It Was Burnt To The Ground
Shortly After Its Erection, And All Known Of It Is, That It Stood Near
Kuba.
[FN#20] Some Say On Monday, Probably Because On That Day Mohammed
Alighted At Kuba.
But the present practice of Al-Islam, handed down
from generation to generation, is to visit it on the
Saturday.
[FN#21] There is on this day at Kuba a regular Ziyarat or visitation.
The people pray in the Harim of Al-Madinah, after which they repair to
the Kuba Mosque, and go through the ceremonies which in religious
efficacy equal an Umrah or Lesser pilgrimage. In books I have read that
the 15th of Ramazan is the proper day.
[FN#22] This is believed to be the spot where the Prophet performed his
first Rukat, or prayer-bow.
[FN#23] "Mabrak" is the locative noun from the triliteral root
"Baraka-he blessed, or he (the camel) knelt upon the ground." Perhaps
this philological connection may have determined Mohammed to consider
the kneeling of the dromedary a sign that Allah had blessed the spot.
[FN#24] "Ayat" here means a verset of the Koran. Some authors apply the
above quoted lines to the Prophet's Mosque at Al-Madinah exclusively,
others to both buildings.
[FN#25] Ibn Jubayr informs us that Abu Bakr, Ayishah, and Omar had
habitations at Kuba.
[FN#26] Some authors mention a second Bir al-Aris, belonging in part to
the Caliph Osman. According to Yakut, "Aris" is the Hebrew or Syriac
word for a peasant; he quotes the plural form Arisun and Ararisah.
[FN#27] Others assert, with less probability, that the article in
question was lost by one Ma'akah, a favourite of Osman. As that
ill-fated Caliph's troubles began at the time of this accident, the
ring is generally compared to Solomon's. Our popular authors, who
assert that Mohammed himself lost the ring, are greatly in error.
[FN#28] According to some authors, Mohammed drew a bucket of water,
drank part of the contents, spat into the rest, and poured it back into
the well, which instantly became sweet. Ibn Jubayr applies the epithet
Bir Al-Taflat peculiarly to the Aris well: many other authors are not
so exact.
[FN#29] The pious perform the Lesser Ablution upon the brink of the
seven wells, and drink of the remnant of the water in "Tabarruk" or to
secure the blessings of God.
[FN#30] Some alter the 3rd, the 5th, and the 7th names to Bir al-Nabi,
a well in the Kuba gardens, Bir al-Ghurbal, and Bir al-Fukayyir, where
the Prophet, together with Salman the Persian and others of his
companions, planted date trees. The Bir al-Aris has already been
described. The Bir al-Ghars, Gharas or Ghurs, so called, it is said,
from the place where it was sunk, about half a mile N.E. of the Kuba
Mosque, is a large well with an abundance of water. Mohammed used to
perform ablution on its brink, and directed Ali to wash his corpse with
seven skins full of the water. The Bir Rumah is a large well with a
spring at the bottom, dug in the Wady al-Akik, to the north of the
Mosque Al-Kiblatayn. It is called "Kalib Mazni" (the old well of
Mazni), in this tradition; "the best of old wells is the old well of
Mazni." And ancient it must be if the legend say true, that when Abu
Karb besieged Al-Madinah (A.D. 495), he was relieved of sickness by
drinking its produce. Some assert that it afforded the only sweet water
in Al-Madinah when the Prophet arrived there. The town becoming crowded
by an influx of visitors, this water was sold by its owner, a man of
the Benu Ghaffar tribe, or according to others, by one Mazni, a Jew.
Osman at last bought it by paying upwards of 100 camels. The Bir
Buza'at, or Biza'at, or Bisa'at, is in the Nakhil or palm plantations,
outside the Bab al-Shami or North-western gate of Al-Madinah on the
right of the road leading to Ohod. Whoever washes in its waters three
times shall be healed. The Bir Busat is near the Bakia cemetery, on the
left of the road leading to Kuba. The Prophet used to bathe in the
water, and he declared it healthy to the skin. The Bir Bayruha, under
whose trees the Prophet was fond of sitting, lies outside the Bab Dar
al-Ziyafah, leading to Mount Ohod. The Kamus gives the word "Bayruha
upon the measure of Fayluha." Some authorities upon the subject of
Ziyarat, write Bayruha, "Bir Ha,"-the well of Ha, and variously suppose
"Ha" to be the name of a man, a woman, or a place. Yahut mentions other
pronunciations: "Bariha," "Bariha," "Bayriha," &c. The Bir Ihn is in a
large garden E. of Kuba. Little is said in books about this well, and
the people of Al-Madinah do not know the name.
[p.416]CHAPTER XX.
THE VISITATION OF HAMZAH'S TOMB.
ON the morning of Sunday, the twenty-third Zu'l Ka'adah (28th August,
1853), arrived from Al-Sham, or Damascus,[FN#1] the great Caravan
popularly called Hajj al-Shami, the "Damascus pilgrimage," as the
Egyptian Cafila is Al-Misri,[FN#2] or the Cairo pilgrimage. It is the
main stream which carries off all the small currents that, at this
season of general movement, flow from Central Asia towards the great
centre of the Islamitic world, and in 1853 it amounted to about seven
thousand souls. The arrival was anxiously expected by the people for
several reasons. In the first place, it brought with it a new curtain
for the Prophet's Hujrah, the old one being in a tattered condition;
secondly, it had charge of the annual stipends and pensions of the
citizens; and thirdly, many families expected members returning under
its escort to their homes. The popular anxiety was greatly increased by
the disordered state of the country round about; and, moreover, the
great caravan had been one day late, generally arriving on the morning
of the twenty-second Zu'l Ka'adah.[FN#3]
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