Peace Be Upon Thee, O Wet-Nurse Of
Al-Mustafa (The Chosen)!
Peace be upon Thee, O Wet-nurse of Al-Mujtaba
(the (accepted)![FN#21] May Allah be satisfied with Thee, and cause
Thee to be satisfied, and render Heaven thy House and Habitation!
And
verily we have come visiting Thee, and by means of Thee drawing near to
Allah’s Prophet, and through Him to God, the Lord of the Heavens and the
Earths.[FN#22]”
After which, fronting the North, we stood before a low enclosure,
containing ovals of loose stones, disposed side by side. These are the
Martyrs of Al-Bakia, who received the crown of glory at the hands of
Al-Muslim,[FN#23] the general of the arch-heretic Yazid[FN#24] The
prayer here recited differs so little from that addressed to the
martyrs of Ohod, that I will not transcribe it. The fifth station is
near the centre of the cemetery at the tomb of Ibrahim, who died, to
the eternal regret of Al-Islam, some say six months old, others in his
second year. He was the son
[p.38] of Mariyah, the Coptic girl, sent as a present to Mohammed by
Jarih, the Mukaukas or governor of Alexandria. The Prophet with his own
hand piled earth upon the grave, and sprinkled it with water,—a ceremony
then first performed,—disposed small stones upon it, and pronounced the
final salutation. For which reason many holy men were buried in this
part of the cemetery, every one being ambitious to lie in ground which
has been honored by the Apostle’s hands. Then we visited Al-Nafi Maula,
son of Omar, generally called Imam Nafi al-Kari, or the Koran chaunter;
and near him the great doctor Imam Malik ibn Anas, a native of
Al-Madinah, and one of the most dutiful of her sons. The eighth station
is at the tomb of Ukayl bin Abi Talib, brother of Ali.[FN#25] Then we
visited the spot where lie interred all the Prophet’s wives, Khadijah,
who lies at Meccah, alone excepted. Mohammed married fifteen wives of
whom nine survived him. After the “Mothers of the Moslems,” we prayed at
the tombs of Mohammed’s daughters, said to be ten in number.
In compliment probably to the Hajj, the beggars mustered strong that
morning at Al-Bakia. Along the walls and at the entrance of each
building squatted ancient dames, all engaged in anxious contemplation
of every approaching face, and in pointing to dirty cotton napkins
spread upon the ground before them, and studded with a few coins, gold,
silver, or copper, according to the expectations of the proprietress.
They raised their voices to demand largesse: some promised to recite
Fatihahs, and the most audacious seized visitors by the skirts of their
[p.39] garments. Fakihs, ready to write “Y.S.,” or anything else demanded
of them, covered the little heaps and eminences of the cemetery, all
begging lustily, and looking as though they would murder you, when told
how beneficent is Allah—polite form of declining to be charitable.
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