[p.168] suffered another indignity: Hakem bamr Illah, the mad king of
Egypt, who had some intentions of claiming divine honours for himself,
sent in A.H. 413, an Egyptian with the pilgrim caravan to Mekka, to
destroy the stone. With an iron club concealed beneath his clothes, the
man approached it, and exclaimed, How long shall this stone be adored
and kissed? There is neither Mohammed nor Aly to prevent me from doing
this, and to-day I shall destroy this building! He then struck it three
times with his club. A party of horsemen, belonging to the caravan in
which he had travelled from Egypt, were ready at the gates of the mosque
to assist the lithoclast, as soon as he should have executed his task;
but they were not able to protect him from the fury of the populace. He
was slain by the dagger of a native of Yemen; the horsemen were pursued;
and the whole Egyptian caravan was plundered on the occasion.
Upon inspection, it was found that three small pieces, of the size of a
mans nail, had been knocked off by the blows; these were pulverised,
and their dust kneaded into a cement, with which the fractures were
filled up. Since that time, the stone has sustained no further
misfortune, except in the year 1674, when it was found, one morning,
besmeared with dirt, together with the door of the Kaaba; so that every
one who kissed it, retired with a sullied face. The author of this
sacrilegious joke was sought in vain; suspicion fell upon some Persians,
but the fact could not be proved against them. [See Asamy for these
details.]
The sanctity of the stone appears to have been greatly questioned by one
of the very pillars of Islam. El Azraky gives the testimony of several
witnesses, who heard Omar Ibn Khatab exclaim, while standing before it:--
I know thou art a mere stone, that can neither hurt nor help me; nor
should I kiss thee, had I not seen Mohammed do the same.
In A.H. 354, the Khalife El Mokteder built the vestibule near the gate
of the mosque, called Bab Ibrahim, which projects beyond the straight
line of the columns, and united in it two ancient gates, called
[p.169] Bab Beni Djomah and Bab el Khayatein. From that time no further
improvements were made for several centuries.
In A.H. 802, a fire completely destroyed the north and west sides of the
mosque: two years after, it was rebuilt at the expense of El Naszer
Feradj Ibn Dhaher Berkouk, Sultan of Egypt. The wood necessary for that
purpose was transported partly from Egypt and partly from Tayf, where
the tree Arar, a species of cypress or juniper, furnished good timber.
In A.H. 906, Kansour el Ghoury, Sultan of Egypt, rebuilt the greater
part of the side of Bab Ibrahim; and to him the Hedjaz owes several
other public edifices.
In A.H. 959, in the reign of Solyman Ibn Selim I., Sultan of
Constantinople, the roof of the Kaaba was renewed.
In A.H. 980, the same Sultan rebuilt the side of the mosque towards the
street Mosaa, and caused all the domes to be raised which cover the roof
of the colonnades. He also placed the fine pavement, which is now round
the Kaaba, and a new pavement all around the colonnades.
In A.H. 984, his son Murad repaired and partly rebuilt the three other
sides, that had not been touched by him.
In the year 1039, (or 1626 of our era,) a torrent from Djebel Nour
rushed into the town, and filled the mosque so rapidly, that all the
persons then within it were drowned; whatever books, fine copies of the
Koran, &c. &c. were left in the apartments round the walls of the
building, were destroyed; and a part of the wall before the Kaaba,
called Hedjer, and three sides of the Kaaba itself, were carried away.
Five hundred souls perished in the town. In the following year the
damage was repaired, and the Kaaba rebuilt, after the side which had
escaped the fury of the torrent had been pulled down.
In 1072, the building over the well Zemzem was erected, as it now
stands; and in 1079, the four Makams were built anew.
After this time, the historians mention no other material repairs or
changes in the mosque; and I believe none took place in the eighteenth
century. We may, therefore, ascribe the building, as it now appears,
almost wholly to the munificence of the last Sultans of Egypt, and
[p.170] their successors, the Osmanly Sultans of Constantinople, since
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
In the autumn of 1816, several artists and workmen, sent from
Constantinople, were employed in the Hedjaz to repair all the damage
caused by the Wahabys in the chapels of the saints of that country, as
well as to make all the repairs necessary in the mosques at Mekka and
Medina.
[p.171] DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL OTHER HOLY PLACES,