Each Of Us Then Sacrificed A
Sheep, Had His Hair And Nails Cut, Exchanged The Ihram For His Best
Apparel, And, Embracing His Friends, Paid Them The Compliments Of The
Season.
The two following days the Great, the Middle, and the Little
Satan were again pelted, and, bequeathing to the unfortunate
inhabitants of Muna the unburied and odorous remains of nearly a
hundred thousand animals, we returned, eighty thousand strong, to
Meccah.
A week later, having helped to insult the tumulus of stones
which marks, according to popular belief, the burial-place of
Abulah?ab, the unbeliever, who, we learn from the Koran, has descended
into hell with his wife, gatherer of sticks, I was not sorry to
relinquish a shade temperature of 120°, and wend my way to Jeddah en
route for England, after delegating to my brethren the recital of a
prayer in my behalf at the Tomb of the Prophet at Medina.
In penning these lines I am anxious to encourage other Englishmen,
especially those from India, to perform the pilgrimage, without being
deterred by exaggerated reports concerning the perils of the
enterprise. It must, however, be understood that it is absolutely
indispensable to be a Mussulman (at least externally) and to have an
Arabic name. Neither the Koran nor the Sultan enjoins the killing of
intrusive Jews or Christians; nevertheless, two years ago, an incognito
Jew, who refused to repeat the creed, was crucified by the Meccah
populace, and in the event of a pilgrim again declaring himself to be
an unbeliever the authorities would be almost powerless to protect his
life.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 525 of 630
Words from 144199 to 144464
of 175520
