Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1902-10-23
ON THE ROAD
TO MECCAH
By EDGAR N. BACON

Shiraz:
1t was after the fast of Ramazan,
that makes all men weak and thin,
and the suns heat at midsummer
was like fire to waste the substance
of a mans body. That is why the
sand of the desert was red as blood
to my eyes and my head swayed from
side to side as / rode.
Sheyck Sulyman, my neighbor,
prated night and day of Utaiba rob-
bers-a plague to hinIy-and / knew
that he feared for the safety of the
pearls that were hidden in the folds
of his turban; yes, knew that his
daughter had been the price of them;
vet he broke off his lamentations to
recite the prayers when we halted.
When ! bowed ! could not remember
a prayer, and the sound of the peo-
pie and the beasts was afar off.
Also, when the rest had completed
their prayers, 1 forgot to raise my
head from my mat.
At last some one took me by the
shoulders, shaking me till | awoke.
i heard woman's voice in saluta-
tion: Mailman" / tried to answer:
"As'salem alaykum," but my tongue
was too thick for speech. and my will
was weak.
Then an arm as strong and gentle
as my mothers lifted me. Slowly I
opened my eyes, though at first
distinguished nothing but the motion
of all about me, but at last / under
stood that the host was astir and
passing by.
NV mare stood near. and the wom-
an helped me to mount, but, as
turned to bless her. | saw that she
was a daughter of the Wahhabis
whom my soul loathes; so my heart
was hardened against her.
Fleet as an antelope, she ran to-
wards the company of her own peo-
pie. and lost sight of her; neverthe-
less, | could not forget, my heart be-
ing sore because | had been helped
by one of that tribe.
The night was not dark. This
Syrian moon is a softer daylight, and
] saw that | was among a party of
AlcSandrian pilgrims, haii, and
dcrvishes from the Upper Nile. But
the fever had hold of me again, and
the things that moved around me
faded / rode like drunken man.
with my hands buried in the shaggy
hair of my horse, for the hot wind on
my cheek was famed by the wing of
Azrael the Angel of Death
They were lifting me from my
mare. Who? | knew nothing at all,
cared for nothing except that they
had destroyed my rest in the valley
of lines. and that the spreading
wings of Azrael darkened the sky
where the dawn should have been.
phen the stupor ffoated away for
little while, as a mist is blown, CO.
ing and returning, drifting, always
drifting.
1t seemed that there are two OF
me, one that looked down upon the
other and pitied. | saw how they
poured upon the wasted body of that
other the drops of precious oil and
wrapped it in the shroud that l, like
all pilgrims t6 Meccah, had provided
before setting out 1t had been
sprinkled with holy water from the
prophets well of Zemzem. against
that day.
They laid me in the sand, cover
ing my limbs with the shroud and
reciting prayer from the Koran.
Then ! was left alone with Azrael;
for the caravan never waits.
How glorious it was as it passed
away across the DESERT The horses
and dromedaries with trappings of
crimson and mountings of brass that
flung back the sunlight; the plod
ding camels, hurdened with merchan-
disc: the white burnouses of some
princes relinue. starred with points
of glitteriuo steel, dashing among
the press of litters and vans, of
mules and asses. and the struggling
horde of vendors and mendicants.
There was the train from Bulak and
the company from Cairo; there rode
the dervishes that had come up from
TT Medinah and the Damascus cara
van. splendid with scarlet and green
and gold. In the midst of all, SUR
rounded by a moving sea of bright
hued awnings, but towering far
above them. moved the litter that the
sultan at Stamboul had sent with
presents for the prophets shrine.
And ever above that moving mass
rose the voices of thousands. continu-
ally crying; "Labbayk Allahumma
-abbayk." Farther and farther
away they went. The colors faded
inttsNhe blue of the desert horizon,
the cry became a "Labbayk
-Labbayk-here am l.
Labbayk-here am I. The mist
drifted away once more. Allahumma
here am T-alone.
The desert was vast and empty. /
alone in the midst of it under the
lowering wing of the shadow 1
turned my head TO the right; there
were specks in fhe distance; they
were iackals. Overhead there were
spccks in the sky-they We're sul-
lures
Then Fear came and sat beside me
on the sand, and whispered that the
iackals and the vultures would gath
er nearer. that the fever would burn.
and the thirst torment, that my
tongue would thicken and my blood
turn To fire. and | would cry to
Azrael to strike, lest the iaellals and
the vultures forgot to wait.
But wasna martyr. What a COM
fort there is in pride. As truly was
! martyr as If | fell in battle
for Islam, and all the benefits that
could come to those who marched
about the Kaabah or listened TO the
sermon an Arafat-escape from the
demons and speedy entrance into
Paradise-would be mine.
For an hour | comforted my soul
with these reflections; then buried
my face in the folds Of my shroud
ard fear whispered: 81 am here"
Allah! 1t is a frightful thing to
lie alone, weak end helpless as
babe. in the middle of the desert. be-
IL