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first question; and fresh from the religious services at my death-bed, I replied glibly, There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God. 'What?' (was the reply) 'when long ago thou wast in despair of obtaining service, and on the point of starvation, didst thou not pray to me for assistance, ignorant that I was testing thy patience and resignation; and when, unknown to thee, I put it into the heart of a District officer, my servant as well as thou, to promise thee an appointment, didst thou not think this was the result of thy own sagacity? Didst thou not place more reliance on the spoken word of the Englishman than on my written bond-' Not a creature on earth but God provides for it'?

"If thou sincerely believedst that I was omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, how daredst thou commit iniquity? I created thee out of nothing, and clothed thee with the robe of humanity, and supplied all thy wants, and reared thee from childhood, and gave thee reason for thy guide, that thou mightest provide thyself with the means of lawful enjoyment: yet, proud of thy frail existence, thou thoughtest thyself independent of my authority, and rebelledst against obedience. If air and food had been withheld for a brief space, thou wouldst have died. I created for thy benefit the sun, the moon, and the stars of heaven,-earth's varied landscapes, its trees and fruits and flowers. Was it for this that thou shouldst thanklessly spurn my favours?

A little insect might have sufficed for thy destruction. The materials of disease were so abundant in thy constitution, that the simplest disorder might have ended thy existence, without my protecting care. How hast thou requited my forbearance and friendliness?

"When I sent thee into the world, I gave thee a precious jewel, thy immortal soul, with charge to keep it unsullied and uninjured. How hast thou this day restored it? Dim and lustreless as a broken potsherd. I desired thee not to fix thy affections on the world, but lodge therein as a traveller in an inn. Thou hast made it thy home, and slept in forgetfulness to wake in the tomb.

"Thou hast neglected my ordinances from the first, or made them part of the round of fashion. I ordained a month's fast, for thy bodily health, and to remind thee of the wants of the poor and hungry, and to teach thee the virtue of humility: but with thy belly full the whole year round, how grudgingly didst thou comply! The sun had no sooner set than thou devouredst enough for two days, and then wentest to thy rest grumbling at the loss of to-morrow's breakfast. Thou lookedst for the Eed, as a prisoner for the day of his release.

"I bade thee be charitable and remember the poor and unfortunate of thy fellows. So far from this, thou hast

* The ninth month of the lunar year, called Ramazan, during which pious Moslems fast from dawn to sunset. It is extremely trying when the month falls in the hot season. The Eed, or "feast," at its close, is the Eedu-l-Fitr, which is observed on the first day of the tenth month as a time of joy and merriment.

enslaved them in the pursuit of thy own selfish lusts. Men pined in cold and starvation around thee, while thou wast physicking for surfeit, or reposing beneath costly quilts. Thou hast wasted the wealth I gave thee in luxury and ostentation.

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excuse.

'My commands were not harsh or unreasonable, for cruelty is not my attribute. Thy disobedience is without Would that during life thou hadst felt even a passing concern for the salvation thou now so passionately desirest! Would that, in place of the world's paltry interests, thou hadst thought of the neglect of thy religion and its consequences!

"I am aware that thy repentance is bitter now, but it comes too late. Thou art speechless. I grant thee time to prepare thy defence, and to try to find a plea for thine acquittal.'"

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CHAPTER II.

NUSSOOH'S AWAKENING.

His father's recital was no sooner ended than Nussooh awoke from his dream. He was lying as before, and his wife was fanning him. He had slept from eight till two; but when she asked him how he felt and told him how anxious they had all been, he made no response. She supposed his weakness and prostration made him disinclined to speak. Nevertheless, the general uneasiness was relieved, and the family began to talk of the festivities they would have to celebrate his recovery.

Nussooh was wrapt in the recollection of his dream, which he believed was a special message sent by God in his behalf. Every syllable of what he had heard was impressed upon his memory; and the more he reflected the more he was driven to admit that he himself was guilty of all the sins laid to his father's charge-nay, more, that there was no comparison between them; for his father had been regular in his

attention to his religious duties, and was known for his austerity and self-denial; whereas he, the son, had altogether disregarded the worship of God, and was, in fact, utterly irreligious. Of course he had observed the Eeds, for these were occasions of rejoicing, when men would parade the bazar in brand-new clothes, or ride their horses through the crowds, or loll in borrowed or hired vehicles with forerunners to shout "Make way."

As to the Friday* service, Nussooh was one of those who went to the mosque if his clothes were clean and the day was not too hot, or the sky too cloudy, or if he wanted to meet his acquaintance; and anyhow, the observance of Friday was a matter about which opinions differed. He had altogether neglected" the five times of prayer." Morning, noon, and night prayers he had never said all his life; and as to the afternoon, there was taking the air, going to the bazar, calling, visiting, and what not, to be got through. Evening prayer was indeed left, but how was he to find time for that? The rosy tints of twilight would be fading away before he could return from his rambles.

As for duties which involved some little personal trouble, he had simply shirked them. When Rajab+ came, and Lent approached, it was easy to feign indisposition, and resort to a physician (one of the gentle

This is the day on which the Khutbah is read in the Mosque. It is not a Sabbath in the Jewish sense.

+ The seventh month of the lunar year.

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