After Ablution And Prayer, I Proceeded With The Boy Mohammed To Inspect
The Numerous Consecrated Sites On The “Mountain Of Mercy.” In The First
Place, We Repaired To A Spot On Rising Ground To The South-East, And
Within A Hundred Yards Of The Hill.
It is called “Jami al-Sakhrah[FN#1]”—the
Assembling Place of the Rock—from two granite boulders upon
Which the
Prophet stood to perform “Talbiyat.” There is nothing but a small enclosure
of dwarf and whitewashed stone walls, divided into halves for men and
women by a similar partition, and provided with a niche to direct
prayer towards Meccah. Entering by steps, we found crowds of devotees
and guardians, who for a consideration offered mats and carpets. After
a two-bow prayer and a long supplication opposite the niche, we retired
to the inner compartment, stood upon a boulder and shouted the “Labbayk.”
Thence, threading our way through many obstacles
[p.193] of tent and stone, we ascended the broad flight of rugged steps
which winds up the southern face of the rocky hill. Even at this early
hour it was crowded with pilgrims, principally Badawin and Wahhabis,
who had secured favourable positions for hearing the sermon. Already
their green flag was planted upon the summit close to Adam’s Place of
Prayer. The wilder Arabs insist that “Wukuf” (standing) should take place
upon the Hill. This is not done by the more civilised, who hold that
all the plain within the Alamayn ranks as Arafat.
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