Wichita eagle., 1888-04-01
PILGRIMS TO MECCA.
MRS. GEN. LEW WALLACE WRITES
OF THE HOUSE OF ALLAH.

Holy Paraphernalia in the Temple.
Rites of the Pilgrims-The Assemblsse
and Sermon on Mount Arafat-A
Pretty Legend.
When Barton. in disguise Of an Arab, en-
tered the house of Allah, at Mecca, he found
it empty as the Holy of Holes In Jerusalem
when profaned by the tread of the victorious
Pompey. The building has been destroyed
by fire and other forces and rebuilt ten times.
Its first plan was made by angelic architects,
of what material we do not know. In 1927 it
was built as it now appears, with 5o4 pillars
of gray Mecca stone.
crowd of idlers, or, as We might call
them, loafers. hang about the mosque; con-
spicuous among them eighty eunuchs. who
are in charge of the sanctuary, the mystic
bride yelled from the gaze of the vulgar.
All the pilgrims do not enter the Holy of
Holes, which is a plain cubical building Of
stone and aloe wood, perhaps because of the
obligations the act imposes. Who steps
within that hallowed precinct must never
again walk barefooted, nor tell lies, and he
must take up fire with his fingers. There is
an old, old Oriental myth that the IsraeGtes
who settled at Mecca connected the primitive
pagan temple with the Hebrew faith, and the
laws of Moses were there expounded.
The well Fem zem is in the court about the
mosque, the open space called the Harem.
The word known TO US as lookup for wo-
men, in general sense, means any spot pecu-
iarly consecrated and set apart, delicate
and beautiful meaning to the Oriental Be-
side the spring the kneeling pilgrim repeats
the touching prayer appointed: 20, Allah,
shadow me in thy shadow on that day when
there is no shade but thy shadow, and cause
me to drink from the cup of thy prophet No
manned. May Allah bless and preserve
him, that pleasant draught after which there
is no thirst to all eternity If overcome by
heat on the way from the holy springs to
Mount Arafat, three miles distant, the de-
votee dies apparently without pain, falling as
though shot through the heart, and after a
brief spasm the body is still as marble-the
usual symptoms of sunstroke, by the pilgrim
travelling under his VOW regarded as touch
from the finger OF Allah.
On the great day after the assembling OF
pilgrims, when the sermon is preached on
Mount Arafat, the priests say that the num-
bers of the faithful there are past counting
!
600 mortals stand on the hill to hear the SER
mon, angels descend to complete the number.
There is such falling off in pilgrimage that
some years myriads of spirits in human form
are obliged to come down in order to make
up the mystic multitude. The change is not
| through lack Of piety or Of ine1orable con-
stancy, but because of the excessive poverty
| of Islam.
! The privations Of the pilgrims are unspeak-
able. To die by the way may come as an ac-
cident, but such martyrdom is not sought ex-
| cept by the reckless, almost insane devotees
of India, making expiation for sins which,
though scarlet, are thus made white as snow.
Ample time does that journey give for re-
Election and repentance; all sins may thus
be wiped away; they will never find the pill
grim out.
Those happened to see were mostly from
Russia and wretched beyond the reach of
words to tell. Worn with life whitening
marches in haggard lands full Of wild beasts,
emaciated by hunger and thirst, without
beauty or sanctity- We're my pilgrims, yet not
without certain dignity, the result of inAex-
ible resolve and self abnegation.
| The Oriental, indifferent in all else, is stern
and steadfast in his religion. The belief in
an overruling Deity who can do no wrong is
a steady guiding light which none may say
is not an outshining of the true one. I'M
movable fatalism sustains its believers in the
! charges thrust upon them. Upon every man,
they saw, is appointed time to die. Though
| be live in lofty towers, his fate must over
| take him. Only God knoweth the place in
which he shall die; but we do know the angel
| Israfii the black winged messenger Of death,
| has the most melodious voice of all created
things. and that the faithful are predestine1
| 10 Paradise.
| The untamable races, where the old blood
| feuds still rule, are the better for the teach
ings of the prophet He made a fierce on
slaught on paganism, and it was grea. adj
vance to lift his people out of the vilest
! fetichism This morning, when the sun gilds
the exquisite domes of Damascus, of Cairo,
| City of Victory, and of Constantinople, the
voice of the muezzin proclaims from thou
sands of minarets the unity of God in the five
words embodying the creed Of Islam. 1t is a
solemn rebuke to the prayerless Christian,
rushing to business without a thought of
| thanksgiving or praise, or any recognition of
his dependence on higher power than him
| self.
| i ne Eoiy uHl al VA -ANuAo VI -tACANys
owes its name to q pretty legend which runs
somewhat as follows:
When our first parents lost their high estate
! they fell from heaven like falling stars, with
out sound or farewell. Through the infinite
illumined spaces, through darkness and
chaos, through eternities of twilights, among
systems of worlds consultations, things un-
speakably glorious. Solemn and immutable
| the decree by which was heaven lost, and to
suffer their only heritage they fell on this dim
! spot which mon call earth. Adam on Ceylon,
| Eve on Arafat, which overlooks Mecca. Re-
| solving with high unquenchable purpose to
| seek his wife, beloved alike in sinless bliss
and SHINING misery, Adam began journey
| to which the world owes its appearance.
| Where he set his foot, which was by no
means small one, town was founded, the
| intervals between strides will always remain
| country. Two hundred years he wandered
| among the thorns and thistles which his
| TRANSMISSION had brought on the peaceful,
| pleasant earth Among sharp peaks and
| deadly Saharas he was led by Gabriel, the
| messenger angel with starry eyes and RAIN
| bow wings, to the height where our common
mother walled with strong crying and tears
| for the only created being who could share
I her sorrow and comprehend her craving for
! the forbidden wisdom Isolated and despair
| ing she called his name without ceasing.
| Adam heard the voice of bis wife; be flew to
| her. and their meeting gave the name Arafat,
| or recognition, to the mountain.
Upon its highest point the glorious arch
! angel erected q place OF prayer, and IN the
| warm valley below the reunited pair dwell
| in peace till death dropped the viewless veil
| Of Paradise and le. them in TO enjoy its de-
| Egh.s forever-S;.san E. Wallace In New
! York Mail and Express.