THE principal places of pious visitation in the vicinity of Al-Madinah
are the Mosques of Kuba, the Cemetery Al-Bakia, and the martyr Hamzah's
tomb, at the foot of Mount Ohod. These the Zair is directed by all the
Olema to visit, and on the holy ground to pray Allah for a blessing
upon himself, and upon his brethren of the faith.
Early one Saturday morning, I started for Kuba with a motley crowd of
devotees. Shaykh Hamid, my Muzawwir, was by my side, mounted upon an
ass more miserable than I had yet seen. The boy Mohammed had procured
for me a Meccan dromedary, with splendid trappings, a saddle with
burnished metal peaks before and behind, covered with a huge sheepskin
died crimson, and girthed over fine saddle-bags, whose enormous tassels
hung almost to the ground. The youth himself, being too grand to ride a
donkey, and unable to borrow a horse, preferred walking. He was proud
as a peacock, being habited in a style somewhat resembling the plume of
that gorgeous bird, in the coat of many colours-yellow, red, and golden
flowers, apparently sewed on a field of bright green silk-which cost me
so dear in the Harim. He was armed, as indeed all of us were, in
readiness for the Badawin, and he anxiously awaited opportunities of
discharging his pistol. Our course lay from Shaykh Hamid's house in the
Manakhah, along and up the
[p.399]Fiumara, "Al-Sayh," and through the Bab Kuba, a little gate in
the suburb wall, where, by-the-bye, my mounted companion was nearly
trampled down by a rush of half-wild camels. Outside the town, in this
direction, Southward, is a plain of clay, mixed with chalk, and here
and there with sand, whence protrude blocks and little ridges of
basalt. As far as Kuba, and the Harrah ridge to the West, the earth is
sweet and makes excellent gugglets.[FN#1] Immediately outside the gate
I saw a kiln, where they were burning tolerable bricks. Shortly after
leaving the suburb, an Indian, who joined our party upon the road,
pointed out on the left of the way what he declared was the place of
the celebrated Khandak, or Moat, the Torres Vedras of Arabian
History.[FN#2] Presently the Nakhil, or palm plantations, began.
Nothing lovelier to the eye, weary with hot red glare, than the rich
green waving crops and the cool shade, the "food of vision," as the
Arabs call it, and "pure water to the parched throat." For hours I
could have sat and looked at it. The air was soft and balmy; a perfumed
breeze, strange luxury in Al-Hijaz, wandered amongst the date fronds;
there were fresh flowers and bright foliage; in fact, at Midsummer,
every beautiful feature of Spring. Nothing more delightful to the ear
than the warbling of the small birds, that sweet familiar sound; the
splashing of tiny cascades from the wells into the wooden troughs,
[p.400]and the musical song of the water-wheels. Travellers-young
travellers-in the East talk of the "dismal grating," the "mournful
monotony," and the "melancholy creaking of these dismal machines." To
the veteran wanderer their sound is delightful from association,
reminding him of fields and water-courses, and hospitable villages, and
plentiful crops. The expatriated Nubian, for instance, listens to the
water-wheel with as deep emotion as the Ranz des Vaches ever excited in
the hearts of Switzer mercenary at Naples, or "Lochaber no more," among
a regiment of Highlanders in the West Indies. The date-trees of
Al-Madinah merit their celebrity. Their stately columnar stems, here,
seems higher than in other lands, and their lower fronds are allowed to
tremble in the breeze without mutilation.[FN#3] These enormous palms
were loaded with ripening fruits; and the clusters, carefully tied up,
must often have weighed upwards of eighty pounds. They hung down
between the lower branches by a bright yellow stem, as thick as a man's
ankle. Books enumerate a hundred and thirty-nine varieties of trees; of
these between sixty and seventy are well known, and each is
distinguished, as usual among Arabs, by its peculiar name. The best
kind is Al-Shelebi; it is packed in skins, or in flat round boxes
covered with paper, somewhat in the manner of French prunes, and sent
