[p.378]usually called for brevity, Al-Madinah, the City, is situated on
the borders of Nijd, upon the vast plateau of high land
[p.379] which forms central Arabia. The limits of the sanctuary called
the Hudud al-Harim, as defined by the Apostle, may still serve to mark
out the city's plain. Northwards, at a distance of about three miles,
is Jabal Ohod, or, according to others, Jabal Saur, a hill somewhat
beyond Ohod; these are the last ribs of the vast tertiary and primitive
chine[FN#5] which, extending from Taurus to near Aden, and from Aden
again to Maskat, fringes the Arabian trapezium. To the South-west the
plain is bounded by ridges of scoriaceous basalt, and by a buttress of
rock called Jabal Ayr, like Ohod, about three miles distant from the
town. Westward, according to some authors, is the Mosque Zu'l-Halifah.
On the East there are no natural landmarks, nor even artificial, like
the "Alamayn" at Meccah; an imaginary line, therefore, is drawn,
forming an irregular circle of which the town is the centre, with a
diameter from ten to twelve miles. Such is the sanctuary.[FN#6]
Geographically considered, the
[p.380]plain is bounded, on the East, with a thin line of low dark
hills, traversed by the Darb al-Sharki, or the "Eastern road," through
Al-Nijd to Meccah: Southwards, the plateau is open, and almost
perfectly level as far as the eye can see.
Al-Madinah dates its origin doubtless from ancient times, and the cause
of its prosperity is evident in the abundant supply of water, a
necessary generally scarce in Arabia. The formation of the plateau is
in some places salt sand, but usually a white chalk, and a loamy clay,
which even by the roughest manipulation makes tolerable bricks. Lime
also abounds. The town is situated upon a gently-shelving part of the
plain, the, lowest portion of which, to judge from the versant, is at
the southern base of Mount Ohod, hence called Al-Safilah, and the
highest at the Awali, or plains about Kuba, and the East.
The Southern and South-Eastern walls of the suburb are sometimes
carried away by violent "Sayl," or torrents, which, after rain, sweep
down from the Western as
[p.381]well as from the Eastern highlands. The water-flow is towards
Al-Ghabbah, lowlands in the Northern and Western hills, a little beyond
Mount Ohod. This basin receives the drainage of the mountains and the
plain; according to some absorbing it, according to others collecting
it till of sufficient volume to flow off to the sea. Water, though
abundant, is rarely of good quality. In the days of the Prophet, the
Madani consumed the produce of wells, seven of which are still
celebrated by the people.[FN#7] Historians relate that Omar, the second
Caliph, provided the town with drinking-water from the Northern parts
of the plains by means of an aqueduct. The modern city is supplied by a
source called the Ayn al-Zarka or Azure Spring,[FN#8] which arises some
say at the foot of Mount Ayr, others, with greater probability, in the
date-groves of Kuba. Its waters were first brought to Al-Madinah by
Marwan, governor in Al-Mu'awiyah's day. It now flows down a
subterraneous canal, about thirty feet below the surface; in places the
water is exposed to the air, and
[p.382]steps lead to it for the convenience of the inhabitants: this
was the work of Sultan Sulayman the Magnificent. After passing through
the town it turns to the North-west, its course being marked by a line
of circular walls breast high, like the Kariz of Afghanistan, placed at
unequal distances, and resembling wells: it then loses itself in the
Nakhil or palm-groves. During my stay at Al-Madinah, I always drank
this water, which appeared to me, as the citizens declared it to be,
sweet and wholesome.[FN#9] There are many wells in the town, as water
is found at about twenty feet below the surface of the soil: few
produce anything fit for drinking, some being salt and others bitter.
