THE SACRED CAMEL

The story, as told in the Qur'an, is that the prophet and messenger Sâlih, at the request of Allah Himself, strove to teach faith in one God to the Thamudéans, polytheistic troglodytes: "O my people! Worship God! There is no God but Him. A proof has come to you: God's camel, as a sign for you. Let her graze on God's land, and touch her with no evil. Otherwise, a painful chastisement will befall you." The Prophet declared that this camel would need water, and he established a rule: from then on, the people would only have access to water every other day, the other being reserved for the animal. After a few weeks, some of the people became disgruntled: "They killed the camel, disobeyed their Lord's command and said: 'O Saleh, bring us what you threaten us with, if you are one of the Envoys. When Sunday morning dawned, they perfumed themselves and sat down in anticipation of the punishment to come. After sunrise, a mighty blast came from the sky, and a cry went up from beneath them. All the souls died and all movement stopped. According to tradition, the rock here, protected and visually accessible to visitors, bears the footprints of the camel and the blood of her wounds; the other footprints are those of the prophet and his walking stick. Don't expect anything spectacular at first glance. Believers are attached to it. Bring a telephoto lens to capture all the details!