Travelling Onwards, We Came In Sight Of
The Second Harrah Or Ridge.
It lies to the right and left of the road,
and resembles lines of lava, but I had not
An opportunity to examine it
narrowly.[FN#15] Then we reached the gardens of Ohod, which reflect in
miniature those of Kuba; and presently we arrived at what explained the
presence of verdure and vegetable life,-a deep Fiumara full of loose
sand and large stones denoting an impetuous stream. It flows along the
Southern base of Ohod, said to be part of the plain of Al-Madinah, and
it collects the drainage of the high lands lying to the South and
South-east. The bed becomes impassable after rain, and sometimes the
torrents overflow the neighbouring gardens. By the direction of this
Fiumara I judged that it must supply the Ghabbah or "basin" in the
hills north of the plain. Good authorities,
[p.425]however, informed me that a large volume of water will not stand
there, but flows down the beds that wind through the Ghats westward of
Al-Madinah, and falls into the sea near the harbour of Wijh. To the
south of the Fiumara is a village on an eminence, containing some large
brick houses now in a ruinous state; these are the villas of opulent
and religious citizens who visited the place for change of air,
recreation, and worship at Hamzah's tomb. Our donkeys presently sank
fetlock-deep in the loose sand of the torrent-bed. Then reaching the
Northern side, and ascending a gentle slope, we found ourselves upon
the battle-field.
This spot, so celebrated in the annals of Al-Islam, is a shelving strip
of land, close to the Southern base of Mount Ohod. The army of the
Infidels advanced from the Fiumara in crescent shape, with Abu Sufiyan,
the general, and his idols in the centre. It is distant about three
miles from Al-Madinah, in a Northerly direction.[FN#16] All the visitor
sees is hard gravelly ground, covered with little heaps of various
coloured granite, red sandstone, and bits of porphyry, to denote the
different places where the martyrs fell, and were buried.[FN#17] Seen
from this point, there is something appalling in the look of the Holy
Mountain. Its seared and jagged flanks rise like masses of iron from
the plain, and the crevice into which the Moslem host retired, when the
disobedience of the archers in hastening to plunder enabled Khalid bin
Walid to fall upon Mohammed's rear, is the only break in the grim wall.
Reeking with heat, its surface produces
[p.426]not one green shrub or stunted tree; neither bird nor beast
appeared upon its inhospitable sides, and the bright blue sky glaring
above its bald and sullen brow, made it look only the more repulsive. I
was glad to turn away my eyes from it.
To the left of the road North of the Fiumara, and leading to the
mountains, stands Hamzah's Mosque, which, like the Harim of Al-Madinah,
is a Mausoleum as well as a fane.
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