As usual in the hilly countries of the East, the wide beds and
Fiumaras, even in the dry season, will supply travellers for a day or
two with an abundance of water, filtrated through, and, in some cases,
flowing beneath the sand.
|
The climate of the plain is celebrated for a long, and, comparatively
speaking, a rigorous winter; a popular saying records the opinion of
the Apostle "that he who patiently endures the cold of Al-Madinah and
the heat of Meccah, merits a reward in Paradise." Ice is not seen in
the town, but may frequently be met with, it is said, on Jabal Ohod;
fires are lighted in the houses during winter, and palsies attack those
who at this season imprudently bathe in unwarmed water. The fair
complexions of the people prove that this account of the brumal rigours
is not exaggerated. Chilly and violent winds from the Eastern Desert
are much dreaded, and though Ohod screens the town on the North and
North-East, a gap in the mountains to the North-West fills the
[p.383]air at times with raw and comfortless blasts. The rains begin
in October, and last with considerable intervals through six months;
the clouds, gathered by the hill-tops and the trees near the town,
discharge themselves with violence, and about the equinoxes,
thunder-storms are common. At such times the Barr al-Manakhah, or the
open space between the town and the suburbs, is a sheet of water, and
the land near the Southern and the South-Eastern wall of the faubourg
becomes a pool. Rain, however, is not considered unhealthy here; and
the people, unlike the Meccans and the Cairenes, expect it with
pleasure, because it improves their date-trees and fruit
plantations.[FN#10] In winter it usually rains at night, in spring
during the morning, and in summer about evening time. This is the case
throughout Al-Hijaz, as explained by the poet Labid in these lines,
which describe the desolate site of an old encampment:-
"It (the place) hath been fertilised by the first spring showers of the
constellations, and hath been swept by
The incessant torrents of the thunder-clouds, falling in heavy and
in gentle rains,
>From each night-cloud, and heavily dropping morning-cloud,
And the even-cloud, whose crashings are re-echoed from around."
"It (the place) hath been fertilised by the first spring showers of the
constellations, and hath been swept by
The incessant torrents of the thunder-clouds, falling in heavy and in
gentle rains,
>From each night-cloud, and heavily dropping morning-cloud,
And the even-cloud, whose crashings are re-echoed from around."
And the European reader will observe that the Arabs generally reckon
three seasons, including our autumn, in their summer. The hot weather
at Al-Madinah appeared to me as extreme as the hibernal cold is
described to be, but the air was dry, and the open plain prevented the
faint and stagnant sultriness which distinguishes Meccah. Moreover,
though the afternoons were close, the nights and the mornings were cool
and dewy. At this season the citizens sleep on the house-tops, or on
the ground
[p.384]outside their doors. Strangers must follow this example with
considerable circumspection; the open air is safe in the Desert, but in
cities it causes, to the unaccustomed, violent catarrhs and febrile
affections.
I collect the following notes upon the diseases and medical treatment
of the Northern Hijaz. Al-Madinah has been visited four times by the
Rih al-Asfar[FN#11] (yellow wind), or Asiatic Cholera, which is said to
have committed great ravages, sometimes carrying off whole households.
In the Rahmat al-Kabirah, the "Great Mercy," as the worst attack is
piously called, whenever a man vomited, he was abandoned to his fate;
before that, he was treated with mint, lime-juice, and copious draughts
of coffee. It is still the boast of Al-Madinah, that the Taun, or
plague, has never passed her frontier.[FN#12] The Judari, or smallpox,
appears to be indigenous to the countries bordering upon the Red Sea;
we read of it there in the earliest works of the Arabs,[FN#13] and even
to the present time it sometimes sweeps through Arabia and the Somali
[p.385] country with desolating violence. In the town of Al-Madinah it
is fatal to children, many of whom, however, are in these days
inoculated[FN#14]: amongst the Badawin, old men die of it, but adults
are rarely victims, either in the City or in the Desert. The nurse
closes up the room whilst the sun is up, and carefully excludes the
night air, believing that, as the disease is "hot,[FN#15]" a breath of
wind will kill the patient. During the hours of darkness, a lighted
candle or lamp is always placed by the side of the bed, or the sufferer
would die of madness, brought on by evil spirits or fright. Sheep's
wool is burnt in the sick-room, as death would follow the inhaling of
any perfume. The only remedy I have heard of is pounded Kohl (antimony)
drunk in water, and the same is drawn along the breadth of the eyelid,
to prevent blindness. The diet is Adas (lentils),[FN#16] and a peculiar
kind of date, called Tamr al-Birni. On the twenty-first day the patient
is washed with salt and tepid water.