as presents to the remotest parts of the Moslem world.[FN#4] The fruit
is about two inches long, with a small stone,
[p.401]and has a peculiar aromatic flavour and smell; it is seldom
eaten by the citizens on account of the price, which varies from two to
ten piastres the pound. The tree, moreover, is rare, and is said to be
not so productive as the other species. The Ajwah[FN#5] date is eaten,
but not sold, because a tradition of the Prophet declares, that whoso
breaketh his fast every day with six or seven of these fruits, need
fear neither poison nor magic. The third kind, Al-Hilwah, also a large
date, derives a name from its exceeding sweetness: of this palm the
Moslems relate that the Prophet planted a stone, which in a few minutes
grew up and bore fruit. Next comes Al-Birni, of which was said, "It
causeth sickness to depart, and there is no sickness in it." The Wahshi
on one occasion bent its head, and "salamed" to Mohammed as he ate its
fruit, for which reason even now its lofty tuft turns earthwards. The
Sayhani (Crier) is so called, because when the founder of Al-Islam,
holding Ali's hand, happened to pass beneath, it cried, "This is
Mohammed the Prince of Prophets, and this is Ali the Prince of the
Pious, and the Progenitor of the Immaculate Imams.[FN#6]" Of course the
descendants of so intelligent a vegetable hold high rank in the kingdom
of palms, and the vulgar were in the habit of eating the Sayhani and of
throwing the stones about the Harim. The Khuzayriyah is thus named
because it preserves its green colour, even when ripe; it is dried and
preserved as a curiosity. The Jabali is the common fruit: the poorest
kinds are the Laun and
[p.402]the Hilayah, costing from four to seven piastres per mudd.[FN#7]
I cannot say that the dates of Al-Madinah are finer than those of
Meccah, although it is highly heretical to hold such tenet. The produce
of the former city was the favourite food of the Prophet, who
invariably broke his fast with it: a circumstance which invests it with
a certain degree of relic-sanctity. The citizens delight in speaking of
dates as an Irishman does of potatoes, with a manner of familiar
fondness: they eat them for medicine as well as for food; "Rutab," or
wet dates, being held to be the most saving, as it is doubtless the
most savoury, of remedies. The fruit is prepared in a great variety of
ways: the favourite dish is a broil with clarified butter, extremely
distasteful to the European palate. The date is also left upon the tree
to dry, and then called "Balah": this is eaten at dessert as the
"Nukliyat"-the quatre mendiants of Persia. Amongst peculiar
preparations must be mentioned the "Kulladat al-Sham[FN#8]" (necklace
of Sham). The unripe fruit is dipped in boiling water to preserve its
gamboge colour, strung upon a thick thread and hung out in the air to
dry. These strings are worn all over Al-Hijaz as necklaces by children,
who seldom fail to munch the ornament when not in fear of slappings;
and they are sent as presents to distant countries.
[p.403]January and February are the time for the masculation[FN#9] of
the palm. The "Nakhwali," as he is called, opens the female flower, and
having inserted the inverted male blossom, binds them together: this
operation is performed, as in Egypt, upon each cluster.[FN#10] The
fruit is ripe about the middle of May, and the gathering of it, forms
the Arabs' "vendemmia." The people make merry the more readily because
their favourite diet is liable to a variety of accidents: droughts
injure the tree, locusts destroy the produce, and the date crop, like
most productions which men are imprudent enough to adopt singly as the
staff of life, is often subject to complete failure.
One of the reasons for the excellence of Madinah dates is the quantity
of water they obtain: each garden or field has its well; and even in
the hottest weather the Persian wheel floods the soil every third day.
It has been observed that the date-tree can live in dry and barren
spots; but it loves the beds of streams and places where moisture is
procurable. The palms scattered over the other parts of the plain, and
depending solely upon rain water, produce less fruit, and that too of
an inferior quality.
