The Eighth Station Is At The Tomb Of Ukayl Bin Abi Talib, Brother Of Ali.[FN#25] Then We Visited The Spot Where Lie Interred All The Prophet’S Wives, Khadijah, Who Lies At Meccah, Alone Excepted.

Mohammed married fifteen wives of whom nine survived him.

After the “Mothers of the Moslems,” we prayed at the tombs of Mohammed’s daughters, said to be ten in number.

In compliment probably to the Hajj, the beggars mustered strong that morning at Al-Bakia. Along the walls and at the entrance of each building squatted ancient dames, all engaged in anxious contemplation of every approaching face, and in pointing to dirty cotton napkins spread upon the ground before them, and studded with a few coins, gold, silver, or copper, according to the expectations of the proprietress. They raised their voices to demand largesse: some promised to recite Fatihahs, and the most audacious seized visitors by the skirts of their

[p.39] garments. Fakihs, ready to write “Y.S.,” or anything else demanded of them, covered the little heaps and eminences of the cemetery, all begging lustily, and looking as though they would murder you, when told how beneficent is Allah—polite form of declining to be charitable. At the doors of the tombs old housewives, and some young ones also, struggled with you for your slippers as you doffed them, and not unfrequently the charge of the pair was divided between two. Inside, when the boys were not loud enough or importunate enough for presents, they were urged on by the adults and seniors, the relatives of the “Khadims” and hangers-on. Unfortunately for me, Shaykh Hamid was renowned for taking charge of wealthy pilgrims:

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