By It Is A Well, Called
Bir-En-Neby, The Water Of Which Is Brackish, And For This Reason,
Probably, Enjoys No Reputation For Holiness.
Samhoudy says that it is
called Es-Shame.
In the evening lamps are lighted round the colonnades; but principally
on the south side, where they are in greater numbers than on the others;
they are suspended from iron bars, extending from column to column. The
eunuchs and the servants of the mosque are employed in lighting them;
for a small donation to the latter, the visiters to the tomb are
permitted to assist, and many foreign hadjys are anxious to perform that
office, which is thought meritorious, and for which they are
particularly praised by the eunuchs: but they are never allowed to light
the lamps in the interior of the Hedjra. On the sides of the Mambar, or
the pulpit, and of both the Mahrabs, large wax candles are placed, as
thick as a man's body, and twelve feet high, which are lighted in the
evening by means of a ladder placed near them. They are sent from
Constantinople. The lady of Mohammed Aly, who was now at Medina, had
brought several of these candles as a present to the mosque, which had
been transported with great difficulty from Yembo to this place.
The mosque has four gates: 1. Bab-es-Salam, formerly called Bab Merouan,
(according to Samhoudy), on the south-west corner, is the
[p.342] principal one, by which the pilgrim is obliged to enter the
mosque at his first visit. It is a beautiful arched gateway, much
superior to any of those of the great mosque at Mekka, though inferior
in size to several of them, and handsomer than any gate of a mosque I
had before seen in the East. Its sides are inlaid with marble and glazed
tiles of various colours; and a number of inscriptions in relief, in
large gilt characters, above and on the sides of the arch, give it a
very dazzling appearance. Just before this gate is a small fountain,
filled by the water of the canal, where people usually perform their
ablutions, if they do not choose to do it in the mosque itself, where
jars are kept for the purpose.
2. Bab Errhame, formerly called Bab Atake, in the west wall, by which
the dead are carried into the mosque, when prayers are to be read over
them.
3. Bab Ed' Djeber, called often likewise Bab Djybrail; and
4. Bab el. Nesa, on the east wall, the first close to the tomb of Setna
Fatme, the other a little farther on.
A few steps lead from the neighbouring streets up to the gates, the area
of the mosque being on a somewhat higher level, contrary to what is seen
at Mekka. About three hours after sun-set the gates are regularly shut,
by means of folding-doors coated with iron, and not opened till about an
hour before dawn; but those who wish to pray all night in the mosque,
can easily obtain permission from the eunuch in guard, who sleeps near
the Hedjra.
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