CHAPTER IV
EL ZARIBAH
"I will be their Arbiter in Religion," said the Indian Mystic in hismonologue.
This is to be accepted as the motive of the scheme the singular man waspursuing in the wastes of Arabia.
It must be taken of course with his other declaration--"There can be noreform or refinement of faith except God be its exclusive subject; andso certainly it leads to lopping off all parasitical worships such asare given to Christ and Mahomet."
Fifty years prior, disgusted with the endless and inconsequentialdebates and wars between Islam and Christianity, he had betaken himselfto Cipango, [Footnote: Supposably Japan.] wherever that might be.There, in a repentant hour, he had conceived the idea of a UniversalReligious Brotherhood, with God for its accordant principle; and he wasnow returned to present and urge the compromise. In more distinctstatement, he was making the pilgrimage to ascertain from personalobservation if the Mohammedan portion of the world was in a consentingmood. It was not his first visit to Mecca; but the purpose in mind gavethe journey a new zest; and, as can be imagined, nothing in the leastindicative of the prevalent spirit of the Hajj escaped him. Readersfollowing the narrative should keep this explanation before them.
From El Derayah the noble pilgrim had taken the longer route by way ofMedina, where he scrupulously performed the observances decreed for thefaithful at the Mosque of the Prophet. Thence he descended with thecaravan from Damascus.
Dawn of the sixth of September broke over the rolling plain known asthe Valley of El Zaribah, disclosing four tents pitched on an eminenceto the right of a road running thence south-west. These tents,connected by ropes, helped perfect an enclosure occupied by horses,donkeys, camels and dromedaries, and their cumbrous equipments. Severalarmed men kept watch over the camp.
The Valley out to the pink granite hills rimming it round wore a freshgreen tint in charming contrast with the tawny-black complexion of theregion through which the day's journey had stretched. Water at ashallow depth nourished camel grass in patches, and Theban palms, thelatter much scattered and too small to be termed trees. The water, andthe nearness of the Holy City--only one day distant--had, in a timelong gone, won for El Zaribah its double appointment of meeting placefor the caravans and place of the final ceremony of assumption of thecostume and vows _El Ihram_.
The Prophet himself had prescribed the ceremony; so the pilgrims in thecamp on the eminence, the better to observe it and at the same time geta needful rest, had come up during the night in advance of thecaravans. In other words, the Prince of India--the title by which hewas now generally known--might, at the opening hour of the day, havebeen found asleep in the larger of the four tents; the one with theminaret in miniature so handsomely gilded and of such happy effect overthe centre pole.
Along the roadsides and on the high grounds of the Valley other tintswere visible, while faint columns of smoke arising out of the hollowstold of preparations for breakfast. These signified the presence ofhucksters, barbers, costume dealers, and traders generally, who, inanticipation of the arrival of the caravans, had come from the city toexercise their callings. Amongst them, worthy of special attention, wasa multitude of professional guides, [Footnote: _Mutawif_.] ready for atrifling hire to take charge of uninitiated pilgrims, and lead themregardfully through the numerous ceremonies to which they were going.
Shortly after noon the Prince called in a guide, and several barbers,men with long gowns, green turbans, brass basins, sharp knives, andbright bladed scissors. The assumption of the real pilgrimage by hispeople was then begun. Each man submitted his head, mustaches, andnails to the experts, and bathed and perfumed himself, and was dustedwith musk. Next the whole party put off their old garments, and attiredthemselves in the two white vestments _El Ihram_.[Footnote: A mantleand skirt of white cloth unsewn.] The change of apparel was for thebetter. Finally the votaries put on sandals peculiar in that nothingpertaining to them might cover the instep; then they stood up in a rowfaced toward Mecca, and repeated the ancient formula of dedication ofthe _Ihram_ to the Almighty slowly intoned for them by the guide.
The solemn demeanor of the men during the ceremony, which was tediousand interspersed with prayers and curious recitals, deeply impressedthe Prince, who at the end of the scene retired into his tent, with histhree mute attendants, and there performed the vows for himself andthem. There also they all assumed the indispensable costume. Then, ashe well might do, the law permitting him to seek the shade of a houseor a tent, he had a rug spread before his door, where, in the freshwhite attire, he seated himself, and with a jar of expressed juice ofpomegranates at his side made ready to witness the passing of thecaravans, the dust of which was reported visible in the east.
