The Tomb Was
Covered With A Green Cloth, And The Walls Of The Little Building Were
Decorated With Written Specimens Of Religious Poetry.
A little beyond
it, we were shown into another dome, the resting-place of Sitt Aminah,
the Prophet’s mother.[FN#7] Burckhardt chronicles its ill-usage by
[p.250] the fanatic Wahhabis:
It has now been rebuilt in that frugal
style that characterizes the architecture of Al-Hijaz. An exceedingly
garrulous old woman came to the door, invited us in, and superintended
our devotions; at the end of which she sprinkled rosewater upon my
face. When asked for a cool draught, she handed me a metal saucer,
whose contents smelt strongly of mastic, earnestly directing me to
drink it in a sitting posture. This tomb she informed us is the
property of a single woman, who visits it every evening, receives the
contributions of the Faithful, prays, sweeps the pavement, and dusts
the furniture. We left five piastres for this respectable maiden, and
gratified the officious crone with another shilling. She repaid us by
signalling to some score of beggars that a rich pilgrim had entered the
Ma’ala, and their importunities fairly drove me out of the hallowed walls.
Leaving the Jannat al-Ma’ala, we returned towards the town, and halted on
the left side of the road, at a mean building called the Masjid al-Jinn
(of the Genii). Here was revealed the seventy-second chapter of the
Koran, called after the name of the mysterious fire-drakes who paid
fealty to the Prophet.
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