Mouled el Neby, the birth-place of Mohammed, in the quarter named from
it. In the time of Fasy a mosque stood near it, called Mesdjed el
Mokhtaba. During my stay, workmen were busily employed in re-
constructing the building over the Mouled upon its former plan. It
consists of a rotunda, the floor of which is about twenty-five feet
below the level of the street, with a staircase leading down to it. A
small hole is shown in the floor, in which Mohammeds mother sat when
she was delivered of him. This is said to have been the house of
Abdillah, Mohammeds father.
Mouled Setna Fatme, or the birth-place of Fatme, the daughter of
Mohammed, is shown in a good stone building, said to have been the house
of her mother Khadidje, in the street called Zogag el Hadjar. A
staircase leads down to the floor of this building, which, like that of
the former, is considerably below the street. This small edifice
includes two holy places: in one is a hole, similar to that in the
Mouled el Neby, to mark the place where Fatme was born; and just by is
another,
[p.172] of smaller depth, where she is said to have turned her hand-
mill, or rahha, after she was grown up. In an apartment near this, a
narrow cell is shown, where Mohammed used to sit, and receive from the
angel Gabriel the leaves of the Koran brought from heaven. This place is
called Kobbet el Wahy.
Mouled el Imam Aly, in the quarter called Shab Aly. This is a small
chapel, in the floor of which a hole marks the spot where Aly, the
cousin of Mohammed, is said to have been born.
Mouled Seydna Abou Beker, a small chapel, just opposite to the stone
which gave a salutation, Salam Aleykum, to Mohammed whenever he passed
it. No sacred spot is here shown; but its floor is covered with very
fine Persian carpets.
All these Mouleds had undergone complete repair since the retreat of the
Wahabys, except that of Mohammed, on which the workmen were still
employed. The guardianship of these places is shared by several
families, principally Sherifs, who attend by turns, with a train of
servants. At every corner of the buildings are spread white handker-
chiefs, or small carpets, upon which visitors are expected to throw some
money; and the gates are lined with women, who occupy their seats by
right, and expect a contribution from the pilgrims purse. The value of
a shilling, distributed in paras at each of the Mouleds, fully answers
the expectation of the greedy and the indigent.
Mouled Abou Taleb, in the Mala, is completely destroyed, as I have
already said; and will, probably, not be rebuilt.
Kaber Setna Khadidje: the tomb of Khadidje, the wife of Mohammed, the
dome of which was broken down by the Wahabys, and is not yet rebuilt; it
is regularly visited by hadjys, especially on Friday mornings. It lies
in the large burial-ground of the Mala, at the declivity of the western
chain; is enclosed by a square wall, and presents no objects of
curiosity except the tomb-stone, which has a fine inscription in Cufic
characters, containing a passage of the Koran from the chapter entitled,
Souret el Kursy. As the character is not the ancient Cufic, I suspect
that the stone was not intended originally to cover this grave: there is
no date in the inscription. The Sherif Serour, predecessor of Ghaleb,
had the vanity, on his death-bed, to order his family
[p.173] to bury his body close to the tomb of Khadidje, in the same
enclosure where it still remains. At a short distance from hence, the
tomb of Umna, the mother of Mohammed, is shown. It was covered with a
slab of fine marble, bearing a Cufic inscription, in an older character
than the former. The Wahabys broke it, and removed the two pieces, to
show their indignation at the visits paid to the receptacles of the
bones of mortals, which was, in their estimation, a species of idolatry.
Even at these tombs I found women, to whom permission was granted to
spread their handkerchiefs, and ask alms of every visitor.
In walking about these extensive cemeteries, I found many other tomb-
stones with Cufic inscriptions, but not in a very ancient character. I
could decipher no date prior to the sixth century of the Hedjra (the
twelfth of our era); but the greater part of them contain mere prayers,
without either the name of the deceased, or a date. The tombs, in
general, are formed of four large stones placed in an oblong square,
with a broad stone set upright at one end, bearing the inscription. I
saw no massive tomb or turban cut in stone, or any such ornament as is
used in other parts of Asia. A few small buildings have been raised by
the first families of Mekka, to enclose the tombs of their relations;
they are paved inside, but have no roof, and are of the most simple
construction. In two or three of them I found trees planted, which are
irrigated from cisterns built within the enclosure for the reception of
rain-water: here, the families to whom they belong sometimes pass the
day. Of several buildings, surmounted with domes, in which men
celebrated for their learning had been interred, the domes were
invariably broken down by the Wahabys: these fanatics, however, never
touched the tombs themselves, and every where respected the remains of
the dead. Among the tombs are those of several Pashas of Syria and of
Egypt, constructed with little ornament.
At the extremity of almost every tomb, opposite to the epitaph, I found
the low shrub saber, a species of aloe, planted in the ground: it is an
evergreen, and requires very little water, as its Arabic name, saber,
(patience) implies: it is chosen for this purpose from an allusion to
the patience necessary in waiting for the resurrection. On the whole,
this burial-ground is in a state of ruin, caused, it is said, by the
devastations
[p.174] of the Wahabys; but, I believe, still more by the little care
which the Mekkawys take of the graves containing the bodies of their
relations and friends.