a village. This basin was doubtless thickly populated in ancient times, and Moslem historians mention its seven idols, representing the seven planets. [FN#7] According to Mohammed the pebbles of the accepted are removed by angels; as, however, each man and woman must throw 49 or 70 stones, it is fair to suspect the intervention of something more material. Animals are frightened away by the bustling crowd, and flies are found in myriads. [FN#8] This demoniacal practice is still as firmly believed in Arabia as it formerly was in Europe. [FN#9] Probably because here Satan appeared to tempt Adam, Abraham, and Ishmael. The Qanoon e Islam erroneously calls it the Valley of Muhasurah, and corrupts Mashar al-Haram into Muzar al-Haram (the holy shrine). [FN#10] Many, even since Sale corrected the error, have confounded this Mashar al-Haram with Masjid al-H?r?m of Meccah. According to Al-Fasi, quoted by Burckhardt, it is the name of a little eminence at the end of the Muzdalifah valley, and anciently called Jabal Kuzah; it is also, he says, applied to an elevated platform inclosing the mosque of Muzdalifah. Ibn Jubayr makes Mashar al-Haram synonymous with Muzdalifah, to which he gives a third name, Jami. [FN#11] Buckhardt calls it Mazoumeyn, or Al-Mazik, the pass. Akeshab may mean wooded or rugged; in which latter sense it is frequently applied to hills. Kaykaan and Abu Kubays at Meccah are called Al-Akshshabayn in some books. The left hill, in Ibn Jubayrs time, was celebrated as a meeting-place for brigands. [FN#12] Kutb al-Din makes another Bazan the Southern limit of Meccah. [FN#13] Burckhardt calls this building, which he confounds with the Jami Ibrahim, the Jami Nimre; others Namirah, Nimrah, Namrah, and Namurah. It was erected, he says, by Kait Bey of Egypt, and had fallen into decay. It has now been repaired, and is generally considered neutral, and not Sanctuary ground, between the Harim of Meccah and the Holy Hill. [FN#14] Mr. W. Muir, in his valuable Life of Mahomet, vol. i, p. ccv., remarks upon this passage that at p. 180 ante, I made Muna three miles from Meccah, and Muzdalifah about three miles from Muna, and Arafat three miles from Muzdalifah,a total of nine. But the lesser estimate does not include the outskirts of Meccah on the breadth of the Arafat Plain. The Calcutta Review (art. 1, Sept. 1853) notably errs in making Arafat eighteen miles east of Meccah. Ibn Jubayr reckons five miles from Meccah to Muzdalifah, and five from this to Arafat. [FN#15] Those who die on a pilgrimage become martyrs. [FN#16] I cannot help believing that some unknown cause renders death easier to man in hot than in cold climates; certain it is that in Europe rare are the quiet and painless deathbeds so common in the East. [FN#17] We bury our dead, to preserve them as it were; the Moslem tries to secure rapid decomposition, and makes the graveyard a dangerous as well as a disagreeable place. [FN#18] Arabs observe that Indians, unless brought young into the country, never learn its language well. They have a word to express the vicious pronunciation of a slave or an Indian, Barbaret al-Hunud. This root Barbara ([Arabic]), like the Greek Barbaros, appears to be derived from the Sanscrit Varvvaraha, an outcast, a barbarian, a man with curly hair. [FN#19] Alis charger was named Maymun, or, according to others, Zul Janah (the winged). Indians generally confound it with Duldul, Mohammeds mule. [FN#20] These visions are common in history. Ali appeared to the Imam Shafei, saluted him,an omen of eternal felicity,placed a ring upon his finger, as a sign that his fame should extend wide as the donors, and sent him to the Holy Land. Ibrahim bin Adham, the saint-poet hearing, when hunting, a voice exclaim, Man! it is not for this that Allah made thee! answered, It is Allah who speaks, his servant will obey! He changed clothes with an attendant, and wandered forth upon a pilgrimage, celebrated in Al-Islam. He performed it alone, and making 1100 genuflexions each mile, prolonged it to twelve years. The history of Colonel Gardiner, and of many others amongst ourselves, prove that these visions are not confined to the Arabs. [FN#21] There is a Consul for Jeddah now, 1879, but till lately he was an unpaid. [FN#22] This vale is not considered standing-ground, because Satan once appeared to the Prophet as he was traversing it. [FN#23] According to Kutb al-Din, the Arafat plain was once highly cultivated. Stone-lined cisterns abound, and ruins of buildings are frequent. At the Eastern foot of