I Heard Some Hadjys From Greece, Men Of
Better Taste Than The Arabs, Express Their Regret That The Kobbateyn
Should Be Allowed To Disfigure The Mosque.
They were built by
Khoshgeldy, governor of Djidda A.H. 947; one is called Kobbet el Abbas,
from having been placed on the site of a small tank said to have been
formed by Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.”
[P.311] “A few paces west (north-west) of Zem Zem, and directly opposite
to the door of the Kaabah, stands a ladder or staircase,[FN#44] which
is moved up to the wall of the Kaabah on days when that building is
opened, and by which the visitors ascend to the door. It is of wood,
with some carved ornaments, moves on low wheels, and is sufficiently
broad to admit of four persons ascending abreast. The first ladder was
sent hither from Cairo in A.H. 818 by Moyaed Abou el Naser, King of
Egypt.”
“In the same line with the ladder and close by it stands a lightly built
insulated and circular arch, about fifteen feet wide, and eighteen feet
high, called Bab es’ Salam, which must not be confounded with the great
gate of the Mosque, bearing the same name. Those who enter the Bait
Ullah for the first time are enjoined to do so by the outer and inner
Bab-es-Salam; in passing under the latter they are to exclaim, ‘O God,
may it be a happy entrance.’ I do not know by whom this arch was built,
but it appears to be modern.[FN#45]”
“Nearly in front of the Bab-es-Salam and nearer the Kaabah than any of
the other surrounding buildings, stand[s] the Makam Ibrahim.[FN#46]
This is a small building supported by six pillars about eight feet
high, four of which are surrounded from top to bottom by a fine iron
railing, while they leave the space beyond the two hind pillars open;
within the railing is a frame about five feet square, terminating in a
pyramidal top, and said to contain the sacred stone upon which Ibrahim
stood when he built the Kaabah, and which with the help of his son
Ismayl he had removed from hence to the place
[p.312] called Maajen, already mentioned.
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