River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1876-04-27
AN ARAB TEMPLE.

DhY IN inc mosque OF MoAhmMeu All.
As you put of Your shoes NJ tho
outer door Of the mosque You enter a
| beautiful marble paved court, or cl0ii-
ter, the whole aspect Of which appeals
/ alike TO your sentiment Of reverence
ana yOur love Of artistic fitness. Il is
so absolutely pure and white and
/ stainless that You own instinctively
that 10 tread its precincts with shoes
stained with the travel Of the dusty
streets would be indeed vertlabie
proclamation. You 60 TO the graceful
! fountain which stands In the center
/ hOnoring the Moslem reverence that
! will not enter its holy place with I'M
washed hands or feet, and when one
stands within the richly decorated
doorway he must be dull or prejudiced
indeed III he does not confess 10 the
combined sense Of grandeur and sp!en-
dor with which its lofty proportions
and brilliant colOnng fill his mind.
Even the "wretched lant.4s which
are simply globes Of clear glass with.
ont the faintest tint Of color or deco
ration, somehow fell in, 10 my barbar.
ic and American vision, with the
general veneration for light rs q sym.
Dol of the source of light. which is SO
Characteristic of all Eastern religions.
and scarcely less OF that great body Of
Eastern Christians whom we know
generally as the Greek Church. In
deed, IL seemed at first curious, but,
after few moment s reflection, not m
unnatural, association OF ideas 10 find
myself comparing the Mosque Of Mo.
manned Ali with the famous Russo.
Greek Church known as St. lsaac's,
which had seen few months before
in st. Petersburg. The latter Is nm
doubtedly one of the great ecclesias-
teal structures of the world, and yet
am constrained to own that it never
produced upon me the effect of the
Mosque of the Citadel las It is more
familiarly called IN Cairo. The sense
of height, of splendor and religious
appropriateness, instead of diminish.
ing continuously increased, and ono
could understand and pardon the inn
pulsiveness of a somewhat ELUSIVE
English lady who, during our stay at
Cairo, was seen to PROSTATE herself in
mosque in Oriental fervor of posture
and mein.
Undoubtedly this feeling, whether
experienced in the Mosque of Moham.
med Ali Or any other, is in part 10 be
explained by the contagion Of exam.
pie. Somebody has said that there is
way of participating In public wor.
ship among Christian nations which,
| II only IL could generally obtain,
would compel imitation from lockers.
on. And one could understand this In
watching the individual Mohammedan
wJrshiper. Unfamiliar as IL must be,
Frank faces and Frank costumes-un.
welcome as must be, according TO all
the ideas Of the Mosulem, tho pres.
ence OF Frank women--yot the wor-
shippers IN the Mosque OF Mohammed
All never turned their heads or evinced
in any way the slightest consciousness
of our presence. ON the floor of the
vast building, which was un'ncum.
bered with any pews, chairs or slttings
OF any sort, and covered only with
| Turkish rugs or carpets scattereed here
and there, they were dotted kueeling
standing, or PROSTATE with their fore,
heads 10 the ground, and wearing an
air OF the most profound seriousness
and intenseness. IL was just AZ sunset.
and the lofty building was flooded with
the last CLEANS Of the departing day
but the worshipers as they PRAYED here
and there, were turned all alike with
their faces toward the east. I wish
could az all describe tho expression
OF those faces. l have spoken OF taeiI
intenbeness. Il was 40 once absorbed
inqWsitive and penetrating; and as
one watching the dusky eountenanccs
turned so fXedly toward the blank
walls few yards distant, ne almos;
turned 70 see what 1t was beyond tina,
blank wall which the Arab devotee
seemed 20 he gazing az SO iAteutly
one Of the ulnety.nine names Of God
IN the Mohammedan ritual Is 1.-THE
I ReyeNer, ard we could not but
!, 3the the prayer that somehow he
. hog SO blindly sought might
snow himself TO these simple but most
ferverent worshlpors.
As we fingered 90 watch them, two
or three young men, pilgrims on their
way 20 make their annual visit TO tho
tomb Of the Prophet az Mecca, entered
the mosque evidently for the FIRST time,
Children of the Desert, rs their whole
garb and bearing showed them 10 be,
their air and conduct were precisely
such as one would expect from chill
dren They fingered curiously the
railing Of the Enclosure within which
| Is Mohammed ALPS tomb, and wan.
dered around the whole interior cir.
conference of the building submit.
! ting everything that they saw 10 the
double test OF sight ana touch Moth.
ing escaped them, and 1t WAS only
when they had thoroughly satisfied
their curiosity that be occurred 60
them 20 think 81 their dcy0tons.
Nothing could be more different
lhAn tho Aeaun ALL-h M-Lnu a.. L-Lt.-I