Part 27 (1/2)

On arriving at the encampment of Al-Arj, the camel carrying the provisions of the Prophet and of Abu Bakr was missing. Ayishah's father laid the blame on the driver: 'How's this? Thou hadst but one camel to look after and thou hast let it go astray?' Carried away by great anger, Abu Bakr, with his whip, gave the man a good hiding.

'Admire the conduct of this pilgrim in the state of ”Ihram!”' said the Prophet, ironically. 'Come now, O Abu Bakr, be calm, and rest a.s.sured that thy serving-man's sole desire was not to lose thy camel.'

The caravan took the same road as that of the pious visitation. The Prophet entered Makkah in open day, and made his she-camel kneel in front of the entrance of the Sacred Precincts, called the ”Door of Salvation,” and on catching sight of the Ka'bah, he exclaimed: 'O Allah, increase the glory of this Temple and the number of its visitors!'

After three ablutions, he kissed the Black Stone, whilst tears welled up in his eyes. He then performed the ”Tawaf,” and the ”Sa'y,” in the same way as during the pious visit.

On the eighth day of the month of Zu'l-Hijjah, he went to the valley of Mina where he caused a tent of woollen stuff to be pitched; and it was there he said the prayers of the afternoon; of sunset; and of nightfall. Next day, after the prayer of the ”Fajr,” he once more bestrode his she-camel, al-Qaswa, in order to reach the mountain of Arafa.

Countless crowds having gathered on the mountain's rocky slopes, as well as on the plain and in the surrounding ravines, the Prophet preached, remaining on his she-camel which he had ridden and halted on the summit. Standing immediately beneath him, was Rabiyah ibn Ummayatah, posted there to repeat the words of the sermon, with his resounding voice, during a pause made for that purpose at the conclusion of each sentence.

After Allah had been glorified by the ”Takbir,” the Prophet exhorted the Faithful to treat their wives with the greatest gentleness, and never to forget that the rights of spouses are equal to their duties.

He explicitly forbade the exaction of any interest whatsoever on money lent; and no murders committed during the ”days of ignorance” were to be avenged. He fixed the duration of the year at twelve lunar months; and declared that the ”Nasi,” which added a month every three years to reestablish equilibrium and bring the same dates back to the same seasons, was impious and must be abolished....

He then concluded, as he cried: 'O Believers, your blood and your belongings ought to be looked upon as holy to each of you, even as this day is holy and as this land is holy! O Believers, remember what I say, for I know not if ever I shall be with you again on this spot, when this day is past. And, above all, never forget that every Mussulman should be truly a brother to every other Mussulman, for all the Mussulmans in the world form a single people of brothers!... O Allah! have I fulfilled my Mission?'--'Yea, verily, O Allah!' replied in unanimous outcry the hundred thousand mouths of the pilgrims, in accents of the most ardent grat.i.tude.--'O Allah! hearken to their testimony!' cried Mohammad.

At another spot, near the summit of the Arafa, and known by the name of ”As-Sakhrah,” recognisable by being paved with broad slabs, a sudden Revelation came down to the Prophet. Under the burden of Divine Inspiration penetrating the heart of her rider, the she-camel al-Qaswa came nigh to breaking all her limbs, and she fell on her knees.

Here are the words of Allah, the Most High: ”_This day have I perfected your religion for you, and have filled up the measure of my favours towards you; and it is my pleasure that Islam be your religion...._” (THE QUR'AN, V, 5.)

This Revelation, terminating the Prophet's sermon which had so deeply touched the Believers, stirred up the purest enthusiasm in the whole of the a.s.sembly.

Nevertheless, Abu Bakr, far from partic.i.p.ating in the general joy, was seized with a fit of intense melancholy, and was unable to hold back the tears that filled his eyes. He thought that having found favour in the eyes of the Almighty, His mercy was bound to decrease. Knowing that his son-in-law's Mission was terminated, Abu Bakr was afraid that the Prophet would soon disappear from this world....

The indigo shades of night had fallen over the valley and spread along the slopes of the Arafa. All by himself, on the mountain top, overlooking the great mult.i.tude of pilgrims, the Prophet, on the back of his tall she-camel, still remained in the light of the last golden rays of sunset. His glance, ecstatic by faith, was resplendent with superhuman brilliancy; but his face, emaciated by illness, had taken on the immaterial aspect of a vision about to fade.... The rising shadows reached and veiled him....

It was now the turn of the companions of the Prophet to find themselves overcome by the same mournful apprehension that Abu Bakr had felt, although scarcely a few moments before, they were manifesting their joy at hearing that their religion had been perfected by Allah.... By degrees, their emotion was communicated to the entire a.s.sembly of the Believers and their hundred thousand hearts were filled with the keenest anguish.

