i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 553 



wealthy of Mecca always spend some months of the 

 year in Taif, and it is also visited from Jeddah and 

 Medina. A large proportion of the houses belong to 

 Mecca people or are used only as summer lodgings, and 

 in February the town was half deserted. In Taif, as 

 also in Mecca and Jeddah, any one taking a house for a 

 single week has to pay the rent of a whole year. 



The natural advantages of the site leave little doubt 

 that Taif is a very ancient town. An absurd Arabic 

 tradition asserts that it was supernaturally conveyed 

 from Damascus to the Hejaz at the prayer of Abraham 

 a story which means nothing more than that Taif, 

 with its orchards, is the Damascus of the Hejaz, and a 

 city of unknown antiquity. A still wilder etymological 

 legend carries back the history of Taif to the Flood, 

 when it is said to have drifted (Taf) on the water. Perhaps 

 a beginning of true tradition lies in the story that the 

 walls of the city were built by a wealthy man of the 

 Sadaf who had shed blood in Hadhramaut, and took 

 refuge in the Wejj, as the valley of Taif was once named. 

 In the time of the Prophet, Taif was the capital of the 

 Thageef, who still hold the neighbouring mountains, and 

 are largely represented in the town. The story of the 

 conquest and conversion of the Taifites is a prominent 

 episode in the life of Mohammed, which I shall not 

 attempt to repeat from memory ; but the point of the 

 story lies in their reluctance to give up their tutelary 

 goddess Al-Lat. With the leading men of Taif this re 

 luctance had its root in policy, not in superstition. They 

 were afraid of the common people, and we have already 

 seen how the dominant merchant class of Mecca and Taif 

 made religion work hand in hand with politics and trade. 

 This system had gained them a great influence extending 

 to remote Bedouin tribes, so that their objection to inno 

 vation is easily conceived. Of the old religion of Taif 

 before Islam there is still a lively tradition among the 

 inhabitants. The highest of the three quarters of Taif 