Afterwhile the cloud of dust momentarily deepening over in thatdirection was enlivened by a clash of cymbals and drums, blent withpeals of horns, the fine, high music yet cherished by warriors of theOrient. Presently a body of horsemen appeared, their spear pointsglistening in the sunlight. A glance at them, then his gaze fixed upona chief in leading.
The sun had been hot all day; the profiles of the low hills were dimwith tremulous haze lying scorchingly upon them; the furred hulks ofthe camels in the enclosure looked as if they were smoking; the skyheld nothing living except two kites which sailed the upper air slowly,their broad wings at widest extension; yet the chief persisted inwearing his arms and armor, like the soldiers behind him. Ere long herode up and halted in front of the Prince, and near by.
His head was covered with a visorless casque, slightly conical, fromthe edge of which, beginning about the temples, a cape of fine steelrings, buckled under the chin, enveloped the neck and throat, and fellloosely over the neck and shoulders, and part way down the back. Ashirt of linked mail, pliable as wool, defended the body and the armsto the elbows; overalls of like material, save that the parts next thesaddle were leather, clothed the thighs and legs. As the casque andevery other link of the mail were plated with gold, the general effectat a distance was as if the whole suit were gold. A surcoat of lightgreen cloth hung at the back half hiding a small round shield ofburnished brass; at the left side there was a cimeter, and in the righthand a lance. The saddle was of the high-seated style yet affected byhorsemen of Circassia; at the pommel a bow and well-filled quiver weresuspended, and as the stirrups were in fact steel slippers the feetwere amply protected by them.
At sight of the martial figure, the Indian, in admiration, arose to asitting posture. Such, he thought, were the warriors who followedSaladin! And when the stranger, reaching the summit of the eminence,turned out of the road coming apparently to the door of the tent, heinvoluntarily sprang to his feet ready to do him honor.
The face, then plainly seen, though strong of feature, and thoroughlybronzed, was that of a young man not more than twenty-two or three,dark-eyed, mustached and bearded, and of a serious though pleasantexpression. He kept his seat with ease and grace; if he and thebroad-chested dark-bay horse were not really one, they were one inspirit; together they wrought the impression which was the origin of_majesty_, a title for kings.
While the Prince was turning this in his mind, the soldier pulled rein,and stopped long enough to glance at him and at the camp; then, turningthe horse, he looked the other way, making it apparent he had takenposition on the rise to overlook the plain, and observe the coming anddispersion of the caravans.
Another mounted man ascended the hill, armed and armored like the firstone, though not so richly, and bearing a standard of dulled yellow silkhanging from a gilded staff. The ground of the standard was filled withinscriptions in red lettering, leaving the golden crescent and star onthe point of the staff to speak of nationality. The bearer of the flagdismounted, and at a sign planted it in the ground.
Seeing his Shaykh, the Prince called him:
"Who is the warrior yonder?--He in the golden armor?"
"The Emir El Hajj, [Footnote: Chief officer of the Pilgrimage. Theappointment was considered the highest favor in the Sultan's gift.] OPrin
ce."
"He the Emir El Hajj!--And so young?--Oh! a hero of the Serail. TheKislar Aga extolled him one day."
"Thy remark and common report, O excellent Prince, could not journeytogether on the same camel," said the Shaykh. "In the Khan at Medina Iheard his story. There is a famous enemy of the Turks, Iskander Bey, instrength a Jinn, whose sword two men can scarcely lift. He appearedbefore the army of the Sultan one day with a challenge. He whom thouseest yonder alone dared go forth to meet him. The fought from morningtill noon; then they rested. 'Who art thou?' asked Iskander. 'I am aslave of Amurath, the Commander of the Faithful, who hath commissionedme to take thee to him dead or alive.' Iskander laughed, and said, 'Iknow by thy tongue now thou art not a Turk; and to see if the Commanderof the Faithful, as thou callest him, hath it in soul to make much ofthy merit as a warrior, I will leave thee the honors of the combat, andto go thy way.' Whereat they say he lifted his ponderous blade as notheavier than the leaf of a dead palm, and strode from the field."
