Initially there was no covering on the Ka‘bah, but later a king of Yemen named Tubba‘ Asad saw in a dream that he was covering the Ka‘bah with a drape, hence, he had the Ka‘bah covered by a drape. After this, the tradition of covering the Ka‘bah became a common custom. Therefore, the Quraish would always place a drape over the Ka‘bah.2 This tradition was upheld in Islām as well. Even today, every year a new and precious drape is formally placed upon the Ka‘bah and the old one is removed and is either distributed among the pilgrims or is sold. Today, the drape placed upon the Ka‘bah is of black colour, upon which the Kalimah3 is written at various places as well as an assortment of Qur’ānic verses.
1 The Drape of the Ka‘bah (Publishers)
2 * Akhbāru Makkah, By Abul-Walīd Muḥammad bin ‘Abdul-Karīm Azraqī, Bābu Dhikri man Kasal-Ka‘bata fil-Jāhiliyyah, Volume 1, pp. 249-250, Maṭābi‘u Dāruth-Thaqāfah, Makkah (1978)
3 An Islāmic Creed (Publishers)