Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah, vol 1 | Page 4

subject of "inward ridicule"? Do they not
also venerate Abraham, the Father of the Faithful? Did not Locke, and
even greater names, hold Mohammedans to be heterodox Christians, in
fact Arians who, till the end of the fourth century, represented the mass
of North-European Christianity? Did Mr. Lane neverconform by
praying at a Mosque in Cairo? did he ever fear to confess it? has he
been called an apostate for so doing? Did not Father Michael Cohen
prove himself an excellent Moslem at Wahhabi-land?
The fact is, there are honest men who hold that Al-Islam,
[p.xxiii]in its capital tenets, approaches much nearer to the faith of
Jesus than do the Pauline and Athanasian modifications which, in this
our day, have divided the Indo-European mind into Catholic and
Roman, Greek and Russian, Lutheran and Anglican. The disciples of
Dr. Daniel Schenkel's school ("A Sketch of the Character of Jesus,"
Longmans, 1869) will indeed find little difficulty in making this
admission. Practically, a visit after Arab Meccah to Angle-Indian Aden,
with its "priests after the order of Melchisedeck," suggested to me that
the Moslem may be more tolerant, more enlightened, more charitable,
than many societies of self-styled Christians.
And why rage so furiously against the "disguise of a wandering
Darwaysh?" In what point is the Darwaysh more a mummer or in what
does he show more of betise than the quack? Is the Darwaysh anything
but an Oriental Freemason, and are Freemasons less Christians because
they pray with Moslems and profess their belief in simple unitarianism?
I have said. And now to conclude.
After my return to Europe, many inquired if I was not the only living
European who has found his way to the Head Quarters of the Moslem
Faith. I may answer in the affirmative, so far, at least, that when
entering the penetralia of Moslem life my Eastern origin was never
questioned, and my position was never what cagots would describe as
in loco apostatae.
On the other hand, any Jew, Christian, or Pagan, after declaring before
the Kazi and the Police Authorities at Cairo, or even at Damascus, that

he embraces Al-Islam, may perform, without fear of the so-called
Mosaic institution, "Al-Sunnah," his pilgrimage in all safety. It might
be dangerous to travel down the Desert-line between Meccah and
Al-Madinah during times of popular excitement; but the coast route is
always safe. To the "new Moslem," however, the old Moslem is rarely
[p.xxiv] well affected; and the former, as a rule, returns home
unpleasantly impressed by his experiences.
The Eastern world moves slowly-eppur si muove. Half a generation ago
steamers were first started to Jeddah: now we hear of a projected
railroad from that port to Meccah, the shareholders being all Moslems.
And the example of Jerusalem encourages us to hope that long before
the end of the century a visit to Meccah will not be more difficult than
a trip to Hebron.
Ziyadeh hadd-i-adab!
RICHARD F. BURTON.
London, 31st March, 1879.
[Arabic text]
[p.xxv]PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The interest just now felt in everything that relates to the East would
alone be sufficient to ensure to the author of "El Medinah and Meccah"
the favourable consideration of the Reading Public. But when it is
borne in mind that since the days of William Pitts of Exeter (A.D.
1678-1688) no European travellers, with the exception of
Burckhardt[FN#3] and Lieut. Burton,[FN#4] have been able to send us
back an account of their travels there, it cannot be doubted but that the
present work will be hailed as a welcome addition to our knowledge of
these hitherto mysterious penetralia of Mohammedan superstition. In
fact, El Madinah may be considered almost a virgin theme; for as
Burckhardt was prostrated by sickness throughout the period of his stay
in the Northern Hejaz, he was not able to describe it as satisfactorily or
minutely as he did the Southern country,-he could not send a plan of
the Mosque, or correct the popular but erroneous ideas which prevail
concerning it and the surrounding city.
The reader may question the propriety of introducing
[p.xxvi]in a work of description, anecdotes which may appear open to
the charge of triviality. The author's object, however, seems to be to
illustrate the peculiarities of the people-to dramatise, as it were, the dry

journal of a journey,-and to preserve the tone of the adventures,
together with that local colouring in which mainly consists "l'education
d'un voyage." For the same reason, the prayers of the "Visitation"
ceremony have been translated at length, despite the danger of inducing
tedium; they are an essential part of the subject, and cannot be omitted,
nor be represented by "specimens."
The extent of the Appendix requires some explanation. Few but literati
are aware of the existence of Lodovico Bartema's naive recital, of the
quaint narrative of Jos.