The Prince listened, and at the end said, like a man in haste:
"Thou knowest Nilo, my black man. Bring him hither."
The Shaykh saluted gravely, and hurried away, leaving his patron witheyes fixed on the Emir, and muttering:
"So young!--and in such favor with the old Amurath! I will know him. IfI fail, he may be useful to me. Who knows? Who knows?"
He looked upward as if speaking to some one there.
Meantime the Emir was questioning the ensign.
"This pilgrim," he said, "appears well provided."
And the ensign answered:
"He is the Indian Prince of whom I have been hearing since we leftMedina."
"What hast thou heard?"
"That being rich, he is open-handed, making free with his aspers assowers with their seed."
"What more?"
"He is devout and learned as an Imam. His people call him Malik. Of theprayers he knows everything. As the hours arrive, he lifts the curtainsof his litter, and calls them with a voice like Belal's. The studentsin the mosque would expire of envy could they see him bend his back inthe benedictions."
"_Bismillah!_"
"They say also that in the journey from El Katif to Medina he travelledbehind the caravan when he might have been first."
"I see not the virtue in that. The hill-men love best to attack thevan."
"Tell me, O Emir, which wouldst thou rather face, a hill-man or theYellow Air?"
"The hill-man," said the other decidedly.
"And thou knowest when those in front abandon a man struck with thedisease?"
"Yes."
"And then?"
"The vultures and the jackals have their rights."
"True, O Emir, but listen. The caravan left El Katif three thousandstrong. Three hundred and more were struck with the plague, and left todie; of those, over one hundred were brought in by the Indian. They sayit was for this he preferred to march in the rear. He himself teaches asaying of the _Hadis_, that Allah leaves his choicest blessings to begathered from amidst the poor and the dying."
"If he thou describest be not a Prince of India as he claims, he is a"--
"A _Mashaikh_." [Footnote: Holier than a Dervish.]
"Ay, by the Most Merciful! But how did he save the castaways?"
"By a specific known only to kings and lords in his country. Can he butreach the plague-struck before death, a drop on the tongue will work acure. Thou heardst what he did at Medina?"
"No."
"The Masjid El Nabawi [Footnote: Tomb of the Prophet.] as thou knowest,O Emir, hath many poor who somehow live in its holy shade."
"I know it," said the Emir, with a laugh. "I went in the house rich,and come out of it poorer than the poorest of the many who fell upon meat the doors."
"Well," the ensign continued, not heeding the interruption, "he calledthem in, and fed them; not with rice, and leeks, and bread ten dayssour, but with dishes to rejoice a Kaliph; and they went away swearingthe soul of the Prophet was returned to the world."
At this juncture a troop of horsemen ascending the hill brought theconversation to a stop. The uniformity of arms and armor, the furnitureof the steeds, the order and regularity of the general movement,identified the body as some favorite corps of the Turkish army; whilethe music, the bristling lances, the many-folded turbans, and thehalf-petticoated trousers threw about it a glamor of purest orientalism.
In the midst of the troop, a vanguard in front, a rearguard behindthem, central objects of care and reverence, moved the sacred camels,tall, powerful brutes, more gigantic in appearance because of theircaparisoning and the extraordinary burdens they bore. They too were infull regalia, their faces visored in silk and gold, their headsresplendent with coronets of drooping feathers, their ample neck clothsheavy with tasselled metallic fringing falling to the knees. Each onewas covered with a mantle of brocaded silk arranged upon a crinolineform to give the effect somewhat of the curved expansion on the rim ofa bell. On the humps rose pavilions of silk in flowing draperies, onsome of which the entire _Fatihah_ was superbly embroidered. Over thepavilions arose enormous aigrettes of green and black feathers. Suchwere the _mahmals_, containing, among other things of splendor andfabulous value, the _Kiswah_ which the Sultan was forwarding to theScherif of Mecca to take the place of the worn curtains then drapingthe Tabernacle or House of God.