the mountain was a broad canal, beginning at a spur of the Taif hills, and conveying water to Meccah; it is now destroyed beyond Arafat. The plain is cut with torrents, which at times sweep with desolating violence into the Holy City, and a thick desert vegetation shows that water is not deep below the surface. [FN#24] The word is explained in many ways. One derivation has already been mentioned. Others assert that when Gabriel taught Abraham the ceremonies, he ended by saying Aarafata manasikak?hast thou learned thy pilgrim rites? To which the Friend of Allah replied, Araftu!I have learned them. [FN#25] The latter name, Ratan, is servile. Respectable women are never publicly addressed by Moslems except as daughter, female pilgrim, after some male relation, O mother of Mohammed, O sister of Omar, or, tout bonnement, by a mans name. It would be ill-omened and dangerous were the true name known. So most women, when travelling, adopt an alias. Whoever knew an Afghan fair who was not Nur Jan, or Sahib Jan? [FN#26] The British reader will be shocked to hear that by the term fatted ass the intellectual lady alluded to her husband. The story is that Muawiyah, overhearing the song, sent back the singer to her cousin and beloved wilds. Maysunah departed with her son Yazid, and did not return to Damascus till the fatted ass had joined his forefathers. Yazid inherited, with his mothers talents, all her contempt for his father; at least the following quatrain, addressed to Muawiyah, and generally known in Al-Islam, would appear to argue anything but reverence:
I drank the water of the vine: that draught had power to rouseThy wrath, grim father! now, indeed, tis joyous to carouse!Ill drink!Be wroth!I reck not!Ah! dear to this heart of mineIt is to scoff a sires command, to quaff forbidden wine.
[p.192] CHAPTER XXIX.
THE morning of the ninth Zul Hijjah (Tuesday, 13th Sept.) was ushered in by military sounds: a loud discharge of cannon warned us to arise and to prepare for the ceremonies of this eventful day.
After ablution and prayer, I proceeded with the boy Mohammed to inspect the numerous consecrated sites on the Mountain of Mercy. In the first place, we repaired to a spot on rising ground to the south-east, and within a hundred yards of the hill. It is called Jami al-Sakhrah[FN#1]the Assembling Place of the Rockfrom two granite boulders upon which the Prophet stood to perform Talbiyat. There is nothing but a small enclosure of dwarf and whitewashed stone walls, divided into halves for men and women by a similar partition, and provided with a niche to direct prayer towards Meccah. Entering by steps, we found crowds of devotees and guardians, who for a consideration offered mats and carpets. After a two-bow prayer and a long supplication opposite the niche, we retired to the inner compartment, stood upon a boulder and shouted the Labbayk.
Thence, threading our way through many obstacles
[p.193] of tent and stone, we ascended the broad flight of rugged steps which winds up the southern face of the rocky hill. Even at this early hour it was crowded with pilgrims, principally Badawin and Wahhabis, who had secured favourable positions for hearing the sermon. Already their green flag was planted upon the summit close to Adams Place of Prayer. The wilder Arabs insist that Wukuf (standing) should take place upon the Hill. This is not done by the more civilised, who hold that all the plain within the Alamayn ranks as Arafat. According to Ali Bey, the Maliki school is not allowed to stand upon the mountain. About half way up I counted sixty-six steps, and remarked that they became narrower and steeper. Crowds of beggars instantly seized the pilgrims robes, and strove to prevent our entering a second enclosure. This place, which resembles the former, except that it has but one compartment and no boulders, is that whence Mohammed used to address his followers; and here, to the present day, the Khatib, or preacher, in imitation of the Last of the Prophets, sitting upon a dromedary, recites the Arafat sermon. Here, also, we prayed a two-bow prayer, and gave a small sum to the guardian.
Thence ascending with increased difficulty to the hill-top, we arrived at a large stuccoed platform,[FN#2] with prayer-niche and a kind of obelisk, mean and badly built of lime and granite stone, whitewashed, and conspicuous from afar. It is called the Makam, or Madaa Sayyidna Adam.[FN#3] Here we performed the customary ceremonies amongst a crowd of pilgrims, and then we walked down the little hill.
