Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/53

Rh Mosque at Hebron, who gave me the following account.

Having escaped from Nimrûd, El-Khalil was commanded to go to Mecca and build the “haram” or sanctuary there. On reaching his destination, he received instructions first to offer up his dear son Ismain (Ishmael) as a sacrifice upon Jebel ’Arafat, the mountain where Adam had recognised Hawa. Iblis, hoping to make trouble between the Patriarch and his Friend, went to our Lady Hagar, on whom be peace, and implored her to dissuade her husband from the cruel deed. She snatched up a stone and hurled it at the tempter. The missile did him no harm, but the pillar against which the stone dashed is still shown to pilgrims. From this incident he has the name “Esh Sheytan er Rajim,” meaning “Satan, the stoned One,” or “who is to be stoned.”

Having finished the Ka’aba, Ibrahim was directed to build another “haram” at El-Kids. This he did, and was then ordered to build a third at Hebron. The site of this last sanctuary would, he was informed, be shown to him by a supernatural light which would shine over it at night. This is one account. Another account says that three angels in human form having appeared to the Patriarch, he, supposing them to be men, invited them into his tent, and then went to slay a fatling as a meal for them. In some way or other the calf eluded Ibrahim, who followed it till it entered a certain cave. Going in after it, he heard a voice from some inner chamber informing him that he stood in the sepulchre of our Father Adam, over which he must build the sanctuary. A third story