He Gave The House
A Double Roof, Closed The Western Door, And Raised The Eastern Four
Cubits And A Span Above The Mataf, Or Circuit, Which He Paved Over.
The
Harim was enlarged and beautified by the Abbasides, especially by
Al-Mahdi, Al-Mutamid, and Al-Mutazid.
Some authors reckon, as an
eleventh house, the repairs made by Sultan Murad Khan. On the night of
Tuesday, 20th Sha’aban, A.H. 1030, a violent torrent swept the Harim; it
rose one cubit above the threshold of the Ka’abah, carried away the
lamp-posts and the
[p.325] Makam Ibrahim, all the northern wall of the house, half of the
eastern, and one-third of the western side. It subsided on Wednesday
night. The repairs were not finished till A.H. 1040. The greater part,
however, of the building dates from the time of Al Hajjaj; and Moslems,
who never mention his name without a curse, knowingly circumambulate
his work. The Olema indeed have insisted upon its remaining untouched,
lest kings in wantonness should change its form: Harun al-Rashid
desired to rebuild it, but was forbidden by the Imam Malik.
The present proofs of the Ka’abah’s sanctity, as adduced by the learned,
are puerile enough, but curious. The Olema have made much of the
verselet: “Verily the first house built for mankind (to worship in) is
that in Bakkah[FN#65] (Meccah), blessed and a salvation to the three
worlds. Therein (fihi) are manifest signs, the standing-place of
Abraham, which whoso entereth shall be safe” (Kor.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 399 of 630
Words from 108349 to 108608
of 175520
