We Then Moved Away To The South-Eastern Corner Of The Edifice, And
Stood Before A Mihrab In The Southern Wall.
[P.410]It is called "Takat al-Kashf" or "Niche of Disclosure," by those
who believe that as the Prophet was standing undecided about the
direction of Meccah, the Archangel Gabriel removed all obstructions to
his vision.
There again we went through the two-bow prayer, the
Supplication, the Testification, and the Fatihah, under difficulties,
for people mobbed us excessively. During our devotions, I vainly
attempted to decipher a Cufic inscription fixed in the wall above and
on the right of the Mihrab,-my regret however, at this failure was
transitory, the character not being of an ancient date. Then we left
the Riwak, and despite the morning sun which shone fiercely with a
sickly heat, we went to the open area where stands the "Mabrak
al-Nakah," or the "Place of kneeling of the she-Dromedary.[FB#23]"
This, the exact spot where Al-Kaswa sat down, is covered with a
diminutive dome of cut stone, supported by four stone pillars: the
building is about eight feet high and a little less in length and in
breadth. It has the appearance of being modern. On the floor, which was
raised by steps above the level of the ground, lay, as usual, a bit of
dirty matting, upon which we again went through, the ceremonies above
detailed.
Then issuing from the canopy into the sun, a little outside the Riwak
and close to the Mabrak, we prayed upon the "Makan al-Ayat,[FN#24]" or
the "Place of Signs." Here was revealed to Mohammed a passage in the
Koran especially alluding to the purity of the place and of the people
of Kuba, "a Temple founded in Purity from its first Day;" and again:
"there live Men who love to be
[p.411]cleansed, and verily Allah delights in the Clean." The Prophet
exclaimed in admiration, "O ye Sons of Amr! what have ye done to
deserve all this Praise and Beneficence?" when the people offered him
an explanation of their personal cleanliness which I do not care to
repeat. The temple of Kuba from that day took a fresh title-Masjid
al-Takwa, or the "Mosque of Piety."
Having finished our prayers and ceremonies at the Mosque of Piety, we
fought our way out through a crowd of importunate beggars, and turning
a few paces to the left, halted near a small chapel adjoining the
South-West angle of the larger temple. We there stood at a grated
window in the Western wall, and recited a Supplication, looking the
while reverently at a dark dwarf archway under which the Lady Fatimah
used to sit grinding grain in a hand-mill. The Mosque in consequence
bears the name of Sittna Fatimah. A surly-looking Khadim, or guardian
stood at the door demanding a dollar in the most authoritative Arab
tone-we therefore did not enter.
At Al-Madinah and at Meccah the traveller's hand must be perpetually in
his pouch:
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