By This Means The Badawin Discover The Dignitary’S Place. [FN#8] “Abu Sham,” A Familiar Address In Al-Hijaz To Syrians.

They are called “abusers of the salt,” from their treachery, and “offspring of Shimr” (the execrated murderer of the Imam Hosayn), because he was a native of that country.

Such is the detestation in which the Shi’ah sect, especially the Persians, hold Syria and the Syrians, that I hardly ever met with a truly religious man who did not desire a general massacre of the polluted race. And history informs us that the plains of Syria have repeatedly been drenched with innocent blood shed by sectarian animosity. Yet Jalal al-Din (History of Jerusalem) says, “As to Damascus, all learned men fully agree that it is the most eminent of cities after Meccah and Al-Madinah.” Hence its many titles, “the Smile of the Prophet,” the “Great Gate of Pilgrimage,” “Sham Sharif,” the “Right Hand of the Cities of Syria,” &c., &c. And many sayings of Mohammed in honour of Syria are recorded. He was fond of using such Syriac words as “Bakhun! Bakhun!” to Ali, and “Kakhun! Kakhun!” to Hosayn. I will not enter into the curious history of the latter word, which spread to Egypt, and, slightly altered, passed through Latin mythology into French, English, German, Italian, and other modern European tongues. [FN#9] There is a regular language to camels. “Ikh! ikh!” makes them kneel; “Yahh! Yahh!” urges them on; “Hai! Hai!” induces caution, and so on. [FN#10] Both these names of the Almighty are of kindred origin. The former is generally used when a woman is in danger of exposing her face by accident, or an animal of falling. [FN#11] A “birkat” in this part of Arabia may be an artificial cistern or a natural basin; in the latter case it is smaller than a “ghadir.” This road was a favourite with Harun al-Rashid, the pious tyrant who boasted that every year he performed either a pilgrimage or a crusade. The reader will find in d’Herbelot an account of the celebrated visit of Harun to the Holy Cities. Nor less known in Oriental history is the pilgrimage of Zubaydah Khatun (wife of Harun and mother of Amin) by this route. [FN#12] Some believe this literally, others consider it a phrase expressive of blood-thirstiness. It is the only suspicion of cannibalism, if I may use the word, now attaching to Al-Hijaz. Possibly the disgusting act may occasionally have taken place after a stern fight of more than usual rancour. Who does not remember the account of the Turkish officer licking his blood after having sabred the corpse of a Russian spy? It is said that the Mutayr and the Utaybah are not allowed to enter Meccah, even during the pilgrimage season. [FN#13] Coloquintida is here used, as in most parts of the East, medicinally. The pulp and the seeds of the ripe fruit are scooped out, and the rind is filled with milk, which is exposed to the night air, and drunk in the morning. [FN#14] Used in Arabian medicine as a refrigerant and tonic. It abounds in Sind and Afghanistan, where, according to that most practical of botanists, the lamented Dr. Stocks, it is called “ishwarg.” [FN#15] Here called Ashr. According to Seetzen it bears the long-sought apple of Sodom. Yet, if truth be told, the soft green bag is as unlike an apple as can be imagined; nor is the hard and brittle yellow rind of the ripe fruit a whit more resembling. The Arabs use the thick and acrid milk of the green bag with steel filings as a tonic, and speak highly of its effects; they employ it also to intoxicate or narcotise monkeys and other animals which they wish to catch. It is esteemed in Hindu medicine. The Nubians and Indians use the filaments of the fruit as tinder; they become white and shining as floss-silk. The Badawin also have applied it to a similar purpose. Our Egyptian travellers call it the “Silk-tree”; and in Northern Africa, where it abounds, Europeans make of it stuffing for the mattresses, which are expensive, and highly esteemed for their coolness and cleanliness. In Bengal a kind of gutta percha is made by boiling the juice. This weed, so common in the East, may one day become in the West an important article of commerce. [FN#16] “Al-Ihram” literally meaning “prohibition” or “making unlawful,” equivalent to our “mortification,” is applied to the ceremony of the toilette, and also to the dress itself. The vulgar pronounce the word “heram,” or “l’ehram.” It is opposed to “ihlal,” “making lawful” or “returning to laical life.” The further from Meccah it is assumed, provided that it be during the three months of Hajj, the greater is the religious merit of the pilgrim; consequently some come from India and Egypt in the dangerous attire. Those coming from the North assume the pilgrim-garb at or off the village of Rabigh. [FN#17] These sheets are not positively necessary; any clean cotton cloth not sewn in any part will serve equally well. Servants and attendants expect the master to present them with an “ihram.” [FN#18] Sandals are made at Meccah expressly for the pilgrimage: the poorer classes cut off the upper leathers of an old pair of shoes. [FN#19] This Niyat, as it is technically called, is preferably performed aloud. Some authorities, however, direct it to be meditated sotto-voce. [FN#20] “Talbiyat” is from the word Labbayka (“here I am”) in the cry— “Labbayk’ Allahumma, Labbayk’! (Labbayka) La Sharika laka, Labbayk’! Inna ’l-hamda wa ’l ni’amata laka wa ’l mulk! La Sharika laka, Labbayk’!” Some add, “Here I am, and I honour thee, I the son of thy two slaves: beneficence and good are all between thy hands.” A single Talbiyah is a “Shart” or positive condition, and its repetition is a Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet.

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