The Prophet gave the signal of departure; but to prevent the accidents which any haste would inevitably cause among the great ma.s.ses of such a gathering, he tugged the bridle of swift Qaswa to him, twisting her head round until her nostrils touched her ribs, whilst he slid on to her withers; unceasingly exhorting all: 'Go quietly, O ye people!'

On arriving at Muzdalifa, he said the prayer, ”Isha,” and next day, after the daybreak prayer, riding his she-camel, led by Bilal, and protected from the sun by a mantle that Usama, riding behind him, held over his head, he went into the valley of Mina, in order to throw seven stones against each of the three pillars of rude masonry, called ”Jumurat.” This is in commemoration of the pebbles thrown by Abraham to drive away the Devil who thrice tried to stop him at that spot.

After that, the Prophet, to prove his grat.i.tude for the sixty-three years of life granted to him by the Creator, freed sixty-three slaves and, with his own hands, sacrificed sixty-three camels, their flesh and skins being distributed among the pilgrims by Ali, acting under Mohammad's orders. He then had his head shaved by Mi'mar ibn Abdullah, who commenced at the right temple and finished at the left. Finally, after having once more performed the ”Tawaf” round the Kab'ah, and drunk for the last time some Zamzam water in a vase offered to him by his uncle Abbas, the Superintendent of the Well, he set out again on the road to Al-Madinah.

Such was the pilgrimage called the ”Valedictory Visitation,” which overwhelmed the Believers with such deep emotion by apprising them that Mohammad's Mission was fulfilled. This pilgrimage serves as a pattern for all the pilgrimages which, during thirteen centuries, have brought annually to these Holy Places, one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand pilgrims, collected from all parts of the universe.

Any pilgrimage, be the religion giving rise to it what it may, causes inexpressible emotion by the sight of so many faces beaming with faith; and the most sceptical among the onlookers finds it difficult to escape the contagion of this outbreak of fervour. But, among the majority of the spectators, inadmissible practices soon overcome sympathetic feelings and change them into aversion. At Makkah, doubtless, as in all religious centres without exception, pilgrims are ruthlessly exploited; but in this city, at least, the traffickers may be excused: they dwell in the most inhospitable of all deserts and have no other means of getting a living.

What makes the Mussulman pilgrimage essentially different to any other, is the absence of those innumerable chapels, whose narrow arches imprison souls, hampering them as they soar towards the Creator and holding them back on earth at the mercy of the clergy. Here are no fetishes, such as statuettes or miraculous icons, surrounded by their procession of votive offerings; nor that mult.i.tude of saints, their wors.h.i.+p taking the place of that of the ”Eternal,” generally neglected on these occasions. There are also none of those monks clad in varied gowns, all jealous of each other; quarrelling over pilgrims and religious resorts for the greater glory of their sect or order.

At Makkah, prayers are said in the vast quadrangular courtyard surrounding the Ka'bah; the ethereal vault of heaven takes the place of the masonry work of chapel roofs and, purified from all its mists, it opens to souls thirsting for ideal good, its lapis-lazuli depths, more vertiginous here than in any other part of the world. At Makkah, nothing is wors.h.i.+pped except Allah, the Chosen One, and pilgrims seek the remembrance of Abraham and Mohammad for no other reason than to strengthen the fervour of their faith by following the Prophet's example. They never pray to these Prophets in the same way as Christians adore their saints; on the contrary, Moslems pray to Allah for their prophets.

The gates of the Ka'bah enclosure are open day and night. The pilgrim hurries there as soon as he gets to Makkah. At the sight of the temple draped in black, the object of his unceasing thoughts during the severe ordeals of the journey, in the midst of sandstorms or tempest-tossed, he is overtaken by such emotion that in this moment of superhuman ecstasy, he wishes his soul to be s.n.a.t.c.hed away. Sobbing, his breast heaving fitfully, under the influence of remorse, his face convulsed by shame, he approaches the Black Stone to kiss it, exclaiming: 'O Allah! pardon me my sins; free my being from their burden and purify my heart, O Thou, the most Merciful among the Compa.s.sionate!'

When the hour of prayer is called by the Muazzin, the s.p.a.cious quadrangle is invaded by a veritable sea of Believers; their hurrying waves scarcely leaving in the serried ranks the needful s.p.a.ce for prostration. Following one of the ”Takbirs” of the Imam, said after him in an immense sigh escaping simultaneously from every breast, a great swell pa.s.ses over all the Faithful, causing every head to be bowed, like billows breaking.

At another ”Takbir,” it seems that the ground suddenly gives way under the pilgrims' feet. At one bound, every forehead is pressed to the earth, where the body of each man remains crushed by the threefold weight of Contrition, Grat.i.tude and Adoration; like so many rays converging in the direction of the Temple which seems to be made still taller by the added height of the prostrated pilgrims. Above them, the black silk veil undulates, stirred by the gusts of a mysterious breeze which many attribute to angels' beating wings.

The a.s.sembly of the Arafa is distinguished by quite as much grandeur.