[521]. This is a common expression of affection, meaning, “Thou who art as dear to me as my eye.”
[522]. The words were, “Yá Aboo-Bekr, Yá ’Omar, Yá ’Osmán, Yá ’Alee, Yá Hasan, Yá Hoseyn, Yá seyyid Ahmad Rifá’ah, Yá seyyid ’Abd-el-Kadir, El-Geelánee, Yá seyyid Ahmad El-Bedawee, Yá seyyid Ibráheem Ed-Dasookee.”
[523]. Aboo-So’ood was a very famous saint; and, being esteemed the most holy person of his day, received the appellation of “Sultán,” which has been conferred upon several other very eminent welees, and, when thus applied, signifies “King of Saints.” The tomb of Aboo-So’ood is among the mounds of rubbish on the south of Cairo.
[524]. The term “hágg” is applied both collectively and individually (to the whole caravan, or body of pilgrims, and to a single pilgrim).
[525]. Many persons who have not applied themselves to the study of natural history are ignorant of the remarkable fact that the camel has in itself a provision against hunger, besides its well-known supply against thirst. When deprived of its usual food for several successive days, it feeds upon the fat of its own hump, which, under these circumstances, gradually disappears before the limbs are perceptibly reduced. This explanation of the use of an excrescence, which would otherwise seem a mere inconvenient incumbrance, shows how wonderfully the camel is adapted to the peculiar circumstances in which Providence has placed it, and perhaps may be applied with equal propriety to the hump of the bull and cow, and some other animals, in hot and arid climates.
[526]. Had I remained stationary, somewhat more than two hours would have elapsed before the whole caravan had passed me.
[527]. This seems to be the correct appellation, but it is commonly called “Mahmal;” and I shall follow, on future occasions, the usual pronunciation.
[528]. Or, as pronounced in Arabia, Hejáz.
[529]. Almost all travellers have given erroneous accounts of the Mahmal: some asserting that its covering is that which is destined to be placed over the tomb of the Prophet: others, that it contains the covering which is to be suspended round the Kaabeh. Burckhardt, with his general accuracy, describes it as a mere emblem of royalty.
[530]. The twelfth day of Rabeea el-Owwal is also the anniversary of the death of Mohammad. It is remarkable that his birth and death are both related to have happened on the same day of the same month, and on the same day of the week, namely, Monday.