The Tomb Was
Covered With A Green Cloth, And The Walls Of The Little Building Were
Decorated With Written Specimens Of Religious Poetry.
A little beyond
it, we were shown into another dome, the resting-place of Sitt Aminah,
the Prophet’s mother.[FN#7] Burckhardt chronicles its ill-usage by
[p.250] the fanatic Wahhabis:
It has now been rebuilt in that frugal
style that characterizes the architecture of Al-Hijaz. An exceedingly
garrulous old woman came to the door, invited us in, and superintended
our devotions; at the end of which she sprinkled rosewater upon my
face. When asked for a cool draught, she handed me a metal saucer,
whose contents smelt strongly of mastic, earnestly directing me to
drink it in a sitting posture. This tomb she informed us is the
property of a single woman, who visits it every evening, receives the
contributions of the Faithful, prays, sweeps the pavement, and dusts
the furniture. We left five piastres for this respectable maiden, and
gratified the officious crone with another shilling. She repaid us by
signalling to some score of beggars that a rich pilgrim had entered the
Ma’ala, and their importunities fairly drove me out of the hallowed walls.
Leaving the Jannat al-Ma’ala, we returned towards the town, and halted on
the left side of the road, at a mean building called the Masjid al-Jinn
(of the Genii). Here was revealed the seventy-second chapter of the
Koran, called after the name of the mysterious fire-drakes who paid
fealty to the Prophet. Descending a flight of steps,—for this Mosque,
like all ancient localities at Meccah, is as much below as above
ground,—we entered a small apartment containing water-pots for drinking
and all the appurtenances of ablution. In it is shown the Mauza
al-Khatt (place of the writing), where Mohammed wrote a letter to Abu
Mas’ud after the homage of the Jinnis. A second and interior flight of
stone steps led to another diminutive oratory, where the Prophet used
to pray and receive the archangel Gabriel. Having performed a pair of
bows, which caused the perspiration
[p.251 to burst forth as if in a Russian bath, I paid a few piastres,
and issued from the building with much satisfaction.
We had some difficulty in urging our donkeys through the crowded
street, called the Zukak al-Hajar. Presently we arrived at the Bayt
al-Nabi, the Prophet’s old house, in which he lived with the Sitt
Khadijah. Here, says Burckhardt, the Lady Fatimah first saw the
light[FN#8]; and here, according to Ibn Jubayr, Hasan and Hosayn were
born. Dismounting at the entrance, we descended a deep flight of steps,
and found ourselves in a spacious hall, vaulted, and of better
appearance than most of the sacred edifices at Meccah. In the centre,
and well railed round, stood a closet of rich green and gold stuffs, in
shape not unlike an umbrella-tent. A surly porter guarded the closed
door, which some respectable people vainly attempted to open by honeyed
words:
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