_NEW WORKS_.
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MOUNT ARAFAT, AND THE PILGRIMAGE
TO MEKKA.
Every traditionary and topographical particular of this hallowed spot,
and the picturesque ceremonies by which it is consecrated, must be
acceptable to the Christian reader; and this conviction has induced us
to abridge the following from that portion of _Burckhardt's Travels_
which describes the _Hadj_, or _pilgrimage_ to Mekka.
At sunrise on the 9th of Zul Hadj, every pilgrim issued from his tent,
to walk over the plains, and take a view of the busy crowds assembled
there. Long streets of tents, fitted up as bazars, furnished all kinds
of provisions. The Syrian and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by their
chiefs early in the morning, while thousands of camels were seen feeding
upon the dry shrubs of the plain all round the camp. I walked to Mount
Arafat, to enjoy from its summit a more distinct view of the whole.
This granite hill, which is also called _Djebel er' Rahme_, or the
Mountain of Mercy, rises on the north-east side of the plain, close to
the mountains which encompass it, but separated from them by a rocky
valley; it is about a mile, or a mile and a half in circuit; its sides
are sloping, and its summit is nearly two hundred feet above the level
of the plain. On the eastern side broad stone steps lead up to the top,
and a broad unpaved path, on the western, over rude masses of granite,
with which its declivity is covered. After mounting about forty steps,
we find a spot a little on the left, called Modaa Seydna Adam, or the
place of prayer of our Lord Adam, where, it is related, that the father
of mankind used to stand while praying; for here it was, according to
Mohammedan tradition, that the angel Gabriel first instructed Adam how
to adore his Creator. A marble slab, bearing an inscription in modern
characters, is fixed in the side of the mountain. On reaching about the
sixtieth step, we come to a small paved platform to our right, on a
level spot of the hill, where the preacher stands who admonishes the
pilgrims on the afternoon of this day, as I shall hereafter mention.
Thus high, the steps are so broad and easy that a horse or camel may
ascend; but higher up they become more steep and uneven. On the summit,
the place is shown where Mohammed used to take his station during the
Hadj; a small chapel formerly stood over it; but this was destroyed by
the Wahabys: here the pilgrims usually pray two rikats, in salutation
of Arafat. The steps and the summit are covered with handkerchiefs to
receive their pious gifts, and each family of the Mekkawys or Bedouins
of the tribe of Koreysh, in whose territory Arafat lies, has its
particular spot assigned to it for this purpose. The summit commands a
very extensive and singular prospect. I brought my compass to take a
circle of bearings; but the crowd was so great that I could not use it.
Towards the western extremity of the plain are seen Bir Bazan and the
Aalameyn; somewhat nearer, southwards, the mosque called Djama Nimre,
or Djama Seydna Ibrahim; and on the south-east, a small house where the
Sherif used to lodge during the pilgrimage. From thence an elevated
rocky ground in the plain extends towards Arafat. On the eastern side
of the mountain, and close to its foot, are the ruins of a small mosque,
built on rocky ground, called Djama el Szakhrat, where Mohammed was
accustomed to pray, and where the pilgrims make four prostrations in
memory of the prophet. Several large reservoirs lined with stone are
dispersed over the plain; two or three are close to the foot of Arafat,
and there are some near the house of the Sherifs: they are filled from
the same fine aqueduct which supplies Mekka, and the head of which is
about one hour and a half distant, in the eastern mountains. The canal
is left open here for the convenience of pilgrims, and is conducted
round the three sides of the mountains, passing by Modaa Seydna Adam.[5]
From the summit of Arafat, I counted about three thousand tents
dispersed over the plain, of which two-thirds belonged to the two Hadj
caravans, and to the suite and soldiers of Mohammed Aly; the rest to the
Arabs of the Sherif, the Bedouin hadjys, and the people of Mekka and
Djidda. These assembled multitudes were for the greater number, like
myself, without tents. The two caravans were encamped without much
order, each party of pilgrims or soldiers having pitched its tents in
large circles or _dowars_, in the midst of which many of their
camels were reposing. The plain contained, dispersed in different parts,
from twenty to twenty-five thousand camels, twelve thousand of which
belonged to the Syrian Hadj, and from five to six thousand to the
Egyptian; besides about three thousand, purchased by Mohammed Aly from
the Bedouins in the Syrian Deserts, and brought to Mekka with the Hadj,
to convey the pilgrims to this place, previously to being used for the
transport of army-provisions to Tayf.
