It
Was Erected, He Says, By Kait Bey Of Egypt, And Had Fallen Into Decay.
It Has Now Been Repaired, And Is Generally Considered Neutral, And Not
Sanctuary Ground, Between The Harim Of Meccah And The Holy Hill.
[FN#14] Mr. W. Muir, In His Valuable Life Of Mahomet, Vol.
I, p. ccv.,
remarks upon this passage that at p. 180 ante, I made Muna three miles
from Meccah, and Muzdalifah about three miles from Muna, and Arafat
three miles from Muzdalifah,—a total of nine.
But the lesser estimate
does not include the outskirts of Meccah on the breadth of the Arafat
Plain. The Calcutta Review (art. 1, Sept. 1853) notably errs in making
Arafat eighteen miles east of Meccah. Ibn Jubayr reckons five miles
from Meccah to Muzdalifah, and five from this to Arafat.
[FN#15] Those who die on a pilgrimage become martyrs.
[FN#16] I cannot help believing that some unknown cause renders death
easier to man in hot than in cold climates; certain it is that in
Europe rare are the quiet and painless deathbeds so common in the East.
[FN#17] We bury our dead, to preserve them as it were; the Moslem tries
to secure rapid decomposition, and makes the graveyard a dangerous as
well as a disagreeable place.
[FN#18] Arabs observe that Indians, unless brought young into the
country, never learn its language well. They have a word to express the
vicious pronunciation of a slave or an Indian, “Barbaret al-Hunud.” This
root Barbara ([Arabic]), like the Greek “Barbaros,” appears to be derived
from the Sanscrit Varvvaraha, an outcast, a barbarian, a man with curly
hair.
[FN#19] Ali’s charger was named Maymun, or, according to others, Zu’l Janah
(the winged). Indians generally confound it with “Duldul,” Mohammed’s mule.
[FN#20] These visions are common in history. Ali appeared to the Imam
Shafe’i, saluted him,—an omen of eternal felicity,—placed a ring upon his
finger, as a sign that his fame should extend wide as the donor’s, and
sent him to the Holy Land. Ibrahim bin Adham, the saint-poet hearing,
when hunting, a voice exclaim, “Man! it is not for this that Allah made
thee!” answered, “It is Allah who speaks, his servant will obey!” He changed
clothes with an attendant, and wandered forth upon a pilgrimage,
celebrated in Al-Islam. He performed it alone, and making 1100
genuflexions each mile, prolonged it to twelve years. The history of
Colonel Gardiner, and of many others amongst ourselves, prove that
these visions are not confined to the Arabs.
[FN#21] There is a Consul for Jeddah now, 1879, but till lately he was
an unpaid.
[FN#22] This vale is not considered “standing-ground,” because Satan once
appeared to the Prophet as he was traversing it.
[FN#23] According to Kutb al-Din, the Arafat plain was once highly
cultivated. Stone-lined cisterns abound, and ruins of buildings are
frequent. At the Eastern foot of the mountain was a broad canal,
beginning at a spur of the Taif hills, and conveying water to Meccah;
it is now destroyed beyond Arafat. The plain is cut with torrents,
which at times sweep with desolating violence into the Holy City, and a
thick desert vegetation shows that water is not deep below the surface.
[FN#24] The word is explained in many ways. One derivation has already
been mentioned. Others assert that when Gabriel taught Abraham the
ceremonies, he ended by saying “A’arafata manasik’ak?”—hast thou learned thy
pilgrim rites? To which the Friend of Allah replied, “Araftu!”—I have learned
them.
[FN#25] The latter name, “Ratan,” is servile. Respectable women are never
publicly addressed by Moslems except as “daughter,” “female pilgrim,” after
some male relation, “O mother of Mohammed,” “O sister of Omar,” or, tout
bonnement, by a man’s name. It would be ill-omened and dangerous were the
true name known. So most women, when travelling, adopt an alias.
Whoever knew an Afghan fair who was not “Nur Jan,” or “Sahib Jan”?
[FN#26] The British reader will be shocked to hear that by the term
“fatted ass” the intellectual lady alluded to her husband. The story is
that Mu’awiyah, overhearing the song, sent back the singer to her cousin
and beloved wilds. Maysunah departed with her son Yazid, and did not
return to Damascus till the “fatted ass” had joined his forefathers. Yazid
inherited, with his mother’s talents, all her contempt for his father; at
least the following quatrain, addressed to Mu’awiyah, and generally known
in Al-Islam, would appear to argue anything but reverence:—
“I drank the water of the vine: that draught had power to rouse
Thy wrath, grim father! now, indeed, ’tis joyous to carouse!
I’ll drink!—Be wroth!—I reck not!—Ah! dear to this heart of mine
It is to scoff a sire’s command, to quaff forbidden wine.”
[p.192] CHAPTER XXIX.
THE CEREMONIES OF THE YAUM ARAFAT, OR THE SECOND DAY.
THE morning of the ninth Zu’l Hijjah (Tuesday, 13th Sept.) was ushered in
by military sounds: a loud discharge of cannon warned us to arise and
to prepare for the ceremonies of this eventful day.
After ablution and prayer, I proceeded with the boy Mohammed to inspect
the numerous consecrated sites on the “Mountain of Mercy.” In the first
place, we repaired to a spot on rising ground to the south-east, and
within a hundred yards of the hill. It is called “Jami al-Sakhrah[FN#1]”—the
Assembling Place of the Rock—from two granite boulders upon which the
Prophet stood to perform “Talbiyat.” There is nothing but a small enclosure
of dwarf and whitewashed stone walls, divided into halves for men and
women by a similar partition, and provided with a niche to direct
prayer towards Meccah. Entering by steps, we found crowds of devotees
and guardians, who for a consideration offered mats and carpets.
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