In The Tenth Century, Sultan Sulayman The
Magnificent Paved With Fine White Marble The Rauzah Or Garden, Which
Kaid-Bey, Not Daring To Alter, Had Left Of Earth, And Erected The Fine
Minaret That Bears His Name.
[P.369]During the dominion of the later Sultans, and of Mohammed Ali, a
few trifling presents, of lamps, carpets, wax candles and chandeliers,
and a few immaterial alterations, have been made.
The present head of
Al-Islam is, as I have before said, rebuilding one of the minarets and
the Northern colonnade of the temple.
Such is the history of the Mosque's prosperity.
During the siege of Al-Madinah by the Wahhabis,[FN#53] the principal
people seized and divided amongst themselves the treasures of the tomb,
which must have been considerable. When the town surrendered, Sa'ud,
accompanied by his principal officers, entered the Hujrah, but,
terrified by dreams, he did not penetrate behind the curtain, or
attempt to see the tomb. He plundered, however, the treasures in the
passage, the "Kaukab al-Durri[FN#54]" (or pearl star), and the
ornaments sent as presents from every part of Al-Islam. Part of these
he sold, it is said, for 150,000 Riyals (dollars), to Ghalib, Sharif of
Meccah, and the rest he carried with him to Daraiyah, his
capital.[FN#55] An accident prevented any further desecration of the
building. The greedy Wahhabis, allured by the appearance of the golden
or gilt globes and crescents surmounting the green dome, attempted to
throw down the latter. Two of their number, it is said, were killed by
falling
[p.370]from the slippery roof,[FN#56] and the rest, struck by
superstitious fears, abandoned the work of destruction. They injured,
however, the prosperity of the place by taxing the inhabitants, by
interrupting the annual remittances, and by forbidding visitors to
approach the tomb. They are spoken of with abhorrence by the people,
who quote a peculiarly bad trait in their characters, namely, that in
return for any small religious assistance of prayer or recitation, they
were in the habit of giving a few grains of gunpowder, or something
equally valuable, instead of "stone-dollars.[FN#57]"
When Abdullah, son of Sa'ud, had concluded in A.D. 1815 a treaty of
peace with Tussun Pasha, the Egyptian General bought back from the
townspeople, for 10,000 Riyals, all the golden vessels that had not
been melted down, and restored the treasure to its original place. This
I have heard denied; at the same time it rests upon credible evidence.
Amongst Orientals the events of the last generation are, usually
speaking, imperfectly remembered, and the Olema are well acquainted
with the history of vicissitudes which took place 1200 years ago, when
profoundly ignorant of what their grandfathers witnessed. Many
incredible tales also I heard concerning the present wealth of the
Al-Madinah Mosque: this must be expected when the exaggeration is
considered likely to confer honour upon the exaggerator.
The establishment attached to the Al-Madinah Mosque is greatly altered
since Burckhardt's time,[FN#58] the result of the increasing influence
of the Turkish half-breeds
[p.371]It is still extensive, because in the first place the principle
of divided labour is a favourite throughout the East, and secondly
because the Sons of the Holy Cities naturally desire to extract as much
as they can from the Sons of other cities with the least amount of
work.
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