[p.194] Close to the plain we saw the place where the Egyptian and Damascus Mahmils stand during the sermon; and, descending the wall that surrounds Arafat by a steep and narrow flight of coarse stone steps, we found on our right the fountain which supplies the place with water. It bubbles from the rock, and is exceedingly pure, as such water generally is in Al-Hijaz.
Our excursion employed us longer than the description requiresnine oclock had struck before we reached the plain. All were in a state of excitement. Guns fired incessantly. Horsemen and camel-riders galloped about without apparent object. Even the women and the children stood and walked, too restless even to sleep. Arrived at the tent, I was unpleasantly surprised to find a new visitor in an old acquaintance, Ali ibn Ya Sin the Zemzemi. He had lost his mule, and, wandering in search of its keepers, he unfortunately fell in with our party. I had solid reasons to regret the mishaphe was far too curious and too observant to suit my tastes. On the present occasion, he, being uncomfortable, made us equally so. Accustomed to all the terrible neatness of an elderly damsel in Great Britain, a few specks of dirt upon the rugs, and half a dozen bits of cinder upon the ground, sufficed to give him attacks of nerves.
That day we breakfasted late, for night must come before we could eat again. After mid-day prayer we performed ablutions; some the greater, others the less, in preparation for the Wukuf, or Standing. From noon onwards the hum and murmur of the multitude increased, and people were seen swarming about in all directions.
A second discharge of cannon (at about 3.15 P.M.) announced the approach of Al-Asr, the afternoon prayer, and almost immediately we heard the Naubat, or band preceding the Sharifs procession, as he wended his way towards the mountain. Fortunately my tent was pitched close to the road, so that without trouble I had a perfect
[p.195] view of the scene. First swept a cloud of mace-bearers, who, as usual on such occasions, cleared the path with scant ceremony. They were followed by the horsemen of the Desert, wielding long and tufted spears. Immediately behind them came the Sharifs led horses, upon which I fixed a curious eye. All were highly bred, and one, a brown Nijdi with black points, struck me as the perfection of an Arab. They were small, and all were apparently of the northern race.[FN#4] Of their old crimson-velvet
[p.196] caparisons the less said the better; no little Indian Nawab would show aught so shabby on state occasions.
After the chargers paraded a band of black slaves on foot bearing huge matchlocks; and immediately preceded by three green and two red flags, came the Sharif, riding in front of his family and courtiers. The prince, habited in a simple white Ihram, and bare-headed, mounted a mule; the only sign of his rank was a large green and gold embroidered umbrella, held over him by a slave. The rear was brought up by another troop of Badawin on horses and camels. Behind this procession were the tents, whose doors and walls were scarcely visible for the crowd; and the picturesque background was the granite hill, covered, wherever standing-room was to be found, with white-robed pilgrims shouting Labbayk, and waving the skirts of their glistening garments violently over their heads.
Slowly and solemnly the procession advanced towards the hill. Exactly at the hour Al-Asr, the two Mahmils had taken their station side by side on a platform in the lower slope. That of Damascus could be distinguished as the narrower and the more ornamented of the pair. The Sharif placed himself with his standard-bearers and his retinue a little above the Mahmils, within hearing of the preacher. The pilgrims crowded up to the foot of the mountain: the loud Labbayk of the Badawin and
[p.197] Wahhabis[FN#5] fell to a solemn silence, and the waving of white robes ceaseda sign that the preacher had begun the Khutbat al-Wakfah, or Sermon of the Standing (upon Arafat). From my tent I could distinguish the form of the old man upon his camel, but the distance was too great for ear to reach.
But how came I to be at the tent?
A short confession will explain. They will shrive me who believe in inspired Spensers lines
And every spirit, as it is more pure,And hath in it the more of heavenly light,So it the fairer body doth procureTo habit in.
