According To
Them This Cairn Steadily Grows, As We May Believe It Would; And That,
Were It Not For The Guardian Angels, The Millions Of Little Stones
Annually Thrown At The Devils Would Soon Form A Mass Of Equal
Magnitude.
This custom of lapidation, in token of hate, is an ancient
practice, still common in the East.
Yet, in some parts of Arabia,
stones are thrown at tombs as a compliment to the tenant. And in the
Somali country, the places where it is said holy men sat, receive the
same doubtful homage.
[FN#23] It is called in books Al-Tanim (bestowing plenty); a word which
readers must not confound with the district of the same name in the
province Khaulan (made by Niebuhr the “Thumna,” “Thomna,” or “Tamna,” capital of
the Catabanites). Other authors apply Al-Tanim to the spot where Abu
Lahab is supposed to lie. There are two places called Al-Umrah near
Meccah. The Kabir, or greater, is, I am told, in the Wady Fatimah, and
the Prophet ordered Ayishah and her sister to begin the ceremonies at
that place. It is now visited by picnic parties and those who would
pray at the tomb of Maimunah, one of the Prophet’s wives. Modern pilgrims
commence always, I am told, at the Umrah Saghir (the Lesser), which is
about half-way nearer the city.
[FN#24] Some assume the Ihram garb at this place.
[FN#25] We had still the pretext of my injured foot. When the Sai rite
is performed, as it should be, by a pedestrian, he mounts the steps to
about the height of a man, and then turns towards the temple.
[FN#26] I will not trouble the reader with this Niyat, which is the
same as that used in the Tawaf rite.
[FN#27] Almost every Mutawwif, it must be remembered, has his own set
of prayers.
[FN#28] “Safa” means a large, hard rock; “Marwah,” hard, white flints, full of
fire.
[FN#29] In former times a devastating torrent used to sweep this place
after rains. The Fiumara bed has now disappeared, and the pillars are
used as landmarks. Galland observes that these columns are planted upon
the place which supported Eve’s knees, when, after 300 years’ separation,
she was found by Adam.
[FN#30] This house is called in books Rubat al-Abbas.
[FN#31] Here once stood “As’af” and “Naylah,” two idols, some say a man and a
woman metamorphosed for stupration in the Temple.
[FN#32] Koran, chap. ii.
[FN#33] Ibn Jubayr gives 893 steps: other authorities make the distance
780 short cubits, the size of an average man’s forearm.
[FN#34] The ceremony of running between Safa and Marwah is supposed to
represent Hagar seeking water for her son. Usually pilgrims perform
this rite on the morning of visiting the Ka’aba.
[p.247] CHAPTER XXXIII.
PLACES OF PIOUS VISITATION AT MECCAH.
THE traveller has little work at the Holy City.
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