We were all heading for Makkah, but it did not appear clearly before all of us, as we could not see it from far away. It remained rather like a surprise hidden in the middle of a wilderness. Chains of volcanic amphitheaters appeared before us, which took on the form of prayer beads, rising gradually to transform themselves into ranges of sullen granite mountains, between which an asphalt road stretched gently, like a dried –up river, the same road on which caravans had traveled for thousands of years, and on which had trod the feet of God’s noble Messenger the Prophet Muhammad (blessing and peace be upon him).