Note 124 — RIMSKY-KORSAKOFF
Reading edition
El Kaaba (or, more properly, Al, or Ul Kaaba), the sacred shrine of the Islamites at Mecca, is said by tradition to have been created by God out of cloud and mist at the beginning of the world. Adam gave it a more substantial form, building it of stones and rock. It was rebuilt by Noah after the flood; destroyed in war, and erected again by Ishmael and Abraham. It was built in its present form by Moslem caliphs in the eighth century. Before the days of Mohammed it was the shrine of some six hundred idols, among which were six examples of supreme poetic eloquence. It was to these that Antar's poem was added.