Prayers Are Again
Recited, With That Passage Of The Koran Which Says, In Speaking Of The
Slain:
"Do not think that those who were killed in war with the infidels
are dead; no, they are living, and their reward is with their Lord:" a
sentence still used to encourage, even in our days, the Turkish soldiers
in their battles with Europeans.
The mountain of Ohod consists of different coloured granite; on its
sides I likewise found flint, but no lava. The entire mountain is almost
four miles in length, from west to east. Having been the scene of the
famous battle, which so much contributed to strengthen the party of
Mohammed and his new religion, it is not surprising that Djebel Ohod
should be the object of peculiar veneration. The people of Medina
believe that on the day of resurrection it will be transported into
Paradise; and that when mankind shall appear before the Almighty for
judgment, they will be assembled upon it, as the most favoured station.
The mountain of Ayra, mentioned above as situated to the S.W. of the
town, (about the same distance from it as Ohod is, on the other side,)
will on that day experience a much less enviable fate. Having denied
water to the Prophet, who once lost his way in its valleys, and became
thirsty, it will be punished for inhospitality, by being cast at once
into hell.
The people of Medina frequently visit Ohod, pitching their tents in the
ruined houses, where they remain a few days, especially convalescents,
who during their illness had made a vow to slaughter a sheep in honour
of Hamze, if they recovered. Once a year, (in July, I
[p.367] believe,) the inhabitants flock thither in crowds, and remain
for three days, as if it were during the feast days of the saint.
Regular markets are then kept there: and this visit forms one of the
principal public amusements of the town.
KOBA. - In this neighbouring village all the pilgrims visit the spot where
Mohammed first alighted on coming from Mekka: it lies to the south of
the town, distant about three quarters of an hour. The road to it passes
through a plain, overgrown with date-trees, and covered in many spots
with white sand. At half an hour from the town begin gardens, which
spread over a space of four or five miles in circuit, and form, perhaps,
the most fertile and agreeable spot in the Northern Hedjaz. All kinds of
fruit-trees (with the exception of apple and pear, none of which I
believe grow in Arabia,) are seen in the gardens, which are all enclosed
by walls, and irrigated by numerous wells. It is from hence that Medina
is supplied with fruits: lemon and orange trees, pomegranates, bananas,
vines, peach, apricot, and fig trees, are planted amidst the date and
nebek trees, and form as thick groves as in Syria and Egypt, while their
shade renders Koba a delightful residence. The kheroa (Ricinus, or Palma
Christi,) is likewise very common here. The village is frequently
visited by the people of Medina; parties are continually made to spend
the day, and many sick people are carried to enjoy the benefits of a
cooler atmosphere.
In the midst of these groves stands the Mesdjed of Koba, with about
thirty or forty houses. It is a mean building, and much decayed. In the
interior of it several holy spots are visited, at each of which a short
prayer of two rikats is performed, and some additional invocations
recited in honour of the place. We first see here the Mobrak el Naka,
the very spot on the floor of the mosque where the she-camel which
Mohammed rode, in his flight from Mekka, crouched down, and would not
rise again, thus advising her master to stop here, which he did for a
few days, previous to his entering Medina. It was to consecrate this
spot, that the mosque was founded by Mohammed himself with loose stones,
which were changed into a regular building the year after, by Benou
Ammer ibn Owf; but the present building is of modern construction.
Further on is shown the spot
[p.368] upon which Mohammed once stood, after his prayers, and
distinctly saw from thence Mekka, and all that the Koreysh were doing
there; and, thirdly, the spot where the Koranic passage relating to the
inhabitants of Koba was revealed to Mohammed: "A temple, from its first
day founded in piety; there thou best standest up to prayers. There men
live who like to be purified: and God loves the clean." In this passage
an allusion is discovered to the extraordinary personal cleanliness of
those who inhabited Koba, more especially in certain acts of ablution.
I saw no inscriptions in this mosque, except those of hadjys who had
written their names on the white-washed walls; a practice in which
Eastern travellers indulge as frequently as European tourists, adding
often to the names some verses of favourite poets, or sentences of the
Koran. The mosque forms a narrow colonnade round a small open courtyard,
in which the Mobrak el Naka stands, with a small cupola over it, rising
to the height of about six feet. On issuing from the mosque, we were
assailed by a crowd of beggars. At a short distance from it, among the
cluster of houses, stands a small chapel, called Mesdjed Aly, in honour
of Aly, the cousin of Mohammed. Close to it, in a garden, a deep well is
shown, called Ayn Ezzerka, with a small chapel, built at its mouth. This
was a favourite spot with Mohammed, who used often to sit among the
trees with his disciples, enjoying the pleasure of seeing the water
issuing in a limpid stream; an object which at the present day
powerfully attracts the natives of the East, and, with the addition of a
shady tree, is perhaps the only feature of landscape which they admire.
When he once was sitting here, the Prophet's seal-ring dropped into the
well, and could never be again found; and the supposition that the ring
is still there, renders the well famous.
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