At The
Doors Of The Tombs Old Housewives, And Some Young Ones Also, Struggled
With You For Your Slippers As You Doffed Them, And Not Unfrequently The
Charge Of The Pair Was Divided Between Two.
Inside, when the boys were
not loud enough or importunate enough for presents, they were urged on
by the adults and seniors, the relatives of the “Khadims” and hangers-on.
Unfortunately for me, Shaykh Hamid was renowned for taking charge of
wealthy pilgrims:
The result was, that my purse was lightened of three
dollars. I must add that although at least fifty female voices loudly
promised that morning, for the sum of ten parahs each, to supplicate
Allah in behalf of my lame foot, no perceptible good came of their
efforts.
Before leaving Al-Bakia, we went to the eleventh station, [FN#26] the
Kubbat al-Abbasiyah, or Dome of Abbas. Originally built by the Abbaside
Caliphs in A.H. 519, it is a larger and a handsomer building than its
fellows, and it is situated on the right-hand side of the gate as you
enter. The crowd of beggars at the door testified to its importance:
they were attracted by the Persians who assemble here in force to weep
and to pray. Crossing the threshold with some difficulty, I walked
round a mass of tombs which occupies the centre of the building,
leaving but a narrow passage between it and the walls. It is railed
round, and covered over with several “Kiswahs” of green cloth worked with
white letters: it looked like a confused
[p.40] heap, but it might have appeared irregular to me by the reason
of the mob around. The Eastern portion contains the body of Al-Hasan,
the son of Ali and grandson of the Prophet[FN#27]; the Imam Zayn
al-Abidin, son of Al-Hosayn, and great-grandson to the Prophet; the
Imam Mohammed al-Bakir (fifth Imam), son to Zayn al-Abidin; and his son
the Imam a’afar al-Sadik—all four descendants of the Prophet, and buried in
the same grave with Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle to Mohammed. It is
almost needless to say that these names are subjects of great
controversy. Al-Musudi mentions that here was found an inscribed stone
declaring it to be the tomb of the Lady Fatimah, of Hasan her brother,
of Ali bin Hosayn, of Mohammed bin Ali, and of Ja’afar bin Mohammed. Ibn
Jubayr, describing Al-Bakia, mentions only two in this tomb, Abbas and
Hasan; the head of the latter, he says, in the direction of the former’s
feet. Other authors
[p.41] relate that in it, about the ninth century of the Hijrah, was
found a wooden box covered with fresh-looking red felt cloth, with
bright brass nails, and they believe it to have contained the corpse of
Ali, placed here by his own son Hasan.
Standing opposite this mysterious tomb, we repeated, with difficulty by
reason of the Persians weeping, the following supplication:—“Peace be upon
Ye, O Family of the Prophet!
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