The Style Of Saltation, Called Rufayah,
Rivalled The Song.
The dancers raised both arms above their heads,
brandishing a dagger, pistol, or some other small weapon.
They followed
each other by hops, on one or both feet, sometimes indulging in the
most demented leaps; whilst the bystanders clapped with their palms a
more enlivening measure. This I was told is especially their war-dance.
They have other forms, which my eyes were not fated to see. Amongst the
Badawin of Al-Hijaz, unlike the Somali and other African races, the
sexes never mingle: the girls may dance together, but it would be
disgraceful to perform in the company of men.
After so much excitement we retired to rest, and slept soundly.
On Friday, the 12th Zu’l Hijjah, the camels appeared, according to order,
at early dawn, and they were loaded with little delay. We were anxious
to enter Meccah in time for the sermon, and I for one was eager to
escape the now pestilential air of Muna.
Literally, the land stank. Five or six thousand animals had been slain
and cut up in this Devil’s Punch-bowl. I leave the reader to imagine the
rest. The evil might be avoided by building abattoirs, or, more easily
still, by digging long trenches, and by ordering all pilgrims, under
pain of mulct, to sacrifice in the same place. Unhappily, the spirit of
Al-Islam is opposed to these precautions of common sense,—“Inshallah” and
“Kismat” must take the place of prevention and of cure. And at Meccah, the
head-quarters of the faith, a desolating attack of cholera is preferred
to the impiety of “flying in the face of Providence,” and the folly of
endeavouring to avert inevitable decrees.[FN#6]
[p.225] Mounting our camels, and led by Mas’ud, we entered Muna by the
eastern end, and from the litter threw the remaining twenty-one stones.
I could now see the principal lines of shops, and, having been led to
expect a grand display of merchandise, was surprised to find only
mat-booths and sheds, stocked chiefly with provisions. The exit from
Muna was crowded, for many, like ourselves, were flying from the
revolting scene. I could not think without pity of those whom religious
scruples detained another day and a half in this foul spot.
After entering Meccah we bathed, and when the noon drew nigh we
repaired to the Harim for the purpose of hearing the sermon. Descending
to the cloisters below the Bab al-Ziyadah, I stood wonder-struck by the
scene before me. The vast quadrangle was crowded with worshippers
sitting in long rows, and everywhere facing the central black tower:
the showy colours of their dresses were not to be surpassed by a garden
of the most brilliant flowers, and such diversity of detail would
probably not be seen massed together in any other building upon earth.
The women, a dull and sombre-looking group, sat apart in their peculiar
place. The Pasha stood on the roof of Zemzem, surrounded by guards in
Nizam uniform. Where the principal Olema stationed themselves, the
crowd was thicker; and in the more auspicious spots nought was to be
seen but a pavement of heads and shoulders. Nothing seemed to move but
a few Darwayshes, who, censer in hand, sidled through the rows and
received the unsolicited alms of the Faithful. Apparently in the midst,
and raised above the crowd by the tall, pointed pulpit, whose gilt
spire flamed in the sun, sat the preacher, an old man with snowy beard.
The style of head-dress
[p.226] called Taylasan[FN#7] covered his turband, which was white as
his robes,[FN#8] and a short staff supported his left hand.[FN#9]
Presently he arose, took the staff in his right hand, pronounced a few
inaudible words,[FN#10] and sat down again on one of the lower steps,
whilst a Mu’ezzin, at the foot of the pulpit, recited the call to sermon.
Then the old man stood up and began to preach. As the majestic figure
began to exert itself there was a deep silence. Presently a general “Amin”
was intoned by the crowd at the conclusion of some long sentence. And
at last, towards the end of the sermon, every third or fourth word was
followed by the simultaneous rise and fall of thousands of voices.
I have seen the religious ceremonies of many lands, but never—nowhere—aught
so solemn, so impressive as this.
[FN#1] It is not safe to perform this ceremony at an early hour,
although the ritual forbids it being deferred after sunset. A crowd of
women, however, assembled at the Devils in the earlier part of the 11th
night (our 10th); and these dames, despite the oriental modesty of
face-veils, attack a stranger with hands and stones as heartily as
English hop-gatherers hasten to duck the Acteon who falls in their way.
Hence, popular usage allows stones to be thrown by men until the
morning prayers of the 11th Zu’l Hijjah.
[FN#2] Traditions about these animals vary in the different parts of
Arabia. At Aden, for instance, they are supposed to be a remnant of the
rebellious tribe of ’ad. It is curious that the popular Arabic, like the
Persian names, Sa’adan, Maymun, Shadi, &c., &c., are all expressive of (a
probably euphuistic) “propitiousness.”
[FN#3] The Egyptians generally catch, train, and take them to the banks
of the Nile, where the “Kurayeati” (ape-leader) is a popular character.
[FN#4] This ceremony, as the reader will have perceived, is performed
by the Shafe’is on the 10th, the 11th, and the 12th of Zu’l Hijjah. The
Hanafis conclude their stoning on the 13th. The times vary with each
day, and differ considerably in religious efficacy. On the night of the
10th (our 9th), for instance, lapidation, according to some
authorities, cannot take place; others permit it, with a sufficient
reason.
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