After Which, And Also
Pierced With Two Arches, Is The Bab Al-Jiyad (Some Erroneously Spell It
Al-Jihad, “Of War”), The Gate Leading To Jabal Jiyad.
The next is double
arched, and called the Bab al-Mujahid or Al-Rahmah (“of Mercy”).
Nearly
opposite the Ka’abah, and connected with the pavement by a raised line of
stone, is the Bab al-Safa, through which pilgrims now issue to perform
the ceremony “Al-Sai”; it is a small and unconspicuous erection. Next to it
is the Bab al-Baghlah with two arches, and close to the south-east
angle of the Mosque the Bab Yunus, alias Bab Bazan, alias Bab al-Zayt,
alias Bab al-Asharah (“of the ten”), because a favourite with the first ten
Sahabah, or Companions
[p.317] of the Prophet. “Most of these gates,” says Burckhardt, “have high
pointed arches; but a few round arches are seen among them, which, like
all arches of this kind in the Heja[z], are nearly semi-circular. They
are without ornament, except the inscription on the exterior, which
commemorates the name of the builder, and they are all posterior in
date to the fourteenth century. As each gate consists of two or three
arches, or divisions, separated by narrow walls, these divisions are
counted in the enumeration of the gates leading into the Kaabah, and
they make up the number thirty-nine. There being no doors to the gates,
the Mosque is consequently open at all times. I have crossed at every
hour of the night, and always found people there, either at prayers or
walking about.[FN#55]”
“The outside walls of the Mosques are those of the houses which surround
it on all sides. These houses belonged originally to the Mosque; the
greater part are now the property of individuals. They are let out to
the richest Hadjys, at very high prices, as much as 500 piastres being
given during the pilgrimage for a good apartment with windows opening
into the Mosque.[FN#56] Windows have in consequence been opened in many
parts of the walls on a level with the street, and above that of the
floor of the colonnades. Hadjys living in these apartments are allowed
to perform the Friday’s prayers at home; because, having the Kaabah in
view from the windows, they are supposed to be in the Mosque itself,
and to join in prayer those assembled within the
[p.318] temple. Upon a level with the ground floor of the colonnades
and opening into them are small apartments formed in the walls, having
the appearance of dungeons; these have remained the property of the
Mosque while the houses above them belong to private individuals. They
are let out to water-men, who deposit in them the Zem Zem jars, or to
less opulent Hadjys who wish to live in the Mosque.[FN#57] Some of the
surrounding houses still belong to the Mosque, and were originally
intended for public schools, as their names of Medresa implies; they
are now all let out to Hadjys.”
“The exterior of the Mosque is adorned with seven minarets irregularly
distributed:—1.
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