It is
below the present level of the ground, and in the centre is a kind of
tent, concealing, it is said, a hole in the floor upon which Aminah sat
to be delivered.
3. In the quarter “Sha’ab Ali,” near the Maulid al-Nabi, is the birthplace of
Ali, another oratory below the ground. Here, as in the former place, a
Maulid and a Ziyarah are held on the anniversary of the Lion’s birth.
4. Near Khadijah’s house and the Natak al-Nabi is a place called
Al-Muttaka, from a stone against which the Prophet leaned when worn out
with fatigue. It is much visited by devotees; and some declare that on
one occasion, when the Father of Lies appeared to the Prophet in the
form of an elderly man, and tempted him to sin by asserting that the
Mosque-prayers were over, this stone, disclosing the fraud, caused the
Fiend to flee.
5. Maulid Hamzah, a little building at the old Bab Umrah, near the
Shabayki cemetery. Here was the Bazan, or channel down which the Ayn
Hunayn ran into the Birkat Majid. Many authorities doubt that Hamzah
was born at this place.[FN#14]
