[p.90] three years; and thus the month of the pilgrimage did not vary in
its season, as at present. The intercalation of a month, established two
hundred years before Islam, was prohibited by the Koran, which ordained
that the same pilgrimage should be continued, in honour of the living
God, which had before been performed in honour of idols, but that it
should be fixed to a lunar month; thus its period became irregular, and
in the space of thirty-three years was gradually changed from the depth
of winter to the height of summer.
The person covered by the ihram, or, as he is called, El Mohrem, is not
obliged to abstain from particular kinds of food, as ancient Arabians,
who, during the time of wearing it, did not taste butter among other
things; but he is enjoined to behave decently, not to curse, or quarrel,
not to kill any animal, not even a flea on his body, nor to communicate
with the other sex. The ihram of the women consists of a cloak which
they wrap completely about them, with a veil so close that not even
their eyes can be seen: according to the law, their hands and ankles
must be covered, but this rule they generally disregard.
Although my companions, the soldiers, were going to Mekka, as well as
myself, they did not think it necessary to take the ihram, which, as I
have already said, the law prescribes at all times of the year to every
one travelling towards the sacred city.