full description will be
found in Burton's Pilgrimage to Madina and Mecca, vol. iii. ch. 26. It is
far too long to quote, and it cannot be condensed. The following extract is
of some interest, as it states why the 'Ulama consider the K'aba so sacred
a place. They quote the verse: 'Verily the first house built for mankind
(to worship in) is that in Beccah (Mecca)--Blessed and a salvation to human
beings. Therein are manifest signs, even the standing-place of Abraham, and
he who entereth is safe.' (Sura iii. 90). The word 'therein' is said to
mean Mecca, and the "manifest signs" the K'aba, which contains such marvels
as the footprints on Abraham's platform, and is the spiritual safeguard of
all who enter it. In addition, other "signs" are the preservation of the
black stone, the miracles put forth to defend the House, the terrible death
of the sacrilegious, and the fact that in the Flood the big fish did not
eat the little fish in the Haram. Invalids recover their health by rubbing
themselves against the Kiswat (the covering of the K'aba), and the black
stone. One hundred thousand mercies descend on it every day, &c. Portions
of the Kiswat are highly valued as markers for the Quran. Waistcoats made
of it are supposed to render the combatant invulnerable in battle.

[237] The whole seven are one Usbu'.

[238] The Maqam-i-Ibrahim is a small building, supported, by six pillars
about eight feet high, four of which are surrounded from top to bottom by a
fine iron railing, while the space between the two hinder pillars is left
open; within the railing is a frame about five feet square, said to contain
the sacred stone on which Abraham sat when he built the K'aba.

[239] In the first rak'at, the chapter usually recited is Sura cix; in the
second, Sura cxii.

[240] "Many find this inconvenient and so pass on to 'Arifat during the
afternoon of the eighth day" (Burton).

[241] The following legend is current about 'Arifat. "When our parents
forfeited heaven by eating wheat, which deprived them of their primeval
purity, they were cast down upon earth. The serpent descended at Ispahan,
the peacock at Cabul, Satan at Bilbays, Eve upon 'Arifat and Adam at
Ceylon. The latter determining to seek his wife, began a journey, to which
the earth owes its present mottled appearance. Wherever he placed his
foot--which was large--a town arose; between the strides will always be
country. Wandering for many years he came to the Mountain of mer