Then With Hamid, Professionally Solemn, I Reassumed The Position Of
Prayer, And Retraced My Steps.
After passing through another small door
in the dwarf wall that bounds the Muwajihah, we did not turn to
The
right, which would have led us to the Bab al-Salam; our course was in
an opposite direction, towards the Eastern wall of the temple.
Meanwhile we repeated, "Verily Allah and His Angels[FN#28] bless the
Apostle! O ye who believe, bless him,
[p.314] and salute Him with Honour!" At the end of this prayer, we
arrived at the Mausoleum, which requires some description before the
reader can understand the nature of our proceedings there.
The Hujrah[FN#29] or "Chamber" as it is called, from the circumstance
of its having been Ayishah's room, is an irregular square of from fifty
to fifty-five feet in the South-East corner of the building, and
separated on all sides from the walls of the Mosque by a passage about
twenty-six feet broad on the South side, and twenty on the East. The
reason of this isolation has been before explained, and there is a
saying of Mohammed's, "O Allah, cause not my Tomb to become an Object
of Idolatrous Adoration! May Allah's Wrath fall heavy upon the People
who make the Tombs of their Prophets Places of Prayer[FN#30]!"
[p.315] Inside there are, or are supposed to be, three tombs facing the
South, surrounded by stone walls without any aperture, or, as others
say, by strong planking.[FN#31] Whatever this material may be, it is
hung outside with a curtain, somewhat like a large four-post bed. The
external railing is separated by a dark narrow passage from the inner,
which it surrounds; and is of iron filigree painted of a vivid grass
green,-with a view to the garden. Here carefully inserted in the
verdure, and doubly bright by contrast, is the gilt or burnished brass
work forming the long and graceful letters of the Suls character, and
disposed into the Moslem creed, the Profession of Unity, and similar
religious sentences.
On the South side, for greater honour, the railing is plated over with
silver, and silver letters are interlaced with it. This fence, which
connects the columns and forbids passage to all men, may be compared to
the baldacchino of Roman churches. It has four gates: that to the South
is the Bab al-Muwajihah; Eastward is the gate of our Lady Fatimah;
westward the Bab al-Taubah (of Repentance), opening into the Rauzah or
garden; and to the North, the Bab al-Shami or Syrian gate. They are
constantly kept closed, except the fourth, which admits, into the dark
narrow passage above alluded to, the officers who have charge of the
treasures there deposited; and the eunuchs who sweep the floor, light
[p.316] the lamps, and carry away the presents sometimes thrown in here
by devotees.[FN#32]
In the Southern side of the fence are three windows, holes about half a
foot square, and placed from four to five feet above the ground; they
are said to be between three and four cubits distant from the Apostle's
head. The most Westerly of these is supposed to front Mohammed's tomb,
wherefore it is called the Shubak al-Nabi, or the Prophet's window. The
next, on the right as you front it, is Abu Bakr's, and the most
Easterly of the three is Omar's.
Above the Hujrah is the Green Dome, surmounted outside by a large gilt
crescent springing from a series of globes. The glowing imaginations of
the Moslems crown this gem of the building with a pillar of heavenly
light, which directs from three days' distance the pilgrims' steps
towards Al-Madinah. But alas! none save holy men (and perhaps, odylic
sensitives), whose material organs are piercing as their spiritual
vision, may be allowed the privilege of beholding this poetic splendour.
Arrived at the Shubak al-Nabi, Hamid took his stand about six feet or
so out of reach of the railing, and at that respectful distance from,
and facing[FN#33] the Hazirah (or presence),
[p.317] with hands raised as in prayer, he recited the following
supplication in a low voice, telling me in a stage whisper to repeat it
after him with awe, and fear, and love:-
"Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of Allah, and the Mercy of Allah and his
Blessings! Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of Allah! Peace be upon Thee,
O Friend of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, O best of Allah's Creation!
Peace be upon Thee, O pure Creature of Allah! Peace be upon Thee, O
Chief of Prophets ! Peace be upon Thee, O Seal of the Prophets! Peace
be upon Thee, O Prince of the Pious! Peace be upon Thee, O Apostle of
the Lord of the (three) Worlds! Peace be upon Thee, and upon Thy
Family, and upon Thy pure Wives! Peace be upon Thee, and upon all Thy
Companions! Peace be upon Thee, and upon all the Prophets, and upon
those sent to preach Allah's Word! Peace be upon Thee, and upon all
Allah's righteous Worshippers! Peace be upon Thee, O thou Bringer of
Glad Tidings! Peace be upon Thee, O Bearer of Threats! Peace be upon
Thee, O thou bright Lamp! Peace be upon Thee, O thou Apostle of Mercy!
Peace be upon Thee, O Ruler of Thy Faith! Peace be upon Thee, O Opener
of Grief! Peace be upon Thee! and Allah bless Thee! and Allah repay
Thee for us, O Thou Apostle of Allah! the choicest of Blessings with
which He ever blessed Prophet! Allah bless Thee as often as Mentioners
have mentioned Thee, and Forgetters have forgotten Thee! And Allah
bless Thee among the First and the Last, with the best, the highest,
and the fullest of Blessings ever bestowed on Man; even as we escaped
Error by means of Thee, and were made to see after Blindness, and after
Ignorance were directed
[p.318] into the Right Way.
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