THE SACRED CAMEL

The story, as recorded in the Qur'an, tells that the Prophet and Messenger Sauliah, at the request of Allah himself, endeavoured to teach faith in one God to the Thamudites, polytheistic troglodytes: "O my people! Worship God! There is no God but he. A proof has come to you: God's camel, as a sign for you. Let her graze the land of God, do not touch her with any evil. Otherwise, a painful punishment will seize you. The Prophet declared that this camel would need water and he established a rule: the people would now have access to water only every other day, the other day being reserved for the animal. After a few weeks, disgruntled people were heard: "They killed the camel, disobeyed the command of their Lord and said, 'O Saleh, bring us what you threaten us with, if you are one of the Messengers. When Sunday morning came, they perfumed themselves and sat down, waiting for the punishment that was to come. After the sunrise, a mighty breath came from the sky and a cry went out from below them. All the souls died and all movement stopped. According to tradition, the rock here, which is protected and visually accessible to visitors, would bear the traces of the camel's footsteps and the blood of her wounds; the other footprints would be those of the prophet and his cane. Do not expect anything spectacular; objectively speaking, the site is quite strange, but the believers seem attached to it. Provide a telephoto lens to capture the details!