'Personal Narrative of a pilgrimmage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Vol. I' [‎288] (347/564)

288 Pilgrimage toAl-Madinah
(Quarter), Al-Ambariyah, the principal in the Manakhah :
suburb. The thoroughfare is by no means remarkable
after Cairo; only it is rather wider and more regular 1
than the traveller is accustomed to in Asiatic cities. I I
was astonished to see on both sides of the way, in so j
small a place, so large a number of houses too ruinous
to be occupied. Then we crossed a bridge, a single
little round arch of roughly hewn stone, built over the
bed of a torrent, Al-Sayh, 1 which in some parts appeared
about fifty feet broad, with banks showing a high and
deeply indented water-mark. Here the road abuts
upon an open space called the "Barr al-Manakhah, 2 " or
more concisely Al-Barr, " the Plain." Straightforward
a line leads directly into the Bab al-Misri, the Egyptian
gate of the city. But we turned off to the right; and,
after advancing a few yards, we found ourselves at the
entrance of our friend Hamid's house.
The Shaykh had preceded us early that morning, in
order to prepare an apartment for his guests, and to re
ceive the first loud congratulations and embraces of his
mother and the "daughter of his uncle. 3 " Apparently he
had not concluded this pleasing duty when we arrived,
for the camels were kneeling at least five minutes at his
door, before he came out to offer the usual hospitable
salutation. I stared to see the difference of his appear
ance this morning. The razor had passed over his head
1 This torrent is called Al-Sayh,—" the Running Water, —
which, properly speaking, is the name of a well-wooded Wady out
side the town, in the direction of Kuba.
2 " Manakhah " is a place where camels kneel down; it is a deriva
tion from the better known root to "Nakh," or cause the animal to
kneel.
3 Arabs, and, indeed, most Orientals, are generally received after
returning from a journey, with shrill cries of joy by all the fair part
of the household, and they do not like strangers to hear this demon
stration.