264 THE MOHAMMEDAN PILGRIMAGE. 



sultan ascends the throne. The venerable remnants 

 of this sacred brocade are sent back to the Turkish 

 capital,, and serve to cover the tombs of the sove- 

 reigns and princes of the empire. 



It is within this double frame of silk and rails 

 that the ashes of the Prophet repose, along with the 

 remains of his two earliest friends and immediate 

 successors, Abu Beker and Omar. Authors differ 

 as to the respective position of the three tombs ; 

 but they are said to be of plain masonwork, in the 

 form of a chest, and covered with precious stuffs.* 

 The historian of Medina, Samhoudi, says, that the 

 coffin which contains the dust of Mohammed is cased 

 with silver and overlaid with a marble slab, in- 

 scribed, Bismittai Allahuma Salli alei (In the 

 name of God bestow thy mercy upon him). Glass 

 lamps are suspended all round the curtain, which 

 are kept burning every night : the floor of this part 

 of the mosque is paved with various-coloured mar- 

 bles in mosaic. The whole of this enclosure is sur- 

 mounted by a fine lofty cupola, rising far above the 

 domes on the roof of the colonnades, and visible at 

 a great distance from the town ; it is covered with 



* The vulgar story long prevalent in Christendom, which sus- 

 pended the Prophet's coffin in the air at Mecca by the action of 

 two powerful magnets, was a ridiculous invention of the Greeks and 

 Latins, and is unknown in Arabia. The Moslem of the present 

 day smile at the credulity of foreigners who talk of these marvels. 

 The fable may easily be explained without the aid of philosophy, 

 and seems to have originated, as Niebuhr supposes, from the rude 

 drawings sold to strangers, in which the figures of ^_ 



three golden coffins were represented, not as lying ho- 

 rizontally, but placed one above the other, to mark HH 

 their position within the railing in the annexed order. _~ 

 Chalcondyles (De Reb.' Turc., lib. iii. p. 66); Bayle ' 

 (Diet Art. Mahomet); Reland (De Relig. Mali. lib. ii. c. 19); 

 Gagnier (Vie, lib. vi. c. 20) ; and Pocock (Specimen, p. 180), will 

 satisfy the curious student of the iron tomb. 



