Black Stone (Kaʻbah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia)

Library of congress: sh2006005309

• Work cat.: Schneider, G. Cubes--art in the age of terrorism, c2006:p. 49 (The Black Stone is an oval-shaped stone, 18 cm diameter, installed over a meter above the ground, in the Kabʻa's outside eastern corner, left of the only, barred, entrance. The Stone's origins are uncertain; it is the Kabʻa's most venerated object)
• Concise encyclopedia of Islam, 1989:Black Stone (Arabic; al-hạjar-al-aswad; stone set in southeast corner of the Ka'bah about 1.5 meters from the ground; ovoid, black with reddish tones and yellow particles, about 28 cm wide and 38 cm high, set in silver chasing. Tradition states Adam placed stone in the original Ka'bah, later it was hidden in Meccan mountain of Abū Qubays; when Abraham rebuilt the Ka'bah, Angel Gabriel brought stone to him)
• Britannica online, July 18, 2006:Black Stone of Mecca (Arabic: Al-hajar Al-aswad, Muslim object of veneration, built into the eastern wall of the Kaʻbah; it now consists of three large pieces and some fragments, surrounded by a stone ring and held together with a silver band. According to Islamic legend, stone was given to Adam on his fall from Paradise and was originally white but has become black by absorbing the sins of pilgrims who have kissed and touched it)
• Oxford dictionary of Islam, 2003:Hajar al-Aswad, al- (stone set within a silver ring in the outer east corner of the Kaaba in Mecca. According to legend, stone was brought to Abraham (Ibrahim) by Angel Gabriel while Abraham was building the Kaaba. During the hajj, pilgrims circumambulate the Kaaba and salute, touch or kiss the stone, considered a symbol of the hereafter and divine presence)
• Deciphering the signs of God : a phenomenological approach to Islam, 1994: p. 103 (the pilgrims' attempt to kiss the black stone of the Kaaba to participate in its blessing power)

The Black Stone (Arabic: ٱلْحَجَرُ ٱلْأَسْوَد, romanized: al-Ḥajar al-Aswad) is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic which, according to Muslim tradition, dates back to the time of Adam and Eve. The stone was venerated at the Kaaba in pre-Islamic pagan times. According to Islamic tradition, it was set intact into the Kaaba's wall by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 605 CE, five years before his first revelation. Since then, it has been broken into fragments and is now cemented into a silver frame in the side of the Kaaba. Its physical appearance is that of a fragmented dark rock, polished smooth by the hands of pilgrims. It has often been described as a meteorite. Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba as a part of the tawaf ritual during the hajj and many try to stop to kiss the Black Stone, emulating the kiss that Islamic tradition records that it received from Muhammad. While the Black Stone is revered, Islamic theologians emphasize that it has no divine significance and that its importance is historical in nature.

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