The plumed heads of the camels, and the yet more richly plumedpavilions, exalted high above the horsemen, moved like things afloat.One may not tell what calamities to body and soul would overtake theEmir El Hajj did he fail to deliver the _mahmals_ according toconsignment.
While the cavalry came up the hill the musicians exerted themselves; atthe top, the column turned and formed line left of the Emir, followedby strings of camels loaded with military properties, and a horde ofcamp-followers known as _farrash_. Presently another camp was rearedupon the eminence, its white roofs shining afar over the plain, and intheir midst one of unusual dimensions for the Sultan's gifts.
The caravans in the meantime began to emerge from the dun cloud oftheir own raising, and spread at large over the land; and when theyoung Emir was most absorbed in the spectacle the Prince's Shaykhapproached him.
"O Emir!" the Arab said, after a salaam.
A wild fanfare of clarions, cymbals, and drums drowning his voice, hedrew nearer, almost to the stirrup.
"O Emir!" he said again.
This time he was heard.
"What wouldst thou?"
There was the slightest irritation in the tone, and on the countenanceof the speaker as he looked down; but the feeling behind it vanished atsight of a negro whose native blackness was intensified by the spotlesswhite of the Ihram in which he was clad. Perhaps the bright platter ofbeaten copper the black man bore, and the earthen bottle upon it,flanked by two cups, one of silver, the other of crystal, had somethingto do with the Emir's change of manner and mind.
"What wouldst thou?" he asked, slightly bending towards them.
The Shaykh answered:
"The most excellent Hadji, my patron, whom thou mayst see reclining atthe door of his tent, sends thee greeting such as is lawful from onetrue believer to another travelling for the good of their souls to themost Holy of Cities; and he prays thou wilt accept from him a draughtof this water of pomegranates, which he vouches cooling to the tongueand healthful to the spirit, since he bought it at the door of theHouse of the Prophet--to whom be prayer and praise forever."
During the speech, the negro, with a not unpractised hand, andconscious doubtless of the persuasion there was in the sound andsparkle of the beverage, especially to one not yet dismounted from along ride on the desert, filled the cups, and held them up foracceptance.
Stripping the left hand of its steel-backed gauntlet, the Emir liftedthe glass, and, with a bow to the pilgrim then arisen and standing bythe tent-door, drank it at a draught; whereupon, leaving the ensign topay like honor to the offered hospitality, he wheeled his horse, androde to make acknowledgment in person
.
"The favor thou hast done me, O Hadji," he said, dismounted, "is inkeeping with the acts of mercy to thy fellow-men with which I hear thouhast paved the road from El Katif as with mother-of-pearl."
"Speak not of them, I pray," the Wanderer answered, returning the bowhe received. "Who shall refuse obedience to the law?"
"I see plainly thou art a good man," the Emir said, bowing again.
"It would not become me to say so. Turning to something better, thistent in the wilderness is mine, and as the sun is not declined to itsevening quarter, perhaps, O gallant Emir, it would be more to thycomfort were we to go within. I, and all I have, are at thy command."
"I am grateful for the offer, most excellent Hadji--if the address belower than thy true entitlement, thou shouldst bring the Shaykh yonderto account for misleading a stranger--but the sun and I have becomeunmindful of each other, and duty is always the same in its demands atleast. Here, because the valley is the _micath_, [Footnote: Meetingplace.] the caravans are apt to run wild, and need a restraining hand.I plead the circumstance in excuse for presuming to request that thouwilt allow me to amend thy offer of courtesy."
The Emir paused, waiting for the permission.
"So thou dost accept the offer, amend it as thou wilt," and the Princesmiled.
Then the other returned, with evident satisfaction: "When our brethrenof the caravans are settled, and the plain is quiet, and I too havetaken the required vows, I will return to thee. My quarters are soclose to thine it would please me to be allowed to come alone."
"Granted, O Emir, granted--if, on thy side, thou wilt consent to permitme to give thee of the fare I may yet have at disposal. I can promisethou shalt not go away hungry."
"Be it so."
Thereupon the Emir remounted, and went back to his stand overlookingthe plain, and the coming of the multitude.