Verdure is not usually wholesome in Arabia, yet invalids leave the
close atmosphere of Al-Madinah to seek health under the cool shades of
Kuba. The gardens are divided by what might almost be called lanes,
long narrow lines with tall reed fences on both sides. The graceful
branches of the Tamarisk, pearled with manna, and cottoned over with
dew, and the broad leaves of the castor plant, glistening in the sun,
protected us from the morning
[p.404]rays. The ground on both sides of the way was sunken, the earth
being disposed in heaps at the foot of the fences, an arrangement which
facilitates irrigation, by giving a fall to the water, and in some
cases affords a richer soil than the surface. This part of the Madinah
plain, however, being higher than the rest, is less subject to the
disease of salt and nitre. On the way here and there the earth crumbles
and looks dark under the dew of morning; but nowhere has it broken out
into that glittering efflorescence which denotes the last stage of the
attack. The fields and gardens are divided into small oblongs,
separated from one another by little ridges of mould which form
diminutive water-courses. Of the cereals there are luxuriant maize,
wheat, and barley, but the latter two are in small quantities. Here and
there patches of "Barsim," or Egyptian clover, glitter brightly in the
sunbeams. The principal vegetables are Badanjan (Egg-plant), the
Bamiyah (a kind of esculent hibiscus, called Bhendi in India), and
Mulukhiyah (Corchoris olitorius), a mucilaginous spinage common
throughout this part of the East. These three are eaten by citizens of
every rank; they are, in fact, the potatoes and the greens of Arabia. I
remarked also onions and leeks in fair quantities, a few beds of
carrots and beans; some Fijl (radishes), Lift (turnips), gourds,
cucumbers, and similar plants. Fruit trees abound. There are five
descriptions of vines, the best of which is Al-Sharifi, a long white
grape of a flavour somewhat resembling the produce of Tuscany.[FN#11]
Next to it, and very similar, is Al-Birni. The Hijazi is a round fruit,
sweet, but insipid, which is also the reproach of the Sawadi, or black
grape. And lastly, the Raziki is a small white fruit, with a diminutive
stone. The Nebek, Lote,
[p.405]or Jujube, is here a fine large tree with a dark green leaf,
roundish and polished like the olive; it is armed with a short, curved,
and sharp thorn,[FN#12] and bears a pale straw-coloured berry, about
the size of the gooseberry, with red streaks on the side next the sun.
Little can be said in favour of the fruit, which has been compared
successively by disappointed "Lotus eaters[FN#13]" to a bad plum, an
unripe cherry, and an insipid apple. It is, however, a favourite with
the people of Al-Madinah, who have reckoned many varieties of the
fruit: Hindi (Indian), Baladi ("native"), Tamri (date-like), and
others. There are a few peaches, hard like the Egyptian, and almost
tasteless, fit only for stewing, but greedily eaten in a half-ripe
state; large coarse bananas, lime trees, a few water-melons, figs, and
apples, but neither apricots nor pears.[FN#14] There are three kinds of
pomegranates: the best is the Shami (Syrian): it is red outside, very
sweet, and costs one piastre: the Turki is large, and of a white
colour: and the Misri has a greenish rind, and a somewhat sub-acid and
harsh flavour; the latter are sold at one-fourth the price of the best.
I never saw in the East, except at Meccah, finer fruits than the Shami:
almost stoneless like those of Maskat, they are delicately perfumed,
and as large as an infant's head. Al-Madinah is celebrated, like Taif,
for its "Rubb Rumman," a thick pomegranate syrup, drunk
[p.406]with water during the hot weather, and esteemed cooling and
wholesome.
After threading our way through the gardens, an operation requiring
less time than to describe them, we saw, peeping through the groves,
Kuba's simple minaret. Then we came in sight of a confused heap of huts
and dwelling-houses, chapels and towers with trees between, and foul
lanes, heaps of rubbish, and barking dogs,-the usual material of a
Hijazi village. Having dismounted, we gave our animals in charge of a
dozen infant Badawin, the produce of the peasant gardeners, who shouted
"Bakhshish" the moment they saw us. To this they were urged by their
mothers, and I willingly parted with a few paras for the purpose of
establishing an intercourse with fellow-creatures so fearfully and
wonderfully resembling the tailless baboon. Their bodies, unlike those
of Egyptian children, were slim[FN#15] and straight, but their ribs
stood out with curious distinctness; the colour of the skin was that
oily lamp-black seen upon the face of a European sweep; and the
elf-locks, thatching the cocoa-nut heads, had been stained by the sun,
wind, and rain to that reddish-brown hue which Hindu romances have
appropriated to their Rakshasas or demons. Each anatomy carried in his
arms a stark-naked miniature of himself, fierce-looking babies with
faces all eyes, and the strong little wretches were still able to
extend the right hand and exert their lungs with direful clamour. Their
mothers were fit progenitors for such progeny: long, gaunt, with
emaciated limbs, wall-sided, high-shouldered, and straight-backed, with
pendulous bosoms, spider-like arms, and splay feet. Their long
elf-locks, wrinkled faces, and high cheek-bones, their lips darker than
the epidermis, hollow staring eyes, sparkling as if to light up the
extreme
[p.407]ugliness around, and voices screaming as though in a perennial
rage, invested them with all the "charms of Sycorax." These "Houris of
Jahannam" were habited in long night-gowns dyed blue to conceal want of
washing, and the squalid children had about a yard of the same material
wrapped round their waists for all toilette. This is not an overdrawn
portrait of the farmer race of Arabs, the most despised by their
fellow-countrymen, and the most hard-favoured, morally as well as
physically, of all the breed.
