It has a certain
look of rude magnificence,
[p.253] the effect of huge hanging balconies scattered in profusion
over lofty walls, claire-voies of brickwork, and courses of
various-coloured stone. The owner is highly popular among the Badawin,
and feared by the citizens on account of his fierce looks, courage, and
treachery. They described him to me as vir bonus, bene strangulando
peritus; but Mr. Cole, who knew him personally, gave him a high
character for generosity and freedom from fanaticism. He seems to have
some idea of the state which should “hedge in” a ruler. His palaces at
Meccah, and that now turned into a Wakalah at Jeddah, are the only
places in the country that can be called princely. He is now a state
prisoner at Constantinople, and the Badawin pray in vain for his
return.[FN#12]
The other places of pious visitation at Meccah are briefly these:—
1. Natak al-Nabi, a small oratory in the Zukak al-Hajar. It derives its
name from the following circumstance.
[p.254] As the Prophet was knocking at the door of Abu Bakr’s shop, a
stone gave him God-speed, and told him that the master was not at home.
The wonderful mineral is of a reddish-black colour, about a foot in
dimension, and fixed in the wall somewhat higher than a man’s head.
