by the alteration of the H, “Harb” (Flight). [FN#14] The old Arabic proverb is “A greater wiseacre than the goat of Akhfash”; it is seldom intelligible to the vulgar. [FN#15] That is to say, “I will burn them (metaphorically) as the fiery wick consumes the oil,"-a most idiomatic Hijazi threat. [FN#16] A “cold-of-countenance” is a fool.  Arabs use the word “cold” in a peculiar way.  “May Allah refrigerate thy countenance!” i.e. may it show misery and want.  “By Allah, a cold speech!” that is to say, a silly or an abusive tirade. [FN#17] That is to say, they would use, if necessary, the dearest and noblest parts of their bodies (their eyes) to do the duty of the basest (i.e. their feet). [FN#18] Writers mention two Al-Akik.  The superior comprises the whole site of Al-Madinah, extending from the Western Ridge, mentioned below, to the cemetery Al-Bakia.  The inferior is the Fiumara here alluded to; it is on the Meccan road, about four miles S.W. of Al-Madinah, and its waters fall into the Al-Hamra torrent.  It is called the “Blessed Valley” because the Prophet was ordered by an angel to pray in it. [FN#19] The esoteric meaning of this couplet is, “Man! this is a lovely portion of God’s creation:  then stand by it, and here learn to love the perfections of thy Supreme Friend.” [FN#20] Al-Harratayn for Al-Harratani, the oblique case of the dual and plural noun being universally used for the nominative in colloquial Arabic.  The other one of the Two Ridges will be described in a future part of this Book. [FN#21] The city is first seen from the top of the valley called Nakb, or Shuab Ali, close to the Wady al-Akik, a long narrow pass, about five miles from Al-Madinah.  Here, according to some, was the Mosque Zu’l Halifah, where the Prophet put on the Pilgrim’s garb when travelling to Meccah.  It is also called “The Mosque of the Tree,” because near it grew a fruit tree under which the Prophet twice sat.  Ibn Jubayr considers that the Harim (or sacred precincts of Al-Madinah) is the space enclosed by three points, Zu’l Halifah, Mount Ohod, and the Mosque of Kuba.  To the present day pilgrims doff their worldly garments at Zu’l Halifah. [FN#22] That is to say, “throughout all ages and all nations.”  The Arabs divide the world into two great bodies:  first themselves, and, secondly, “’Ajami,” i.e. all that are not Arabs.  Similar bi-partitions are the Hindus and Mlenchhas, the Jews and Gentiles, the Greeks and Barbarians, &c., &c. [FN#23] Robust religious men, especially those belonging to the school of Al-Malik, enter into Al-Madinah, after the example of Ali, on foot, reverently, as the pilgrims approach Meccah. [FN#24] Barbosa makes three days’ journey from Yambu’ to Al-Madinah, D’Herbelot eight, and Ovington six.  The usual time is from four to five days.  A fertile source of error to home geographers, computing distances in Arabia, is their neglecting the difference between the slow camel travelling and the fast dromedary riding. 
        The following is a synopsis of our stations:-