The City of the Patriarchs
The
city is dazzling, its appearance is marvelous and the reality is even
more so. It is located at the bottom of a valley. The workmanship
of its mosque is elegant; it is well built, very beautiful and very
high. It is made of hewn stone; one of its cornerstones measures thirty-seven
spans on the side. It is said that Solomon ordered the geniuses of
construction to build it. Inside the mosque, there is the venerated
and holy cave where you see the tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
facing the three tombs of their spouses. To the right of the pulpit,
adjoining the wall of the qibla, there is a staircase; you descend
on the well-made marble steps, to a narrow passage leading to a paved
area where there are three tombs, which were placed right there before
you. In the past, there was a passage that led to the holy cave that
is now closed off. I went down those stairs many times. From among
the proofs given by scholars regarding the authenticity of the three
noble tombs located on this site, I will cite a passage from the book
by Ali ben Jafara-Razi entitled The Explorer of Hearts, that deals
with the authenticity of the tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This
author bases his work on Abu Hyrayra who said: «Allah’s Messenger
said: When Gabriel traveled at night with me up to Jerusalem, he made
me pass over the tomb of Abraham. He then told me: Get down and pray
two raka, for this is the tomb of your father, Abraham. He then passed
over Bethlehem with me and said to me: Get down and pray two raka;
this is where your brother Jesus was born. He then led me to the rock…
»
Ibn Battuta, Voyages and journeys
In the meanwhile,
the attachment of the members of the two religions to the cave will
never be weakened. The motives that drive them to yield to violence
in order to secure custody of the tombs presumed to be those of the
Patriarchs while at the same time claiming the same divinity and the
same father must be very disturbing. Pierre Loti notes in his particular
manner:
And
this is unique, without a doubt, in the annals of the dead: this sepulcher,
so primitively simple, which has reunited everyone, has not ceased
to be venerated at any period in history – while the most sumptuous
tombs in Egypt and in Greece were long ago profaned and emptied. The
Patriarchs will probably continue to sleep in peace for many centuries
to come, respected by the millions of Christians, Moslems and Jews.
P. Loti, Jerusalem
The dozen spies sent by Moses to explore the land of
Canaan visit Hebron. Caleb, of the tribe of Yehuda, one of the two
to have praised the merits of the country, claims its possession:
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