Of These Unpraisable Pillars Three Are Celebrated In The Annals Of
Al-Islam, For Which Reason Their Names Are Painted Upon Them, And Five
Others Enjoy The Honour Of Distinctive Appellations.
The first is
called Al-Mukhallak, because, on some occasion of impurity, it was
anointed with a perfume called Khaluk.
It is near the Mihrab al-Nabawi,
on the right of the place where the Imam prays; and it notes the spot
where, before the invention of the Pulpit, the Apostle, leaning upon
the Ustuwanat al-Hannanah-the Weeping Pillar[FN#74]-used to recite the
Khutbah or Friday sermon.
The second stands third from the Pulpit, and third from the Hujrah. It
is called the Pillar of Ayishah, also the Ustuwanat al-Kurah, or the
Column of Lots, because the Apostle, according to the testimony of his
favourite wife, declared that if men knew the value of the place, they
would cast lots to pray there: in some books it is known as the Pillar
of the Muhajirin or Fugitives, and others mention it as
Al-Mukhallak-the Perfumed.
Twenty cubits distant from Ayishah's Pillar, and the
[p.336] second from the Hujrah, and the fourth from the Pulpit, is the
Pillar of Repentance, or of Abu Lubabah. It derives its name from the
following circumstance. Abu Lubabah was a native of Al-Madinah, one of
the Auxiliaries and a companion of Mohammed, originally it is said a
Jew, according to others of the Beni Amr bin Auf of the Aus tribe.
Being sent for by his kinsmen or his allies, the Benu Kurayzah, at that
time capitulating to Mohammed, he was consulted by the distracted men,
women, and children, who threw themselves at his feet, and begged of
him to intercede for them with the offended Apostle. Abu Lubabah swore
he would do so: at the same time, he drew his hand across his throat,
as much as to say, "Defend yourselves to the last, for if you yield,
such is your doom." Afterwards repenting, he bound himself with a huge
chain to the date-tree in whose place the column now stands, vowing to
continue there until Allah and the Apostle accepted his penitence-a
circumstance which did not take place till the tenth day, when his
hearing was gone and he had almost lost his sight.
The less celebrated pillars are the Ustuwanat al-Sarir, or Column of
the Cot, where the Apostle was wont to sit meditating on his humble
couch-frame of date-sticks. The Ustuwanat Ali notes the spot where the
fourth Caliph used to pray and watch near his father-in-law at night.
At the Ustuwanat al-Wufud, as its name denotes, the Apostle received
envoys, couriers, and emissaries from foreign places. The Ustuwanat
al-Tahajjud now stands where Mohammed, sitting upon his mat, passed the
night in prayer. And lastly is the Makam Jibrail (Gabriel's place), for
whose other name, Mirbaat al-Bair, "the Pole of the Beast of Burden," I
have been unable to find an explanation.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 223 of 302
Words from 116547 to 117055
of 157964
