The
Ladder Was Rolled Up To The Door, And The Chief Of The Benu Shaybah,
Ascending It, Was Covered By Attendants With A Black Veil From Head To
Foot, Whilst He Opened The Padlock.
Then, having kissed the threshold,
he entered, shut the door behind him, and prayed two Rukats; after
which, all the Benu Shaybah, and, lastly, the vulgar were admitted.
In
these day the veil is obsolete. The Shaykh enters the Ka’abah alone,
perfumes it and prays; the pilgrims are then admitted en masse; and the
style in which the eunuchs handle their quarter-staves forms a scene
more animated than decorous.
[FN#21] Some pray four instead of two bows.
[FN#22] Burckhardt erroneously says, “in every corner.”
[FN#23] These Indians are ever in extremes, paupers or millionaires,
and, like all Moslems, the more they pay at Meccah the higher becomes
their character and religious titles. A Turkish Pasha seldom squanders
as much money as does a Moslem merchant from the far East. Khudabakhsh,
the Lahore shawl-dealer, owned to having spent 800l. in feastings and
presents. He appeared to consider that sum a trifle, although, had a
debtor carried off one tithe of it, his health would have been
seriously affected.
[FN#24] The cover of the key is made, like Abraham’s veil, of three
colours, red, black or green. It is of silk, embroidered with golden
letters, and upon it are written the Bismillah, the name of the
reigning Sultan, “Bag of the key of the holy Ka’abah,” and a verselet from
the “Family of Amran” (Koran, ch. 3). It is made, like the Kiswah, at
Khurunfish, a place that will be noticed below.
[FN#25] “Ecorches”—“pelati;” the idea is common to most imaginative nations.
[FN#26] The same is the case at Al-Madinah; many religious men object
on conscientious grounds to enter the Prophet’s mosque. The poet quoted
below made many visitations to Al-Madinah, but never could persuade
himself to approach the tomb. The Esquire Carver saw two young Turks
who had voluntarily had their eyes thrust out at Meccah as soon as they
had seen the glory and visible sanctity of the tomb of Mohammed. I “doubt
the fact,” which thus appears ushered in by a fiction.
[FN#27] I have not thought it necessary to go deep into the list of
“Muharramat,” or actions forbidden to the pilgrim who has entered the
Ka’abah. They are numerous and meaningless.
[FN#28] The use of the feminine pronoun is explained below. When
unclothed, the Ka’abah is called Uryanah (naked), in opposition to its
normal state, “Muhramah,” or clad in Ihram. In Burckhardt’s time the house
remained naked for fifteen days; now the investiture is effected in a
few hours.
[FN#29] The gold-embroidered curtain covering the Ka’abah door is called
by the learned “Burka al-Ka’abah” (the Ka’abah’s face-veil), by the vulgar Burka
Fatimah; they connect it in idea with the Prophet’s daughter.
[FN#30] The pyramids, it is said, were covered from base to summit with
yellow silk or satin.
[FN#31] At present the Kiswah, it need scarcely be said, does not cover
the flat roof.
[FN#32] Ayishah also, when Shaybah proposed to bury the old Kiswah,
that it might not be worn by the impure, directed him to sell it, and
to distribute the proceeds to the poor. The Meccans still follow the
first half, but neglect the other part of the order given by the “Mother
of the Moslems.” Kazi Khan advises the proceeds of the sale being devoted
to the repairs of the temple. The “Siraj al-Wahhaj” positively forbids, as
sinful, the cutting, transporting, selling, buying, and placing it
between the leaves of the Koran. Kutb al-Din (from whom I borrow these
particulars) introduces some fine and casuistic distinctions. In his
day, however, the Benu Shaybah claimed the old, after the arrival of
the new Kiswah; and their right to it was admitted. To the present day
they continue to sell it.
[FN#33] Some authors also mention a green Kiswah, applied by this
monarch. Embroidered on it were certain verselets of the Koran, the
formula of the Moslem faith, and the names of the Prophet’s Companions.
[FN#34] Burckhardt says “Bysous” and “Sandabeir.”
[FN#35] From the “Family of Amran” (chap. 3). “Bekkah” is “a place of crowding”;
hence applied to Meccah generally. Some writers, however, limit it to
the part of the city round the Harim.
[FN#36] It is larger than the suls. Admirers of Eastern calligraphy may
see a “Bismillah,” beautifully written in Tumar, on the wall of Sultan
Mu’ayyad’s Mosque at Cairo.
[FN#37] Mr. Lane (Mod. Egypt. vol. iii. chap. 25) has given an ample
and accurate description of the Kiswah. I have added a few details,
derived from “Khalil Effendi” of Cairo, a professor of Arabic, and an
excellent French scholar.
[FN#38] Those who omit the rite fast ten days; three during the
pilgrimage season, and the remaining seven at some other time.
[FN#39] The camel is sacrificed by thrusting a pointed instrument into
the interval between the sternum and the neck. This anomaly may be
accounted for by the thickness and hardness of the muscles of the
throat.
[FN#40] It is strange that the accurate Burckhardt should make the
Moslem say, when slaughtering or sacrificing, “In the name of the most
Merciful God!” As Mr. Lane justly observes, the attribute of mercy is
omitted on these occasions.
[p.219] CHAPTER XXXI.
THE THREE DAYS OF DRYING FLESH.
ALL was dull after the excitement of the Great Festival. The heat of
the succeeding night rendered every effort to sleep abortive; and as
our little camp required a guard in a place so celebrated for
plunderers, I spent the greater part of the time sitting in the clear
pure moon-light.[FN#1]
After midnight we again repaired to the Devils, and, beginning with the
Ula, or first pillar, at the Eastern extremity of Muna, threw at each,
seven stones (making a total of twenty-one), with the ceremonies before
described.
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