ABSTRACT
The procession marched round the courtyard three times and then went into the tent, where a dirge was chanted in honour of the martyrs of Kerbela. At different moments of the ceremony, and particularly at sight of the child and the doves on horseback — symbolic of Hüsseïn’s son, who was killed in his arms, and of the souls of the martyrs — many a Persian among the spectators sobbed uncontrolledly. People say, indeed, that these processions are not what they used to be and that much of the slashing is feigned. The procession was followed by hundreds of Persians who joined in the chanting and breast beating. Their number, and the many stops, made an opportunity for street vendors and for beggars. The arrival of the imperial presents in Mecca is planned to coincide with the ceremonies of the greater pilgrimage. Pilgrimage is a cardinal duty of every Moslem, expressly enjoined in the twenty-second Soura of the Koran.
