preted, means "Stay 

 where you are ! Stay 

 where you are \" o r 

 "Stop !" And the pool, 

 or well, is known to 

 this day as Zem-Zem. 

 Around this spot was 

 built the famous shrine 

 of Mecca, toward which 

 220 million Mohamme- 

 dans turn their faces 

 and bow in prayer five 

 times a day at the shrill 

 sound of the muezzin's 

 call to prayer : 



"La il-ah-il-ah Allah. 

 Mohammed ar - ra - sou - la 

 Allah ! 



Allah is Allah! There is 



no God but Allah. 

 Mohammed is the Prophet 



of God." 



As these words rang 

 out that evening at Guer- 

 messa my host, his sons, 

 our escort, and the 

 guests left the caves and 

 walked a few steps to 

 where an unbroken view 

 could be had on all sides, 

 and, turning toward 

 Mecca, they knelt and 

 bowed together, touch- 

 ing their foreheads to 

 the ground several times 

 (compare pages 9 and 

 106, 107, and 108). 



None of the Troglo- 

 dytes ever used a prayer 

 rug; possibly they did 

 in the mosques, but at 

 prayer times I never in- 

 truded on their devo- 

 tions, but out on the 

 mountain sides and on 

 the plains and the Sa- 

 hara no prayer rug was 

 ever used. 



THE DESERT AT EVENING 



The impression of that 

 evening will remain with 

 me as long as memory 

 lasts. Range after range 

 of purple-colored table- 

 land mountains that we 

 had ridden over day by 



6 



