The
Pavement Round The Kaaba, Below The Myzab, Was Laid Down In A.H. 826,
And Consists Of Various Coloured Stones, Forming A Very Handsome
Specimen Of Mosaic.
There are two large slabs of fine verde-antico in
the centre, which, according to Makrizi, [See, in his work, the chapter
"On the Excellencies of Egypt."] were sent thither as
[P.139] presents from Cairo, in A.H. 241. This is the spot where,
according to Mohammedan tradition, Ismayl, the son of Ibrahim, or
Abraham, and his mother Hagar, are buried; and here it is meritorious
for the pilgrim to recite a prayer of two rikats. On this west side is a
semicircular wall, the two extremities of which are in a line with the
sides of the Kaaba, and distant from it three or four feet, leaving an
opening which leads to the burying-place of Ismayl. The wall bears the
name of El Hatym, and the area which it encloses is called Hedjer, or
Hedjer Ismayl, on account of its being separated from the Kaaba: the
wall itself, also, is sometimes so called; and the name Hatym is given
by the historians to the space of ground between the Kaaba and the wall
on one side, and the Bir Zemzem and Makam Ibrahim on the other. The
present Mekkawys, however, apply the name Hatym to the wall only.
Tradition says that the Kaaba once extended as far as the Hatym, and
that this side having fallen down just at the time of the Hadj, the
expenses of repairing it were demanded from the pilgrims, under a
pretence that the revenues of government were not acquired in a manner
sufficiently pure to admit of their application towards a purpose so
sacred, whilst the money of the hadjys would possess the requisite
sanctity.
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