he went through the gate of the sons of Madhumi to the hill Safa, and went up it till he could see the Kaaba; when, turning toward the Kebla, he professed again the unity of God, saying, ’There is no God but one, his is the kingdom, to him be praises, he is powerful above everything,’ etc.  After this profession he went down toward the hill Merwan, I following him all the way through the valley; he then ascended the hill slowly till he came to the top of Merwan; from thence he ascended Mount Arafa.  It being toward the going down of the sun, he preached here till sunset; then going to Mosdalefa, between Arafa and the valley of Mena, he made the evening and the late prayers, with two calls to prayer, and two risings up.  Then he lay down till the dawn, and, having made the morning prayer, went to the enclosure of the Kaaba, where he remained standing till it grew very light.  Hence he proceeded hastily, before the sun was up, to the valley of Mena; where, throwing up seven stones, he repeated at each throw, ‘God is great,’ etc.  Leaving now the valley, he went to the place of sacrifice.  Having made free sixty-three slaves, he slew sixty-three victims[63] with his own hand, being then sixty-three years old, and then ordered Ali to sacrifice as many more victims as would make up the number to one hundred.  The next thing the apostle did was to shave his head, beginning on the right side of it, and finishing it on the left.  His hair, as he cut it off, he cast upon a tree, that the wind might scatter it among the people.  Kaled was fortunate enough to catch a part of the fore-lock, which he fixed upon his turban; the virtue whereof he experienced in every battle he afterward fought.  The limbs of the victims being now boiled, the apostle sat down with no other companion but Ali to eat some of the flesh and drink some of the broth.  The repast being over, he mounted his camel again and rode to the Kaaba; where he made the noon-tide prayer, and drank seven large draughts of the well Zem-zem, made seven circuits round the Kaaba, and concluded his career between the hills Safa and Merwan.

“The ninth day of the feast he went to perform his devotions on Mount Arafa.  This hill, situated about a mile from Mecca, is held in great veneration by the Mussulmans as a place very proper for penitence.  Its fitness in this respect is accounted for by a tradition that Adam and Eve, on being banished out of paradise, in order to do penance for their transgression were parted from each other, and after a separation of sixscore years met again upon this mountain.”

At the conclusion of this farewell pilgrimage, as it was called, being the last he ever made, Mahomet reformed the calendar in two points:  In the first place, he appointed the year to be exactly lunar, consisting of twelve lunar months; whereas before, in order to reduce the lunar to the solar year, they used to make every third year consist of thirteen months.  And secondly, whereas the ancient Arabians held four months sacred, wherein it was unlawful to commit any act of hostility, he took away that prohibition, by this command, “Attack the idolaters in all the months of the year, as they attack you in all.” (Koran, ix.)