Verily I Purpose The
Hajj And The Umrah, Then Enable Me To Accomplish The Two, And Accept
Them Both Of Me, And Make Both Blessed To Me!” Followed The Talbiyat, Or
Exclaiming—
“Here I am!
O Allah! here am I—
No partner hast Thou, here am I;
Verily the praise and the grace are Thine, and the empire—
[p.140] No partner hast Thou, here am I[FN#20]!” And we were warned to
repeat these words as often as possible, until the conclusion of the
ceremonies. Then Shaykh Abdullah, who acted as director of our
consciences, bade us be good pilgrims, avoiding quarrels, immorality,
bad language, and light conversation. We must so reverence life that we
should avoid killing game, causing an animal to fly, and even pointing
it out for destruction[FN#21]; nor should we scratch ourselves, save
with the open palm, lest vermin be destroyed, or a hair uprooted by the
nail. We were to respect the sanctuary by sparing the trees, and not to
pluck a single blade of grass. As regards personal considerations, we
were to abstain from all oils, perfumes, and unguents; from washing the
head with mallow or with lote leaves; from dyeing, shaving, cutting, or
vellicating a single pile or hair; and though we might take advantage
of shade, and even form it with upraised hands, we must by no means
cover our sconces. For each infraction of these ordinances we must
sacrifice a sheep[FN#22]; and it is commonly said by Moslems that none
[p.141] but the Prophet could be perfect in the intricacies of
pilgrimage. Old Ali began with an irregularity: he declared that age
prevented his assuming the garb, but that, arrived at Meccah, he would
clear himself by an offering.
The wife and daughters of a Turkish pilgrim of our party assumed the
Ihram at the same time as ourselves. They appeared dresse in white
garments; and they had exchanged the Lisam, that coquettish fold of
muslin which veils without concealing the lower part of the face, for a
hideous mask, made of split, dried, and plaited palm-leaves, with two
“bulls’-eyes” for light.[FN#23] I could not help laughing when these strange
figures met my sight, and, to judge from the shaking of their
shoulders, they were not less susceptible to the merriment which they
had caused.
At three P.M. we left Al-Zaribah, travelling towards the South-West,
and a wondrously picturesque scene met the eye. Crowds hurried along,
habited in the pilgrim-garb, whose whiteness contrasted strangely with
their black skins; their newly shaven heads glistening in the sun, and
their long black hair streaming in the wind. The rocks rang with shouts
of Labbayk! Labbayk! At a pass we fell in with the Wahhabis,
accompanying the Baghdad Caravan, screaming “Here am I”; and, guided by a
large loud kettle-drum, they followed in double file the camel of a
standard-bearer, whose green flag bore in huge white letters the
formula of the Moslem creed.
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