LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| The Harem, showing the Ka’bah, and the other Sanctuaries within the Harem | [Frontispiece] |
| Copies of the Kurán worn en bandoulière by Muslims when Travelling or on Pilgrimage | [39] |
| A Persian Sufí of the Order of the late Sephi ’Alí Sháh | [65] |
| A Group of Mixed Pilgrims | [85] |
| A Pilgrim “at Sea”—Suez Railway Station | [85] |
| Preparing to Embark at Suez | [91] |
| Pilgrims Embarking at Suez | [99] |
| Before Weighing Anchor at Suez | [99] |
| A Moorish Gentleman in Moorish Dress | [121] |
| The Poorer Side of Egyptian Muslims | [143] |
| Putting on Ihrám at Jiddah | [155] |
| Mussah Street at Mecca | [155] |
| An Egyptian Coffee-house Frequented by the Poor | [161] |
| An Egyptian Donkey and its Driver | [183] |
| The Musician Camel Cavalcade | [201] |
| Water-carriers of Mecca | [207] |
| (a) The Pasha of Hejaz; (b) The Aminus-Surreh | [207] |
| The Sheríf of Mecca in his Uniform | [215] |
| A Learned Mussulman of India | [229] |
| Persian Pilgrims from Tabriz, having Tea on Board the Steamer | [239] |
| Disembarking at Jiddah | [249] |
| Pilgrims at Jiddah | [249] |
| An Egyptian Grocer | [267] |
| A Persian Professor of Theology | [291] |
| An Arab Sheykh of the Town | [297] |
ERRATA
| [Page 22], line 34, | For Jellalu’d-dín’s “Al Beidáwí,” read Al-Beidáwí’s commentary. |
| [Page 31], line 10, | For “Hájí Ráz,” read Hadji Khan. |
| [Page 31], line 11, | For Chapter V., Part III., read Appendix. |
| [Page 32], line 12, | For formerly, read formally. |
| { [Page 57], line 1, | For 1320, read 1319. |
| { [Page 245], line 19, | |
| [Page 69], line 7, | For uncle, read father-in-law. |
| [Page 69], lines 29-30, | For too rash and too indiscreet, read too forbearing and too magnanimous. |
| { [Page 72], line 12, | For daughter Fatima, read sister Zainab. |
| { [Page 76], line 13, | |
| [Page 93], line 21, | For Yásuf, read Yûsuf. |
| [Page 93], lines 22-23, | For Al Beyyid, read Al Beidáwí. |
| { [Page 115], line 1, | For Tomb of Abraham, read Station of Abraham. |
| { [Page 130], line 28, | |
| [Page 117], line 9, | For Merú, read Merve. |
| [Page 134], line 8, | For ordnance, read ordinance. |
| [Page 166], line 32, | For mosque, read temple. |
| [Page 199], line 19, | For Tabbál, read Tabl. |
| [Page 237], line 12, | For Kharnum, read Khanum. |
| [Page 237], line 12, | For Mrs. Zobeideh, read Lady Zobeideh. |
| [Page 251], line 4, | Omit the Merciful and Compassionate. |
| [Page 266], line 20, | For God is just, read God is Great. |
WITH THE PILGRIMS TO MECCA
Part I
A PERSIAN PILGRIM IN THE MAKING
I.—Message of the Prophet.
The day before I left England for Persia some seven years ago, I went to see my uncle, the author of the “Siege of Metz.” On saying good-bye he made me a present of the Kurán. “Here,” said he, “is the thing to be read. It will be the best introduction to the new life awaiting you in the East. If you can lay hold of the spirit of this book you will not be alone out there, but among men and brothers, for the Kurán is a sincere revelation of much that is eternally true.” I never saw George Robinson again: in less than a week—before I had left Paris—his spirit had passed to the bourne whence all revelations come, and where truth, in its completeness, will be revealed.
Now, it should be the critic’s aim, in dealing with all true books, to place himself on the same plane as the author, and to look in the same direction, fixing the same end. This is more especially true of what his attitude should be towards a message that has been held sacred by countless millions for more than thirteen hundred years. The merits of the Kurán and the far-reaching reforms of the Prophet of Islám can be appreciated worthily only by such men as have taken the trouble to acquaint themselves with the idolatrous superstitions of the Arabians in the time of Ignorance, and with the empty logical jangling of the rival Syrian Christian sects at the close of the Sixth Century. And the critic having grasped the lifelessness of religious practice before the coming of Muhammad, would be wise to reveal, first of all, what there is of truth, and to spread what light there is in the written word of the great reformer, abandoning to the bigot and the purblind the less fruitful occupation of stirring in the cauldron of religious controversy. To that end, indeed, it were not amiss that he should cultivate his imagination, for the imaginative have turned the corner of their narrower selves, and theirs is an ever-widening vision. To those who, living by the word of Christ, diffuse darkness, Muhammad will ever be either a charlatan or an unscrupulous man of the sword. Well, the Prophet’s followers must take heart of grace. History itself as well as the Kurán has proclaimed the charges to be false.
The keynote to Muhammad’s character is sincerity. Sincerity rings out clear enough in every word of his book. He was a man in whom the fire-thought of the desert burned so fiercely that he could not help being sincere. He was so truly sincere, indeed, as to be wholly unconscious of his sincerity. Now, of all the stories related of him none affords a more convincing proof of his thorough honesty than the one which shows him to have been, at least once in practice, a backslider from the high ideal of conduct that he preached. This story, from Al-Beidáwí’s commentary, is thus related by Sale: