Allahumma salli alayh!" ("In the name of Allah! Allah have
Mercy upon Him[FN#50]!")
The Apostle's body, it should be remembered, lies, or is supposed to
lie, stretched at full length on the right side, with the right palm
supporting the right cheek, the face fronting Meccah, as Moslems are
always buried, and consequently the body lies with the head almost due
West and the feet due East. Close behind him is placed Abu Bakr, whose
face fronts the Apostle's shoulder[FN#51]; and, lastly, Omar holds the
same position with respect to his predecessor.
The places they are usually supposed to occupy, then, would be thus
disposed. But Moslem historians are not agreed even upon so simple a
point as this. [p.325] Many prefer this position, in line [figure]
-some thus, in unicorn [figure] -and others the right angle.[FN#52]
[figure]
It is popularly asserted that in the Hujrah there is now spare place
for only a single grave, reserved for Isa bin Maryam after his second
coming. The historians of Al-Islam are full of tales proving that
though many of their earlier saints, as Osman the Caliph and Hasan the
Imam, were desirous of being buried there; and that although Ayishah,
to whom the room belonged, willingly acceded to their wishes, son of
man has as yet been unable to occupy it.
After the Fatihah pronounced at Omar's tomb, and the short inspection
of the Hujrah, Shaykh Hamid led me round the south-east corner of the
baldaquin.[FN#53] Turning
[p.326] towards the north, we stopped at what is commonly called the
Mahbat Jibrail ("Place of the Archangel Gabriel's Descent with the
Heavenly Revelations"), or simply Al-Malaikah-the Angels. It is a small
window in the Eastern wall of the Mosque; we turned our backs upon it,
and fronting the Hujrah, recited the following prayer:-
"Peace be upon You, O Angels of Allah, the Mukarrabin (cherubs), and
the Musharrifin (seraphs), the pure, the holy, honored by the Dwellers
in Heaven, and by those who abide upon the Earth. O beneficent Lord! O
Long-suffering! O Almighty! O Pitier! O thou Compassionate One! perfect
our Light, and pardon our Sins, and accept Penitence for our Offences,
and cause us to die among the Holy! Peace be upon Ye, Angels of the
Merciful, one and all! And the Mercy of God and His Blessings be upon
You!" After which I was shown the spot in the Hujrah where Sayyidna Isa
shall be buried[FN#54] by Mohammed's side.
[p.327] Then turning towards the West, at a point where there is a
break in the symmetry of the Hujrah, we arrived at the sixth station,
the sepulchre or cenotaph of the Lady Fatimah. Her grave is outside the
enceinte and the curtain which surrounds her father's remains; so
strict is Moslem decorum, and so exalted its opinion of the
"Virgin's"[FN#55] delicacy.
![Personal Narrative Of A Pilgrimage To Al-Madinah & Meccah - Volume 1 of 2 - By Captain Sir Richard F. Burton
- He adds that
the tombs are
[p.324] deep holes; and that the coffin which contains the Apostle is
cased - Page 218](../images/travel.jpg)