The evil came of a fairer body. I had prepared en cachette a slip of paper, and had hid in my Ihram a pencil destined to put down the heads of this rarely heard discourse. But unhappily that red cashmere shawl was upon my shoulders. Close to us sat a party of fair Meccans, apparently belonging to the higher classes, and one of these I had already several times remarked. She was a tall girl, about eighteen years old, with regular features, a skin somewhat citrine-coloured, but soft and clear, symmetrical eyebrows, the most beautiful eyes, and a figure all grace. There was no head thrown back, no straightened neck, no flat shoulders, nor toes turned outin fact, no elegant barbarisms: the shape was what the Arabs love, soft, bending, and relaxed, as a womans
[p.198] figure ought to be. Unhappily she wore, instead of the usual veil, a Yashmak of transparent muslin, bound round the face; and the chaperone, mother, or duenna, by whose side she stood, was apparently a very unsuspicious or complaisant old person. Flirtilla fixed a glance of admiration upon my cashmere. I directed a reply with interest at her eyes. She then by the usual coquettish gesture, threw back an inch or two of head-veil, disclosing broad bands of jetty hair, crowning a lovely oval. My palpable admiration of the new charm was rewarded by a partial removal of the Yashmak, when a dimpled mouth and a rounded chin stood out from the envious muslin. Seeing that my companions were safely employed, I entered upon the dangerous ground of raising hand to forehead. She smiled almost imperceptibly, and turned away. The pilgrim was in ecstasy.
The sermon was then half over. I was resolved to stay upon the plain and see what Flirtilla would do. Grace to the cashmere, we came to a good understanding. The next page will record my disappointmentthat evening the pilgrim resumed his soiled cotton cloth, and testily returned the red shawl to the boy Mohammed.
The sermon always lasts till near sunset, or about three hours. At first it was spoken amid profound silence. Then loud, scattered Amins (Amens) and volleys of Labbayk exploded at uncertain intervals[.] At last the breeze brought to our ears a purgatorial chorus of cries, sobs, and shrieks. Even my party thought proper to be affected: old Ali rubbed his eyes, which in no case unconnected with dollars could by any amount of straining be made to shed even a crocodiles tear; and the boy Mohammed wisely hid his face in the skirt of his Rida. Presently the people, exhausted by emotion, began to descend the hill in small parties; and those below struck their tents and commenced loading their camels, although at least an hours sermon remained. On this occassion, [p.199] however, all hurry to be foremost, as the race from Arafat is enjoyed by none but the Badawin.
Although we worked with a will, our animals were not ready to move before sunset, when the preacher gave the signal of Israf, or permission to depart. The pilgrims,
swaying to and fro, Like waves of a great sea, that in mid shock Confound each other, white with foam and fear,
rushed down the hill with a Labbayk sounding like a blast, and took the road to Muna. Then I saw the scene which has given to this part of the ceremonies the name of Al-Dafa min Arafat,the Hurry from Arafat. Every man urged his beast with might and main: it was sunset; the plain bristled with tent-pegs, litters were crushed, pedestrians were trampled, camels were overthrown: single combats with sticks and other weapons took place; here a woman, there a child, and there an animal were lost; briefly, it was a chaotic confusion.
To my disgust, old Ali insisted upon bestowing his company upon me. He gave over his newly found mule to the boy Mohammed, bidding him take care of the beast, and mounted with me in the Shugduf. I had persuaded Shaykh Masud, with a dollar, to keep close in rear of the pretty Meccan; and I wanted to sketch the Holy Hill. The senior began to give orders about the camelI, counter-orders. The camel was halted. I urged it on: old Ali directed it to be stopped. Meanwhile the charming face that smiled at me from the litter grew dimmer and dimmer; the more I stormed, the less I was listened toa string of camels crossed our pathI lost sight of the beauty. Then we began to advance. Again, my determination to sketch seemed likely to fail before the Zemzemis little snakes eye. After a few minutes angry search for expedients, one suggested itself. Effendi! said old Ali, sit quiet; there is danger here. I tossed about like one suffering from evil conscience or from the
[p.200] colic. Effendi! shrieked the senior, what art thou doing? Thou wilt be the death of us. Wallah! I replied with a violent plunge, it is all thy fault! There! (another plunge)put thy beard out of the other opening, and Allah will make it easy to us. In the ecstasy of fear my tormentor turned his face, as he was bidden, towards the camels head. A second halt ensued, when I looked out of the aperture in rear, and made a rough drawing of the Mountain of Mercy.