Makkah : Day 04

After the early dawn prayer, we four separated from each other to be united with our Lord. We raced in our best capacity to obtain the blessings of our Creator. One read Quran, the second did tawaf, the third prayed in the boundary of Hijr Ismael (considered a part of ka’aba) while the fourth one made a successful attempt to touch and kiss the Hajr Al Aswad.

The sweetness of the moment of making dua holding onto Ka’aba is known to Allah alone. It is difficult not to be emotional in such a situation. One will actually lay bare the heart and confess to the Creator about the conduct of past and present and seek refuge from sinful blunders in the future.

I submitted before Allah my own wishes and aspirations along with others’. I pleaded for the good of all, known and unknown. ‘May the prayers of everyone gathered today around Your House be answered ’.

After we’re done, individually and in group, it was time for the adieu. For past two days, the pupil of our eyes had been blessed with the dark hue of the Black Ka’aba. Now it was time to nurture that color in our hearts. The merry of meeting and pain of parting are both unbearable for human hearts.

So we prayed earnestly. Again. For a safe journey back. And to grant us the fortune to return again. And again. It was extremely sunny and warm. My mother held a cover of shade for me as I raised my hands in prayer. I recalled the description of the Judgment Day when on that that open and vast land where the entire humanity will be assembled. ‘There shall be no shade except the Shade of Allah’s Throne’. May he make the Accountability easy like a breeze.

Eyes wet, we started to walk away from the mataf. And at every step we looked back. In Hope. In Love. Like a lover has the final glimpse of the Beloved. A dying person looks silently at his near and dear ones.

We would miss the Ka’ba to which we have been turning in prayer all our lives.

On the way back, my co-traveler reminded me about the prayer of Abraham after he built Ka’ba. He and his son begged Allah to accept the building the House of Allah on earth. Their humility and sincerity, even after a magnificent task, was matchless. We came on a short visit for performing Umra and promptly assume with confidence it has already been accepted.

I realized a phenomenon about the oft-repeated mantra in a believer’s life. Subhanallah! This is the submission of our intellect and a self proclamation of its helplessness. Al hamdu lillah is offering of the heart struck by the favours of Allah.

As we walked to the hotel, saw a small building which displayed the message in an electronic format: There is no proof that this is the place where Prophet was born’. The question then is where was he born? Why to maintain a negative mentality in all matters? Why to focus on what is NOT, than what IS? It is as if they enjoin ‘Not’ and forbid the ‘IS’.

We spent some time shopping for personal accessories like stones for the ring and Arabian dresses for the kids back home. One shop was dedicated only for the Tasbih, considered by many an ‘innovation’.

We left for the airport around later afternoon. On the way we saw rich green grass due to the recent rains in the region. Tents were pitched randomly. Mountains and plateaus followed one another. The boundary of harem ended. But our hearts were still there.

Reached the airport close to Maghrib time. The system was ill organized. An Emirati who was boarding the same flight told my co-traveler: We miss UAE when we are out of it. The only good thing here is the Indian Porata.’

We offered the prayers at the airport prayer room. My parents came across a Keralite family in Jeddah who had come visiting from Kerala. They joked saying the people around were looking after them as the son and daughter in law were both working.

Flight was on time. Charged with the charm of the two harems, I and my co-traveler did not sleep. We delved into topics ranging from travel, time management of the sages of past to philosophy of dreams.

Our talk went on till the flight landed in UAE. And not all found our talk inspiring. An old lady in front sleeping had to remind us thrice that our sounds were as beyond the tolerant level.

Nevertheless we resolved to go again and again to the Harems and return earning better ‘miles’.

Yes, we felt emblazed and embered. But it also gave us a fresh life lifting us from the ashes of past and fly into the future…