The Building Was Made Of Cut Stone And Fine Lime Brought From
Al-Yaman.
Abdullah, taking in the Hatim, lengthened the building by
seven cubits, and added to its former height nine cubits,
[P.324] thus making a total of twenty-seven. He roofed over the whole,
or a part; re-opened the western door, to serve as an exit; and,
following the advice of his aunt, who quoted the Prophet’s words, he
supported the interior with a single row of three columns, instead of
the double row of six placed there by the Kuraysh. Finally, he paved
the Mataf, or circuit, ten cubits round with the remaining slabs, and
increased the Harim by taking in the nearer houses. During the
building, a curtain was stretched round the walls, and pilgrims
compassed them externally. When finished, it was perfumed inside and
outside, and invested with brocade. Then Abdullah and all the citizens
went forth in a procession to the Tanim, a reverend place near Meccah,
returned to perform Umrah, the Lesser Pilgrimage, slew 100 victims, and
rejoiced with great festivities.
The Caliph Abd al-Malik bin Marwan besieged Abdullah bin Zubayr, who,
after a brave defence, was slain. In A.H. 74, Hajjaj bin Yusuf, general
of Abd al-Malik’s troops, wrote to the prince, informing him that
Abdullah had made unauthorised additions to and changes in the Harim:
the reply brought an order to rebuild the house. Hajjaj again excluded
the Hatim and retired the northern wall six cubits and a span, making
it twenty-five cubits long by twenty-four broad; the other three sides
were allowed to remain as built by the son of Zubayr. He gave the house
a double roof, closed the western door, and raised the eastern four
cubits and a span above the Mataf, or circuit, which he paved over. The
Harim was enlarged and beautified by the Abbasides, especially by
Al-Mahdi, Al-Mutamid, and Al-Mutazid. Some authors reckon, as an
eleventh house, the repairs made by Sultan Murad Khan. On the night of
Tuesday, 20th Sha’aban, A.H. 1030, a violent torrent swept the Harim; it
rose one cubit above the threshold of the Ka’abah, carried away the
lamp-posts and the
[p.325] Makam Ibrahim, all the northern wall of the house, half of the
eastern, and one-third of the western side. It subsided on Wednesday
night. The repairs were not finished till A.H. 1040. The greater part,
however, of the building dates from the time of Al Hajjaj; and Moslems,
who never mention his name without a curse, knowingly circumambulate
his work. The Olema indeed have insisted upon its remaining untouched,
lest kings in wantonness should change its form: Harun al-Rashid
desired to rebuild it, but was forbidden by the Imam Malik.
The present proofs of the Ka’abah’s sanctity, as adduced by the learned,
are puerile enough, but curious. The Olema have made much of the
verselet: “Verily the first house built for mankind (to worship in) is
that in Bakkah[FN#65] (Meccah), blessed and a salvation to the three
worlds.
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