The Syrian Hadj was encamped on the south and south-west side of the
mountain; the Egyptian on the south-east. Around the house of the
Sherif, Yahya himself was encamped with his Bedouin troops, and in its
neighbourhood were all the Hedjaz people. Here it was that the two Yemen
caravans used formerly to take their station. Mohammed Aly, and Soleyman
Pasha of Damascus, as well as several of their officers, had very
handsome tents; but the most magnificent of all was that of the wife of
Mohammed Aly, the mother of Tousoun Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha, who had
lately arrived from Cairo for the Hadj, with a truly royal equipage,
five hundred camels being necessary to transport her baggage from Djidda
to Mekka. Her tent was in fact an encampment consisting of a dozen tents
of different sizes, inhabited by her women; the whole enclosed by a wall
of linen cloth, eight hundred paces in circuit, the single entrance to
which was guarded by eunuchs in splendid dresses. Around this enclosure
were pitched the tents of the men who formed her numerous suite. The
beautiful embroidery on the exterior of this linen palace, with the
various colours displayed in every part of it, constituted an object
which reminded me of some descriptions in the Arabian Tales of the
Thousand and One Nights. Among the rich equipages of the other hadjys,
or of the Mekka people, none were so conspicuous as that belonging
to the family of Djeylany, the merchant, whose tents, pitched in a
semicircle, rivalled in beauty those of the two pashas, and far exceeded
those of Sherif Yahya. In other parts of the East, a merchant would
as soon think of buying a rope for his own neck, as of displaying his
wealth in the presence of a pasha; but Djeylany has not yet laid aside
the customs which the Mekkawys learned under their old government,
particularly that of Sherif Ghaleb, who seldom exercised extortion upon
single individuals; and they now rely on the promises of Mohammed Aly,
that he will respect their property.
During the whole morning, there were repeated discharges of the
artillery which both pashas had brought with them. A few pilgrims
had taken up their quarters on Djebel Arafat itself, where some small
cavern, or impending block of granite, afforded them shelter from the
sun. It is a belief generally entertained in the East, and strengthened
by many boasting hadjys on their return home, that all the pilgrims, on
this day, encamp upon Mount Arafat; and that the mountain possesses the
miraculous property of expansion, so as to admit an indefinite number of
the faithful upon its summit. The law ordains that the _wakfe_, or
position of the Hadj, should be on Djebel Arafat; but it wisely provides
against any impossibility, by declaring that the plain in the immediate
neighbourhood of the mountain may be regarded as comprised under the
term "mountain," or Djebel Arafat.
I estimated the number of persons assembled here at about seventy
thousand. The camp was from three to four miles long, and between one
and two in breadth. There is, perhaps, no spot on earth where, in so
small a place, such a diversity of languages are heard; I reckoned about
forty, and I have no doubt that there were many more. It appeared to me
as if I were here placed in a holy temple of travellers only; and never
did I at any time feel a more ardent wish to be able to penetrate once
into the inmost recesses of the countries of many of those persons
whom I now saw before me, fondly imagining that I might have no more
difficulty in reaching their homes, than what they had experienced in
their journey to this spot.
* * * * *
The time of Aszer (or about three o'clock, P.M.) approached, when that
ceremony of the Hadj takes place, for which the whole assembly had come
hither. The pilgrims now pressed forward towards the mountain of Arafat,
and covered its sides from top to bottom. At the precise time of Aszer,
the preacher took his stand upon the platform on the mountain, and began
to address the multitude. This sermon, which lasts till sun-set,
constitutes the holy ceremony of the Hadj called Khotbet el Wakfe; and
no pilgrim, although he may have visited all the holy places of Mekka,
is entitled to the name of hadjy, unless he has been present on this
occasion. As Aszer approached, therefore, all the tents were struck,
every thing was packed up, the caravans began to load, and the pilgrims
belonging to them mounted their camels, and crowded round the mountain,
to be within sight of the preacher, which is sufficient, as the greater
part of the multitude is necessarily too distant to hear him. The two
pashas, with their whole cavalry drawn up in two squadrons behind them,
took their post in the rear of the deep lines of camels of the hadjys,
to which those of the people of the Hedjaz were also joined; and here
they waited in solemn and respectful silence the conclusion of the
sermon. Further removed from the preacher, was the Sherif Yahya, with
his small body of soldiers, distinguished by several green standards
carried before him. The two Mahmals, or holy camels, which carry on
their back the high structure that serves as the banner of their
