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.
