But The Arnaut, Whose Rage Was “Like Red-Hot Steel,” Would Hear
Nothing But Our Repeated Declarations, That Unless He Behaved More Like
A Pilgrim, We Should Be Compelled To Leave Him And His Slave Behind.
At four P.M. we left Al-Birkat, and travelled Eastwards over rolling
ground thickly wooded.
There was a network of footpaths through the
thickets, and clouds obscured the moon; the consequence was inevitable
loss of way. About 2 A.M. we began ascending hills in a south-westerly
direction, and presently we fell into the bed of a large rock-girt
Fiumara, which runs from east to west. The sands were overgrown with
saline and salsolaceous plants; the Coloquintida, which, having no
support, spreads along the ground[FN#13]; the Senna, with its small
green leaf; the Rhazya stricta[FN#14]; and a large luxuriant variety of
the Asclepias gigantea,[FN#15] cottoned over with
[p.138] mist and dew. At 6 A.M. (Sept. 9th) we left the Fiumara, and,
turning to the West, we arrived about an hour afterwards at the
station. Al-Zaribah, “the valley,” is an undulating plain amongst high
granite hills. In many parts it was faintly green; water was close to
the surface, and rain stood upon the ground. During the night we had
travelled about twenty-three miles, and our present station was
south-east 56° from our last.
Having pitched the tent and eaten and slept, we prepared to perform the
ceremony of Al-Ihram (assuming the pilgrim-garb), as Al-Zaribah is the
Mikat, or the appointed place.[FN#16] Between the noonday and the
afternoon prayers a barber attended to shave our heads, cut our nails,
and trim our mustachios. Then, having bathed and perfumed ourselves,—the
latter is a questionable
[p.139] point,—we donned the attire, which is nothing but two new cotton
cloths, each six feet long by three and a half broad, white, with
narrow red stripes and fringes: in fact, the costume called Al-Eddeh,
in the baths at Cairo.[FN#17] One of these sheets, technically termed
the Rida, is thrown over the back, and, exposing the arm and shoulder,
is knotted at the right side in the style Wishah. The Izar is wrapped
round the loins from waist to knee, and, knotted or tucked in at the
middle, supports itself. Our heads were bare, and nothing was allowed
upon the instep.[FN#18] It is said that some clans of Arabs still
preserve this religious but most uncomfortable costume; it is doubtless
of ancient date, and to this day, in the regions lying west of the Red
Sea, it continues to be the common dress of the people.
After the toilette, we were placed with our faces in the direction of
Meccah, and ordered to say aloud,[FN#19] “I vow this Ihram of Hajj (the
pilgrimage) and the Umrah (the Little pilgrimage) to Allah Almighty!”
Having thus performed a two-bow prayer, we repeated, without rising
from the sitting position, these words, “O Allah!
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 93 of 331
Words from 47829 to 48337
of 175520
