One And All, And The Mercy Of Allah And His
Blessings."
Then again we moved a few paces forward and went through a similar
ceremony, supposing ourselves to be in the cave that sheltered the
Apostle.
After which, returning towards the torrent-bed by the way we
came, we stood a small distance from a cupola called Kubbat al-Masra.
It resembles that of the "Front-teeth," and notes, as its name proves,
the place where the gallant
[p.433]Hamzah fell by the spear of Wahshi the slave.[FN#28] We faced
towards it and finished the ceremonies of this Ziyarat by a
Supplication, the Testification, and the Fatihah.
In the evening I went with my friends to the Harim. The minaret
galleries were hung with lamps, and the inside of the temple was
illuminated. It was
[p.434]crowded with Hajis, amongst whom were many women, a circumstance
which struck me from its being unusual.[FN#29] Some pious pilgrims, who
had duly paid for the privilege, were perched upon ladders trimming wax
candles of vast dimensions, others were laying up for themselves
rewards in Paradise, by performing the same office to the lamps; many
were going through the ceremonies of Ziyarat, and not a few were
sitting in different parts of the Mosque apparently overwhelmed with
emotion. The boys and the beggars were inspired with fresh energy, the
Aghawat were gruffer and surlier than I had ever seen them, and the
young men about town walked and talked with a freer and an easier
demeanour than usual. My old friends the Persians-there were about 1200
of them in the Hajj Caravan-attracted my attention. The doorkeepers
stopped them with curses as they were about to enter, and all claimed
from each the sum of five piastres, whilst other Moslems were allowed
to enter the Mosque free. Unhappy men! they had lost all the Shiraz
swagger, their mustachios dropped pitiably, their eyes would not look
any one in the face, and not a head bore a cap stuck upon it crookedly.
Whenever an "'Ajami," whatever might be his rank, stood in the way of
an Arab or a Turk, he was rudely thrust aside, with abuse muttered loud
enough to be heard by all around. All eyes followed them as they went
through the ceremonies of Ziyarat, especially as they approached the
tombs of Abu Bakr and Omar,-which every man is bound to defile if he
can,-and the supposed place of Fatimah's burial. Here they stood in
parties, after praying before the Prophet's window: one read from a
book the pathetic tale of the Lady's life, sorrows, and
[p.435]mourning death, whilst the others listened to him with
breathless attention. Sometimes their emotion was too strong to be
repressed. "Ay Fatimah! Ay Muzlumah! Way! way!-O Fatimah! O thou
injured one! Alas! alas!" burst involuntarily from their lips, despite
the danger of such exclamations; tears trickled down their hairy
cheeks, and their brawny bosoms heaved with sobs. A strange sight it
was to see rugged fellows, mountaineers perhaps, or the fierce Iliyat
of the plains, sometimes weeping silently like children, sometimes
shrieking like hysteric girls, and utterly careless to conceal a grief
so coarse and grisly, at the same time so true and real, that I knew
not how to behold it. Then the Satanic scowls with which they passed
by, or pretended to pray at, the hated Omar's tomb! With what curses
their hearts are belying those mouths full of blessings! How they are
internally canonising Fayruz-the Persian slave who stabbed Omar in the
Mosque-and praying for his eternal happiness in the presence of the
murdered man! Sticks and stones, however, and not unfrequently the
knife and the sabre, have taught them the hard lesson of disciplining
their feelings; and nothing but a furious contraction of the brow, a
roll of the eye, intensely vicious, and a twitching of the muscles
about the region of the mouth, denote the wild storm of wrath within.
They generally, too, manage to discharge some part of their passion in
words. "Hail Omar, thou hog!" exclaims some fanatic Madani as he passes
by the heretic-a demand more outraging than requiring a red-hot,
black-north Protestant to bless the Pope. "O Allah! hell him!" meekly
responds the Persian, changing the benediction to a curse most
intelligible to, and most delicious in, his fellows' ears.[FN#30]
[p.436]An evening hour in the steamy heat of the Harim was equal to
half a dozen afternoons; and I left it resolved never to revisit it
till the Hajj departed from Al-Madinah. It was only prudent not to see
much of the 'Ajamis; and as I did so somewhat ostentatiously, my
companions discovered that the Shaykh Abdullah, having slain many of
those heretics in some war or other, was avoiding them to escape
retaliation. In proof of my generalistic qualities, the rolling down of
the water jar upon the heads of the Maghribi Pilgrims in the "Golden
Thread" was quoted, and all offered to fight for me a l'outrance. I
took care not to contradict the report.
[FN#1] This city derives its names, the "Great Gate of Pilgrimage," and
the "Key of the Prophet's Tomb" from its being the gathering-place of
this caravan.
[FN#2] The Egyptians corruptly pronounce "Al-Misr," i.e. Cairo, as
"Al-Masr."
[FN#3] NOTE TO FOURTH EDITION.-I reprint the following from the
Illustrated News in proof that the literati of England have still
something to learn:-"On the 1st instant the annual ceremony of the
departure of the Sure-emini with the Imperial gifts for the Prophet's
tomb at Mecca took place in front of the palace at Constantinople. The
Levant Herald states that the presents, which consist, beside the large
money donation, of rich shawls and gold-woven stuffs, were brought out
of the Imperial apartments and packed in presence of the Sultan, on two
beautiful camels, which, after the delivery of the usual prayers, were
then led in grand procession, accompanied by all the high officers of
state, to the landing-place at Cabatash, where the Sure-emini and
camels were embarked on a Government steamer and ferried over to
Scutari.
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