for a short time adopted Jerusalem as his Kibla, in the hope of thus reconciling the Jews to Islam; yet when he saw the device fail, he, in the second year, returned to his former practice of worshipping towards the Kaaba. It is not impossible that this was his concealed intention all through the period of his outward accommodation to Judaism, and if so, he would no doubt, after securing the submission of the Jews, have reverted to his original practice, by again transferring the Kibla from Jerusalem to Mecca. His prudence naturally dictated to him to delay the step until the strength of his Arab following had sufficiently increased to warrant him in disregarding the opposition sure to come from the great number of Jewish converts hoped for. In what light Mohammed wished Mecca, as the guardian of God's Holy House, to be considered, is well seen from the public address which, on the day after the conquest of the city, he delivered, and which will be found recorded in its proper place.

Thus the belief in the sanctity and unique character of the Meccan temple became firmly established amongst the Mussulmans; and it will perhaps not be uninteresting to the reader to find here their teachings on this subject, as translated from the well-known Rawzet ul Ahbab: 'When Adam had been sent out of Paradise to this earth, he became exceedingly sad and downcast, and thus made complaint to God: "O God, I am distressed because I can no longer hear the voice of the angels."¹ The Most High gave him this answer: "O Adam, I have sent a House to the earth which the angels compass about, just as they surround my Throne in heaven; therefore turn towards it and become familiar with it." Upon this Adam, who at that time was in India, walked to the House of the Kaaba, God sending an angel with him to show him the way. Every one of Adam's steps was 50 parasangs long; and every spot on which he trod was destined to become a city, as also the space between his feet to become cultivated. In a very short time he reached the Haram, where he found a temple, consisting of

a single celestial hyacinth, with two doors of green smaragd, one on the east side and the other on the west side. Then God sent an angel to teach Adam the ceremonies of the pilgrimage.

'According to another report, the Most High commanded Adam to build the House of the Kaaba, and sent angels to assist him in doing so. Gabriel swept the place with his wing, till it lay open down to the seventh foundation of the earth; and other angels brought stones, of such a weight that thirty men could not lift one of them. In this way Adam laid the foundation and completed the building. The Black Stone was sent by God from Paradise, to be inserted in a certain fixed place of the structure. This stone was a white hyacinth, as is stated in a tradition derived from the Prophet; and when it first came from Paradise it was whiter than milk, but men's sins made it black. It is recorded on the authority of Ibn Abbas that Adam made forty pilgrimages from India to the Kaaba. After him, his children also paid their visits to the House, till the time of the flood of Noah. Seth was the first to repair it with stone and mortar. At the Deluge the House of the Kaaba was taken up to the seventh heaven; and Gabriel was sent to hide the Black Stone in the mountain Abu Kabis, to prevent its becoming immersed. The prophets succeeding Noah went to the Haram territory, with the purpose of visiting the House; but did not know the exact spot where the building had stood.

'This state of things lasted till the time of Abraham, to whom God showed again the exact locality, and gave him a command to rebuild the Kaaba. The way in which God made this known to him is differently reported: (I) God made the creature Shechina, in the shape of a little cloud, and ordered Abraham to follow it whithersoever it went, and to build the Kaaba on the spot where it should happen to alight.¹ (2) In that Shechina there was something like the head of a lion, or like the head of a lion's whelp, which said to Abraham, "Make the building of the Kaaba exactly as large as my shadow, neither larger nor smaller." (3) God sent a storm which so thoroughly swept the place of the Kaaba