respective caravans, made way with difficulty through the ranks of
camels that encircled the southern and eastern sides of the hill,
opposite to the preacher, and took their station, surrounded by their
guards, directly under the platform in front of him.[6]
The preacher, or Khatyb, who is usually the Kadhy of Mekka, was mounted
upon a finely caparisoned camel, which had been led up the steps; it
being traditionally said that Mohammed was always seated when he here
addressed his followers, a practice in which he was imitated by all
the Khalifes who came to the Hadj, and who from hence addressed their
subjects in person. The Turkish gentleman of Constantinople, however,
unused to camel-riding, could not keep his seat so well as the hardy
Bedouin prophet; and the camel becoming unruly, he was soon obliged to
alight from it. He read his sermon from a book in Arabic, which he held
in his hands. At intervals of every four or five minutes he paused, and
stretched forth his arms to implore blessings from above; while the
assembled multitudes around and before him waved the skirts of their
ihrams over their heads, and rent the air with shouts of "Lebeyk,
Allahuma Lebeyk," (i.e. Here we are, at thy commands, O God!) During
the wavings of the ihrams, the side of the mountain, thickly crowded
as it was by the people in their white garments, had the appearance
of a cataract of water; while the green umbrellas, with which several
thousand hadjys, sitting on their camels below, were provided, bore some
resemblance to a verdant plain.--During his sermon, which lasted almost
three hours, the Kadhy was seen constantly to wipe his eyes with a
handkerchief; for the law enjoins the Khatyb or preacher to be moved
with feeling and compunction; and adds that, whenever tears appear on
his face, it is a sign that the Almighty enlightens him, and is ready
to listen to his prayers.
At length the sun began to descend behind the western mountains; upon
which the Kadhy, having shut his book, received a last greeting of
"Lebeyk;" and the crowds rushed down the mountain, in order to quit
Arafat. It is thought meritorious to accelerate the pace on this
occasion; and many persons make it a complete race, called by the Arabs,
_Ad' dafa min Arafat_. In former times, when the strength of the
Syrian and Egyptian caravans happened to be nearly balanced, bloody
affrays took place here almost every year between them, each party
endeavouring to outrun and to carry its _mahmal_ in advance of the
other. The same happened when the _mahmals_ approached the platform
at the commencement of the sermon; and two hundred lives have on some
occasions been lost in supporting what was thought the honour of the
respective caravans. At present the power of Mohammed Aly preponderates,
and the Syrian hadjys display great humility. The united caravans and
the whole mass of pilgrims now moved forward over the plain; every
tent had been previously packed up, to be ready for the occasion. The
pilgrims pressed through the Aalameyn, which they must repass on their
return; and night came on before they reached the defile called El
Mazoumeyn. Innumerable torches were now lighted, twenty-four being
carried before each pasha; and the sparks of fire from them flew far
over the plain. There were continual discharges of artillery; the
soldiers fired their muskets; the martial bands of both the pashas
played; sky-rockets were thrown as well by the pashas' officers, as
by many private pilgrims; while the Hadj passed at a quick pace in
the greatest disorder, amidst a deafening clamour, through the pass of
Mazoumeyn, leading towards Mezdelfe, where all alighted, after a two
hours' march. No order was observed here in encamping; and every one lay
down on the spot that first presented itself, no tents being pitched
except those of the pashas and their suites; before which was an
illumination of lamps in the form of high arches, which continued to
blaze the whole night, while the firing of the artillery was kept up
without intermission.
[5] At the close of the sixteenth century, according to Kotobeddyn,
the whole plain of Arafat was cultivated.
[6] The Mahmal (an exact representation of which is given by D'Ohsson)
is a high, hollow, wooden frame, in the form of a cone, with a
pyramidal top, covered with a fine silk brocade adorned with
ostrich feathers, and having a small book of prayers and charms
placed in the midst of it, wrapped up in a piece of silk. (My
description is taken from the Egyptian Mahmal.) When on the road,
it serves as a holy banner to the caravan; and on the return of
the Egyptian caravan, the book of prayers is exposed in the mosque
El Hassaneyn, at Cairo, where men and women of the lower classes
go to kiss it and obtain a blessing by rubbing their foreheads
upon it. No copy of the Koran, nor any thing but the book of
prayers, is placed in the Cairo Mahmal. I believe the custom to
have arisen in the battle-banner of the Bedouins, called Merkeb
and Otfe, which I have mentioned in my remarks on the Bedouins,
and which resemble the Mahmal, inasmuch as they are high wooden
frames placed upon camels.
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