To The South Of This Quarter Is The
Zokak El Hadjar (Called Also Zokak El Merfek), Or The "Street Of
The
stone," which comprises the birth-place of Fatme, the daughter of
Mohammed; and of Abou Beker, the prophet's successor
In the Khalifat.
This street takes its name from the hadjar, or stone, which used
miraculously to greet Mohammed with the salutation of "Salam aleyk,"
whenever he passed this way on his return from the Kaaba. It has been
mute since the days of the prophet, but is still shown, projecting a
little from the wall of a house, which, in honour of it has been white-
washed.
We now return towards the Mala, a little beyond the spot where it joins
the Ghazze. The shops terminate, and a broad, sandy plain commences, on
which there are only a few detached coffee-houses. This may be called
the extremity of the town. What lies farther towards the north, must be
considered as forming part of the suburbs. Continuing along the plain,
we find on each side of the
[p.127] road large birkets, or reservoirs of water, for the
accommodation of the pilgrim-caravans: they can be filled from the
aqueduct which passes this way towards the town. Of these birkets, one
is for the Egyptian caravan; another for the Syrian: they were
constructed in A.H. 821, are entirely cased with stone, and continue in
a state of perfect repair. Similar monuments of the munificent Turkish
Sul-tans are found at every station of the Hadj, from Medina as far as
Damascus and Aleppo. Some of those which I saw to the southward of
Damascus, appeared more solid in their construction than the birkets of
Mekka: that appropriated to the Egyptian pilgrims is about one hundred
and sixty feet square, and from thirty to thirty-five feet in depth.
When the birket contains from eight to ten feet of water, the supply is
deemed sufficient for the caravan. These reservoirs are never completely
filled. As the aqueduct furnishes water but scantily, adjoining to the
western birket are some acres, irrigated by means of a well, and
producing vegetables. Near it, also, is a small mosque, called Djama e
Soleymanye, in a state of decay, and no longer used for religious
purposes; but serving, at present, to lodge a few Turkish soldiers. It
belongs to the quarter named El Soleymanye, which extends from Djebel
Lala close to the western mountain, as far as the cemeteries beyond the
birkets. It does not contain any good houses; and I heard that it
derives its name from the Soleymanye, as the Muselmans call the people
of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Cashmere, and several other countries on this
side of the Indus. It is said that some descendants of those people who
were the original settlers, still reside here, mixed with many Indians.
It appears, however, from Kotobeddyn's history, that Sultan Solyman
erected, about A.H. 980, a mosque in this quarter. The mosque at least
may be supposed to have borrowed its name from the founder. The
inhabitants of Soleymanye are Muselmans of the Hanefy sect, the first of
the four orthodox divi-sions, and not disciples of Aly, like the
Persians; many of whom come yearly to the Hadj of Mekka, either by sea
from Bombay or Bassora, or by land, travelling as dervises, along the
southern provinces of
[p.128] Persia to Baghdad, and through Mesopotamia and Syria to Egypt. I
have seen many who had come by that route; they appeared to be men of a
much better and more vigorous character than the gene-rality of Indians.
Opposite to this quarter El Soleymanye, on the eastern mountain, and
adjoining the Ghazze and Shab Aly, is a half-ruined district, called
Shab Aamer, inhabited by Bedouin pedlars of the Thekyf and Koreysh
tribes, and by a few poor sherif families. In this quarter are some
large mills, worked by horses, for the Turkish governor: the town, I
believe, does not contain any others of considerable size. It is the
custom at Mekka to use hand-mills, which are usually turned by the
slaves of the family, or, among the poorer classes, by the women. Here,
also, are the only places in Mekka (or perhaps in the Hedjaz) where
linen and cotton are dyed with indigo and saffron: woollen cloth is not
dyed here.
As numbers of the public women reside at Shab Aamer, this quarter is not
ranked among the most respectable in Mekka. Sherif Ghaleb imposed a
regular tax upon those females, and required an additional payment from
such of them as, in the time of the pilgrim-age, followed the hadjys to
Arafat. A similar tax is levied at Cairo, and in all the great
provincial towns of Egypt. Mekka abounds with the frail sisterhood,
whose numbers are increased during the Hadj by adventurers from foreign
countries. They are somewhat more decorous than the public women in
Egypt, and never appear in the streets without veils. Among them are
many Abyssinian slaves, whose former masters, according to report, share
the profits of their vocation. Some are slaves belonging to Mekkawys.
The Arabian poets make frequent allusions to Shab Aamer; thus Ibn el
Faredh says: -
"Is Shab Aamer, since we left it, still inhabited?
Is it to this day the place of meeting for lovers?" [See Sir William
Jones's Comment de Poes. Asiat., on the subject of a poem by Ibn Faredh,
which abounds with local allusions to Mekka.]
[p.129] Proceeding from the birkets northward over the plain, we come to
an insulated house, of good size and construction, belonging to the
Sherif, in which some of Ghaleb's favourites once resided. Opposite to
this building, a paved causeway leads towards the western hills, through
which is an opening that seems artificial. El Azraky applies the name
Djebel el Hazna to this part of the mountain; and says that the road was
cut through the rock by Yahia Ibn Khold Ibn Barmak.
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