This
Was The Work Of Sultan Sulayman The Magnificent.
After passing through
the town it turns to the North-west, its course being marked by a line
of circular walls breast high, like the Kariz of Afghanistan, placed at
unequal distances, and resembling wells:
It then loses itself in the
Nakhil or palm-groves. During my stay at Al-Madinah, I always drank
this water, which appeared to me, as the citizens declared it to be,
sweet and wholesome.[FN#9] There are many wells in the town, as water
is found at about twenty feet below the surface of the soil: few
produce anything fit for drinking, some being salt and others bitter.
As usual in the hilly countries of the East, the wide beds and
Fiumaras, even in the dry season, will supply travellers for a day or
two with an abundance of water, filtrated through, and, in some cases,
flowing beneath the sand.
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The climate of the plain is celebrated for a long, and, comparatively
speaking, a rigorous winter; a popular saying records the opinion of
the Apostle "that he who patiently endures the cold of Al-Madinah and
the heat of Meccah, merits a reward in Paradise." Ice is not seen in
the town, but may frequently be met with, it is said, on Jabal Ohod;
fires are lighted in the houses during winter, and palsies attack those
who at this season imprudently bathe in unwarmed water. The fair
complexions of the people prove that this account of the brumal rigours
is not exaggerated.
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