“al-ziyarat is a practice of the faith, and the most effectual way of drawing near to allah through his prophet mohammed.
“as the zair arrives at al-madinah, when his eyes fall upon the trees of the city, he must bless the prophet with a loud voice. then he should enter the mosque, and sit in the holy garden, which is between the pulpit and the tomb, and pray a two-bow prayer in honour of the masjid. after this he should supplicate pardon for his sins. then, approaching the sepulchre, and standing four cubits away from it, recite this prayer:—
“‘peace be with thee, o thou t.h. and y.s.,44 peace be with thee, and upon thy descendants, and thy companions, one and all, and upon all the prophets, and those inspired to instruct mankind. and i bear witness that thou hast delivered thy message, and performed thy trust, and advised thy followers, and swept away darkness, and fought in allah’s path the good fight: may allah requite thee from us the best with which he ever requited prophet from his followers!’
“let the visitor stand the while before the tomb with respect, and reverence, and singleness of mind, and fear, and awe. after which, let him retreat one cubit, and salute abu bakr the truthful in these words:—
“‘peace be with thee, o caliph of allah’s prophet over his people, and aider in the defence of his faith!’
“after this, again retreating another cubit, let him bless in the same way omar the just. after which, returning to his former station opposite the prophet’s tomb, he should implore intercession for himself and for all dearest to him. he should not neglect to visit the bakia cemetery and the kuba mosque, where he should pray for himself and for his brethren of the muslimin, and the muslimat, the muminin and the muminat,45 the quick of them and the dead. when ready to depart, let the zair take leave of the mosque with a two-bow prayer, and visit the tomb, and salute it, and again beg intercession for himself and for those he loves. and the zair is forbidden to circumambulate the tomb, or to carry away the cakes of clay made by the ignorant with the earth and dust of the harim.”
