Makkah: the city that never sleeps

Raacikh Asghar presents a vivid description of experiencing Makkah.

As the moonlight illuminates the city sky, the pilgrims engage in intense prayer asking forgiveness from their Lord, shedding tears of sadness and joy simultaneously, until their eyes are numb and their faces glow. They face the Ka'bah to quench their thirst and fulfil their desires. The Ka'bah is a sight beyond belief, leaving its witnesses stunned as they stare at it in total awe and disbelief. Looking at the majestic structure, people forget about the world and everything about it. For a brief moment, it's just them and the Ka'bah; it's just them and their Lord.

Seeing such a tremendous sight, the heart skips a beat and the mind registers the moment forever. It is something really unique. And the size of the Ka'bah is so big that any photo we see cannot capture this unique structure.

All through the night, the constant battle between emotion and devotion continues till the adhaan is called and the people, finally, after spending half of the night in God's worship, get to line up facing the Ka'bah, before their Lord, Allah, to offer the morning prayers. It is at this moment that the birds hovering above the sky, too, seem to be circulating round the building, performing Tawaaf. It is in that moment when everything seems fictatious. No one cares about the night then. It's just you, your thoughts, your prayers and the breathtaking sight; the awesome moment. There, the night feels like the day and the moon feels like the sun.

As the night turns into the day and the bright sun comes out, the words of Allah are the only thing being recited constantly. The eyes that were wet all night, dry up and the tongue moistens as the ayaats of the Holy Quran and the chants of the pilgrims echo in the city's streets.

With the air so fresh, the atmosphere so clean, the sun so bright and the scent so pure, the city of Makkah surely stands out as one of the best cities to visit and why not? It is the city of the pilgrims, the city of the Arabs, the city that is host to the greatest event of the year, the Hajj. It is a city that remains busy throughout the day, throughout the night, and surely, throughout the year. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps. Well, whoever coined this term hasn't really been to Makkah - the city that literally never sleeps!

Raacikh Asghar is a student of Political Science and has a keen interest in cricket. He has also worked for The Nation's Web Sports Desk

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