MAKKAH, Dec 29: More than two million pilgrims performed prayers on Mount Arafat on Friday during one of the high points of the Haj. “I am here in response to your call, Lord, I am here...” the pilgrims chanted in a multitude of accents as they gathered on a plain bounded by hills. “You have no equal. To you the praise, from you the favour -- and royalty belongs only to you.” It was on Mount Arafat -- also called Jebel ar-Rahma, or Mount Mercy -- that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) gave his final sermon.The more zealous of the pilgrims scaled the rocky hill prostrated. The `Wuquf’ ceremony they performed there symbolises Man's wait for judgment day.

At midday, the faithful prayed together at Namera mosque, built on the site where the Holy Prophet (PBUH) himself prayed during Haj.

The pilgrims were to spend the rest of the day in prayer and asking for God’s forgiveness.

According to a government source, 1,654,407 pilgrims -- 55 per cent of them men -- had arrived in Saudi Arabia for the Haj from 187 countries. More than half a million Muslims in Saudi Arabia had also joined the pilgrimage.

“We have come to ask God to allow Islam and Muslims to triumph,” said Abdul Alim Mahmud, a 40-year-old Egyptian.

Pakistani Chir Omar, 38, said he had prayed for `peace in the world... especially the Muslim world’.

Afghan devotee Wali Mohammed, 35, wished `strength for Islam and peace in the world’.

At the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the holy Kaaba was being draped in a new `kiswa’, its silk cover adorned with Quranic verses embroidered in gold thread. The cost of the `kiswa’ is estimated at five million dollars.

Due to the icy temperatures, Saudi Arabia's foremost religious figure, Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, issued a fatwa allowing devotees to use blankets during the night provided they do not cover their heads.Thousands of Saudi soldiers have been deployed along the routes being used by the pilgrims, and official media said security and health authorities have been mobilised to ensure the safety of the faithful during the often risky ceremonies, with dozens of field hospitals and clinics set up in the area.—AFP