Many,
indeed, have none, and divide among themselves the various duties of
house-keeping, such as bringing the provisions from market and cooking
them, although accustomed at home to the
[P.261] services of an attendant. The freedom and oblivion of care which
accompany travelling, render it a period of enjoyment among the people
of the East as among Europeans; and the same kind of happiness results
from their residence at Mekka, where reading the Koran, smoking in the
streets or coffee-houses, praying or conversing in the mosque, are added
to the indulgence of their pride in being near the holy house, and to
the anticipation of the honours attached to the title of hadjy for the
remainder of their lives; besides the gratification of religious
feelings, and the hopes of futurity, which influence many of the
pilgrims. The hadjys who come by the caravans pass their time very
differently. As soon as they have finished their tedious journey, they
must undergo the fatiguing ceremonies of visiting the Kaaba and Omra;
immediately after which, they are hurried away to Arafat and Mekka, and,
still heated from the effects of the journey, are exposed to the keen
air of the Hedjaz mountains under the slight and inadequate covering of
the ihram: then returning to Mekka, they have only a few days left to
recruit their strength, and to make their repeated visits to the
Beitullah, when the caravan sets off on its return; and thus the whole
pilgrimage is a severe trial of bodily strength, and a continual series
of fatigues and privations. This mode of visiting the holy city is,
however, in accordance with the opinions of many most learned Moslim
divines, who thought that a long residence in the Hedjaz, however
meritorious the intention, is little conducive to true belief, since the
daily sight of the holy places weakened the first impressions made by
them. Notwithstanding the general decline of Muselman zeal, there are
still found Mohammedans whose devotion induces them to visit repeatedly
the holy places. I knew Turks established at Cairo, who, even while the
Wahaby faith predominated in the Hedjaz, went every year by way of
Cosseir to Mekka; and there are a few individuals who reside constantly
in that city, that they may pass the remainder of their days in pious
duties and abstraction from the world. During my stay, a Turkish grandee
arrived from Constantinople; he had been Kahwadjy Bashy to Sultan Selym;
and the present Grand Signior had permitted him to go, that he might die
in the sacred territory, where his arrival was announced by princely
donations to the mosque.
[p.262] The Syrian and Egyptian caravans always arrive at fixed periods;
generally a day or two before the departure of the Hadj for Arafat. Both
caravans usually pass by Beder, on the same day, or with an interval of
one day only. The Syrian caravan coming from Medina, and the Egyptian
from Yembo el Nakhel, prosecute their route from Beder to Mekka, at a
short distance from each other.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 191 of 350
Words from 99244 to 99757
of 182297
