Arabs Are
Especially Jealous Of Being Overlooked, And Have No Fellow-Feeling For
Votaries Of “Beautiful Views.” For This Reason
Here, as in Egypt, a blind
Mu’ezzin is preferred, and many ridiculous stories are told about men who
for
Years have counterfeited cecity to live in idleness[.]
[FN#61] I have illustrated this chapter, which otherwise might be
unintelligible to many, by a plan of the Ka’abah (taken from Ali Bey
al-Abbasi), which Burckhardt pronounced to be “perfectly correct.” This
author has not been duly appreciated. In the first place, his disguise
was against him; and, secondly, he was a spy of the French Government.
According to Mr. Bankes, who had access to the original papers at
Constantinople, Ali Bey was a Catalonian named Badia, and was suspected
to have been of Jewish extraction. He claimed from Napoleon a reward
for his services, returned to the East, and died, it is supposed, of
poison in the Hauran, near Damascus. In the edition which I have
consulted (Paris, 1814) the author labours to persuade the world by
marking the days with their planetary signs, &c., &c., that he is a
real Oriental, but he perpetually betrays himself. Some years ago,
accurate plans of the two Harims were made by order of the present
Sultan. They are doubtless to be found amongst the archives at
Constantinople.
[FN#62] It must be remembered that the Moslems, like many of the Jews,
hold that Paradise was not on earth, but in the lowest firmament, which
is, as it were, a reflection of earth.
[FN#63] Others derive the surname from this decision.
[FN#64] As will afterwards be mentioned, almost every Meccan knows the
prophecy of Mohammed, that the birthplace of his faith will be
destroyed by an army from Abyssinia. Such things bring their own
fulfilment.
[FN#65] Abu Hanifah made it a temporal sanctuary, and would not allow
even a murderer to be dragged from the walls.
[FN#66] Makkah (our Meccah) is the common word; Bakkah is a synonym
never used but in books. The former means “a concourse of people.” But why
derive it from the Hebrew, and translate it “a slaughter”? Is this a likely
name for a holy place? Dr. Colenso actually turns the Makaraba of
Ptolemy into “Makkah-rabbah,” plentiful slaughter. But if Makaraba be
Meccah, it is evidently a corruption of “Makkah” and “Arabah,” the Arab race.
Again, supposing the Meccan temple to be originally dedicated to the
sun, why should the pure Arab word “Ba’al” become the Hebræized Hobal, and the
deity be only one in the three hundred and sixty that formed the
Pantheon?
[FN#67] This is an audacious falsehood; the Ka’abah is scarcely ever
opened without some accident happening.
[p.327] APPENDIX III.[FN#1]
SPECIMEN OF A MURSHID'S DIPLOMA, IN THE KADIRI ORDER OF THE MYSTIC
CRAFT AL-TASAWWUF.
[ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: Footnote 1 gives a description of the original
manuscript. In Burton’s book, the text is presented as follows:
- Firstly, the section of text beginning “This is the tree…” and ending with
the lines “Amen.”, “A.”, presented as a triangle, with each line centred on the
page.
- Below this, the section of text “There is no god but Allah…a thing to
Allah.”, centred, and enclosed in a circle.
- Below that, the section of text “Sayyid A…of C.”, centred, and enclosed in
a horizontal oval.
- The line “And of him…we beg aid.”, in smaller type.
- All the following lines are enclosed in a box filling most of each
page, with a horizontal rule separating the lines of text.
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