fourth part of the head; the other three-fourths continuing untouched
till they return from the Omra. After the ceremony of shaving is
finished, the visitor is at liberty to lay aside the ihram, and put on
his ordinary dress; or, if he choose, he may go immediately from thence
to the Omra, in which case he still wears the ihram, and says only two
rikats on setting out. This, however, is seldom done, as the ceremonies
of the Towaf and Say are sufficiently fatiguing to render repose
desirable on their completion the visitor, therefore, dresses in his
usual clothes; but the next or any following day, (the sooner the
better,) he resumes the ihram, with the same ceremonies as are observed
on first assuming it, and then proceeds to the Omra, a place one hour
and a half from Mekka. Here he repeats two rikats in a small chapel, and
returns to the city, chanting all the way the pious ejaculations called
Telby, beginning with the words, "Lebeyk, Alla humma, Lebeyk." He must
now again perform the Towaf and the Say, have his head completely
shaved, and lay aside the ihram, which closes those ceremonies. A visit
to the Omra is enjoined by the law as absolutely necessary; but many
individuals, notwithstanding, dispense with it. I went thither, on the
third day after my arrival in the city, performing the walk in the
night-time, which is the fashion during the hot season.

At the time of the Hadj, all these ceremonies must be repeated

[p.98] after returning from Wady Muna, and again on taking leave of
Mekka. The Towaf, or walk round the Kaaba, should also be performed as
often as convenient; and few foreigners live at Mekka, who do not make
it a point to execute it twice daily; in the evening and before day-
break.

Prior to the age of Mohammed, when idolatry prevailed in Arabia, the