From Al-Suwayrkiyah to Al-Sufayna, S.E. 5° - 17 Miles
6. From Al-Sufayna to the “Benu Mutayr,” S.W. 20° - 18 Miles
7. From the “Benu Mutayr” to Al-Ghadir, S.W. 21° - 20 Miles
8. From Al-Ghadir to Al-Birkat, S.E. 10° - 24 Miles
9. From Al-Birkat to Al-Zaribah, S.E. 56° - 23 Miles
10.From Al-Zaribah to Wady Laymun, S.W. 50° - 24 Miles
11.From Wady Laymun to Meccah, S.E. 45° - 23 Miles
Total English miles 248
[p.157]PART III.
MECCAH.
[p.159]CHAPTER XXVII.
THE FIRST VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF ALLAH.
THE boy Mohammed left me in the street, and having at last persuaded
the sleepy and tired Indian porter, by violent kicks and testy answers
to twenty cautious queries, to swing open the huge gate of his
fortress, he rushed up stairs to embrace his mother. After a minute I
heard the Zaghritah,[FN#1] Lululu, or shrill cry which in these lands
welcomes the wanderer home; the sound so gladdening to the returner
sent a chill to the stranger’s heart.
Presently the youth returned. His manner had changed from a boisterous
and jaunty demeanour to one of grave and attentive courtesy—I had become
his guest. He led me into the gloomy hall, seated me upon a large
carpeted Mastabah, or platform, and told his bara Miyan[FN#2] (great
Sir), the Hindustani porter, to bring a light.
[p.160] Meanwhile a certain shuffling of slippered feet above informed
my ears that the Kabirah,[FN#3] the mistress of the house, was intent
on hospitable thoughts. When the camels were unloaded, appeared a dish
of fine vermicelli, browned and powdered with loaf sugar. The boy
Mohammed, I, and Shaykh Nur, lost no time in exerting our right hands;
and truly, after our hungry journey, we found the Kunafah delicious.
After the meal we procured cots from a neighbouring coffee-house, and
we lay down, weary, and anxious to snatch an hour or two of repose. At
dawn we were expected to perform our Tawaf al-Kudum, or “Circumambulation
of Arrival,” at the Harim.
Scarcely had the first smile of morning beamed upon the rugged head of
the eastern hill, Abu Kubays,[FN#4] when we arose, bathed, and
proceeded in our pilgrim-garb to the Sanctuary. We entered by the Bab
al-Ziyadah, or principal northern door, descended two long flights of
steps, traversed the cloister, and stood in sight of the Bayt Allah.
There at last it lay, the bourn of my long and weary Pilgrimage,
realising the plans and hopes of many and many a year. The mirage
medium of Fancy invested the
[p.161] huge catafalque and its gloomy pall with peculiar charms. There
were no giant fragments of hoar antiquity as in Egypt, no remains of
graceful and harmonious beauty as in Greece and Italy, no barbarous
gorgeousness as in the buildings of India; yet the view was strange,
unique—and how few have looked upon the celebrated shrine!
