Must be sought in the ancient
practice of typifying the church visible by a virgin or bride. The poet
Abd al-Rahim al Bura’i, in one of his Gnostic effusions, has embodied the
idea:—
([Arabic])
“And Meccah’s bride (i.e. the Ka’abah) is displayed
with (miraculous) signs.”
This idea doubtless led to the face-veil, the covering, and the
guardianship of eunuchs.
The Meccan temple was first dressed as a mark of
[p.213] honour by Tobba the Himyarite when he Judaized.[FN#30] If we
accept this fact, which is vouched for by Oriental history, we are led
to the conclusion that the children of Israel settled at Meccah had
connected the temple with their own faith, and, as a corollary, that
the prophet of Al-Islam introduced their apocryphal traditions into his
creed. The pagan Arabs did not remove the coverings: the old and torn
Kiswah was covered with a new cloth, and the weight threatened to crush
the building.[FN#31] From the time of Kusay, the Ka’abah was veiled by
subscription, till Abu Rabi’at al-Mughayrah bin Abdullah, who, having
acquired great wealth by commerce, offered to provide the Kiswah on
alternate years, and thereby gained the name of Al-adil.
