[Sūrah xl. 2]: [From God] “the forgiver of sin.”
[Sūrah lxxxi. 9]: “For what crime she was put to death.” [[SIN].]
ZAMZAM (زمزم). The sacred well within the precincts of the mosque at Makkah. It is supposed to be the identical spring from which Hagar and Ishmael drank in the wilderness ([Genesis xvi. 4]), but which is stated in the Scriptures to have been between Kadesh and Bared.
The origin of the word zamzam is uncertain. According to Johnson’s Arabic Dictionary, it means the low buzzing sound, made by the ancient fire-worshippers, and may therefore allude to the murmuring of the water of the well. Some Muslim commentators derive it from zamm! zamm! i.e. “fill! fill!” Hagar’s words to Ishmael when she saw the water. Sale translates it: “Stay! Stay!” and adds that Hagar called out in the Egyptian language to prevent Ishmael wandering.
The building which encloses the well Zamzam stands close by the Maqām Ḥanbalī, and was erected in A.H. 1072 (A.D. 1661). According to Burckhardt, it is of a square shape, and of massive construction, with an entrance to the north, opening into the room which contains the well. This room is beautifully ornamented with marbles of various colours; and adjoining to it, but having a separate door, is a small room with a stone reservoir, which is always full of Zamzam water. This the pilgrims get to drink by passing their hand, with a cup, through an iron-grated opening which serves as a window, into the reservoir, without entering the room. The mouth of the well is surrounded by a wall five feet in height, and about ten feet in diameter. Upon this the people stand who draw up the water in leathern buckets, an iron railing being so placed as to prevent their falling in. The water is then poured into earthen jars, called dauraq, which Captain Burton describes as little amphoræ, each marked with the name of the donor and a peculiar cypher. These jars are placed in long rows on the ground, along the paved causeways which lead up to the Kaʿbah, and between which grass appears growing in several places, produced by the Zamzam water oozing out of the jars.
The Zamzam water is held in great esteem throughout the East. It is used for drinking and ablution, but for no baser purposes; and the Makkans advise pilgrims always to break their fast with it. Captain Burton says: “It is apt to cause diarrhœa and boils, and I never saw a stranger drink it without a wry face. Sale is decidedly correct in his assertion: the flavour is salt-bitter, much resembling an infusion of a teaspoonful of Epsom salts in a large tumbler of tepid water. Moreover, it is exceedingly ‘heavy’ to the taste; for this reason, Turks and other strangers prefer rain-water collected in cisterns, and sold for five farthings a guglet. The water is transmitted to distant regions in glazed earthen jars covered with basketwork, and sealed by the Zem Zemis (Zamzamīs, or dispensers of the holy water). Religious men break their lenten fast with it, apply it to their eyes to brighten vision, and imbibe a few drops at the hour of death, when Satan stands by holding a bowl of purest water, the price of the departing soul. The copious supply of the well is considered at Meccah miraculous; in distant countries it facilitates the pronunciation of Arabic to the student; and everywhere the nauseous draught is highly meritorious in a religious point of view.”
According to the same author, the name has become generic for a well situated within the walls of a mosque, and amongst these, naturally, the Zamzam of al-Madīnah stands nearest in dignity to the Makkah well, with which it is said to be connected by a subterraneous passage. Others believe that it is filled by a vein of water springing directly under the Prophet’s grave, whence it is generally called Biʾru ʾn-Nabī, or the Prophet’s well. It stands at the south-east angle of an enclosure within the court of the mosque of al-Madīnah, called the garden of Fāt̤imah, under a wooden roof supported by pillars of the same material.
ZANĀNAH (زنانة). A Persian adjective derived from the word zan, “a woman.” That which belongs to women. It denotes the household of a Muḥammadan, his wives and children, and the apartments in which they reside. For a full account of an Indian zanānah by Mrs. Meer Ali, see [HARIM].
“A zanānah mission” is a Christian mission established for the benefit of the wives and daughters of Muḥammadans.
ZANJABĪL (زنجبيل). “Ginger.” An aromatic with which the cups of Paradise are flavoured. See Qurʾān, [Sūrah lxxvi. 17]: “And they shall drink therein a cup tempered with zanjabīl.”