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This sermon, which lasts till sun-set, constitutes the holy ceremony of the Hadj called Khotbet el Wakfe; and no pilgrim, although he may have visited all the holy places of Mekka, is entitled to the name of hadjy, unless he has been present on this occasion.
I formed an acquaintance with one of the perfume- sellers, and daily passed an hour in the morning, and another in the afternoon, seated on the bench before his shop, smoking my nargyle, and treating my friend with coffee. Here I heard the news: whether any great hadjy had arrived the preceding night; what law-suits had been carried before
The principal duties incumbent upon the hadjy are, therefore: 1. that he should take the ihram; 2. be present, on the 9th of Zul Hadj, from afternoon till sun-set, at the sermon preached at Arafat; 3. attend a similar sermon at Mezdelfe, at sun-rise of the 10th of Zul Hadj; 4. on the 10th, 11th, and 12th of Zul Hadj, throw on each day twenty-one stones against the devil's pillars at Muna; 5. perform the sacrifice at Muna; or, if he is too poor, substitute for it a fast at some future time; and, 6. upon his return to Mekka, visit the Kaaba and the Omra.
I told them, therefore, that I was a hadjy, and belonged to a large caravan escorted by Harb Bedouins; that they might wait a little before they stopped me, to assure themselves of this fact by the arrival of the caravan; and that they had better not offer me any violence, as our guides would no doubt know the perpetrators, and would report it to those who had the power to punish them.
Relying on the respect I enjoyed in the caravan from being supposed a hadjy in some measure attached to Mohammed Aly's army, and the good-will of our guides, which I had cultivated by distributing victuals liberally amongst them ever since we left Mekka, I seized the leader's camel, made it couch down, and exclaimed, that the
The freedom and oblivion of care which accompany travelling, render it a period of enjoyment among the people of the East as among Europeans; and the same kind of happiness results from their residence at Mekka, where reading the Koran, smoking in the streets or coffee-houses, praying or conversing in the mosque, are added to the indulgence of their pride in being near the holy house, and to the anticipation of the honours attached to the title of hadjy for the remainder of their lives; besides the gratification of religious feelings, and the hopes of futurity, which influence many of the pilgrims.
We set off that evening; and after a march of two nights, arrived at Adjeroid, where we remained three days, to procure our supplies of water from Suez, and to refresh the animals, previous to our forced march over the desert of El Tyh. The maribout stopped his dromedary at the tent of the emir Hadjy, who commanded the caravan.
The barbers' shops are frequented by loungers of the lower classes, who resort thither to hear the news, and amuse themselves with conversation. In one of these shops I found established a seal-engraver of Persian origin; he had a good deal of business, for a pilgrim, after he has performed his visits to the holy places, usually adds to the name on his seal the words El Hadjy, or "The Pilgrim."
I felt assured that they had no intention of doing me any bodily harm, and was under no apprehension, especially as I had only a travelling dress and a few dollars to lose, should the worst happen. One of them, an old man, advised his comrades to wait a little; for that it would not be well to incur the consequences of robbing a hadjy.
It is enough for such that they have been at Arafat on the proper day this is the least distinction: but a mere visit to Mekka does not authorise a man to style himself hadjy; and the assumption of this title without some further pretensions, exposes him to ridicule.
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