a sign that Allah had blessed the spot. [FN#24] “Ayat” here means a verset of the Koran.  Some authors apply the above quoted lines to the Prophet’s Mosque at Al-Madinah exclusively, others to both buildings. [FN#25] Ibn Jubayr informs us that Abu Bakr, Ayishah, and Omar had habitations at Kuba. [FN#26] Some authors mention a second Bir al-Aris, belonging in part to the Caliph Osman.  According to Yakut, “Aris” is the Hebrew or Syriac word for a peasant; he quotes the plural form Arisun and Ararisah. [FN#27] Others assert, with less probability, that the article in question was lost by one Ma’akah, a favourite of Osman.  As that ill-fated Caliph’s troubles began at the time of this accident, the ring is generally compared to Solomon’s.  Our popular authors, who assert that Mohammed himself lost the ring, are greatly in error. [FN#28] According to some authors, Mohammed drew a bucket of water, drank part of the contents, spat into the rest, and poured it back into the well, which instantly became sweet.  Ibn Jubayr applies the epithet Bir Al-Taflat peculiarly to the Aris well:  many other authors are not so exact. [FN#29] The pious perform the Lesser Ablution upon the brink of the seven wells, and drink of the remnant of the water in “Tabarruk” or to secure the blessings of God. [FN#30] Some alter the 3rd, the 5th, and the 7th names to Bir al-Nabi, a well in the Kuba gardens, Bir al-Ghurbal, and Bir al-Fukayyir, where the Prophet, together with Salman the Persian and others of his companions, planted date trees.  The Bir al-Aris has already been described.  The Bir al-Ghars, Gharas or Ghurs, so called, it is said, from the place where it was sunk, about half a mile N.E. of the Kuba Mosque, is a large well with an abundance of water.  Mohammed used to perform ablution on its brink, and directed Ali to wash his corpse with seven skins full of the water.  The Bir Rumah is a large well with a spring at the bottom, dug in the Wady al-Akik, to the north of the Mosque Al-Kiblatayn.  It is called “Kalib Mazni” (the old well of Mazni), in this tradition; “the best of old wells is the old well of Mazni.”  And ancient it must be if the legend say true, that when Abu Karb besieged Al-Madinah (A.D. 495), he was relieved of sickness by drinking its produce.  Some assert that it afforded the only sweet water in Al-Madinah when the Prophet arrived there.  The town becoming crowded by an influx of visitors, this water was sold by its owner, a man of the Benu Ghaffar tribe, or according to others, by one Mazni, a Jew.  Osman at last bought it by paying upwards of 100 camels.  The Bir Buza’at, or Biza’at, or Bisa’at, is in the Nakhil or palm plantations, outside the Bab al-Shami or North-western gate of Al-Madinah on the right of the road leading to Ohod.  Whoever washes in its waters three times shall be healed.  The Bir Busat is near the Bakia cemetery, on the left of the road leading to Kuba.  The Prophet used to bathe in the water, and he declared it healthy to the skin.  The Bir Bayruha, under whose trees