Before entering the Mosque of Al-Kuba[FN#16] it will be necessary to
call to mind some passages of its past history. When the Apostle's
she-camel, Al-Kaswa, as he was approaching Al-Madinah after the flight
from Meccah, knelt down here, he desired his companions to mount the
animal. Abu Bakr and Omar[FN#17] did so; still she sat upon the ground;
but when Ali obeyed the order, she arose. The Apostle bade him loose
her halter, for she was directed by Allah, and the Mosque walls were
built upon the line over which she trod. It was the first place of
public prayer in Al-Islam. Mohammed laid the first brick, and with an
"Anzah," or iron-shod javelin, marked out the direction of
prayer[FN#18]: each of his successors followed his example. According
to most historians, the
[p.408]land belonged to Abu Ayyub the Ansari, the Apostle's host; for
which reason the "Bayt Ayyub," his descendants, still perform the
service of the Mosque, keep the key, and share with the Bawwabs, or
porters, the alms and fees here offered by the Faithful. Others
declared that the ground was the property of one Linah, a woman who was
in the habit of tethering her ass there.[FN#19] The Apostle used to
visit it every Saturday[FN#20] on foot, and always made a point of
praying the dawn-prayer there on the 17th Ramazan.[FN#21] A number of
traditions testify to its dignity: of these, two are especially
significant. The first assures all Moslems that a prayer at Kuba is
equal to a Lesser Pilgrimage at Meccah in religious efficacy; and the
second declares that such devotion is more acceptable to the Deity than
prostrations at the Bayt al-Mukuddas (Jerusalem). Moreover, sundry
miracles took place here, and a verset of the Koran descended from
heaven. For which reasons the Mosque was much respected by Omar, who,
once finding it empty, swept it himself with a broom of thorns, and
expressed his wonder at the lukewarmness of Moslem piety. It was
originally a square building of very small size; Osman enlarged it in
the direction of the minaret, making it sixty-six cubits each way. It
is no longer "mean and decayed" as in Burckhardt's time: the Sultan Abd
al-Hamid, father of
[p.409]the Sultan Mahmud, erected a minaret of Turkish shape and a neat
structure of cut stone, whose crenelles make it look more like a place
of defence than of prayer. It has, however, no preten[s]ions to
grandeur. To the South a small and narrow Riwak (porch), with
unpretending columns, looks out Northwards upon a little open area
simply sanded over; and this is the whole building.
The large Mastabah or stone bench at the entrance of the Mosque was
crowded with sitting people: we therefore lost no time, after ablution
and the Niyat ("the Intention") peculiar to this Visitation, in
ascending the steps, in pulling off our slippers, and in entering the
sacred building. We stood upon the Musalla al-Nabi (the Prophet's place
of Prayer)[FN22]: after Shaykh Nur and Hamid had forcibly cleared that
auspicious spot of a devout Indian, and had spread a rug upon the dirty
matting, we performed a two-bow prayer, in font of a pillar into which
a diminutive marble Mihrab or niche had been inserted by way of
memento. Then came the Dua, or supplication, which was as follows:
"O Allah! bless and preserve, and increase, and perpetuate, and
benefit, and be propit[i]ous to, our Lord Mohammed, and to his Family,
and to his Companions, and be Thou their Preserver! O Allah! this is
the Mosque Kuba, and the Place of the Prophet's Prayers. O Allah!
pardon our Sins, and veil our Faults, and place not over us one who
feareth not Thee, and who pitieth not us, and pardon us, and the true
Believers, Men and Women, the Quick of them and the Dead: for verily
Thou, O Lord, art the Hearer, the near to us, the Answerer of our
Supplications." After which we recited the Testification and the
Fatihah, and we drew our palms as usual down our faces.
We then moved away to the South-Eastern corner of the edifice, and
stood before a Mihrab in the Southern wall.
[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 passage 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 title-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 asserted that we were "low
[p.412]fellows," we passed 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 space, 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 pronounced 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 classical title 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 sex, 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.
Superstitions 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 butter; 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 asserts "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 title 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 Saturday.
[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 assert, 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
assert 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 God.
[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-Fukayyir, 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 assert 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
pronunciations: "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.