The fathers point out Stambul to their
sons, they point it out as the booty that will give them sustenance;
tender women lay their hands upon the sword to use it against the
Osmanli, and will fight like heroes. Yet the days of the Sons of the
Prophet will not yet come to an end; they will resist the enemy, and
stand fast like a Salamander in the midst of the burning embers.
"The years pass over the world, again the Giaours assemble in their
myriads and threaten vengeance. But the Divan answers them: 'Olmaz!'--it
cannot be. The Anatolian and the Rumelian lighthouses, at the entrance
of the Bosphorus, will signal from their watch-towers the approach of
the foreign war-ships.
"But this shall be much later, after three-and-twenty Padishahs have
ruled over the thirteen nations; then and not till then will the armies
of the Unbelievers assemble before Stambul. Woe, woe unto us! Eternally
invincible should the Osmanlis remain if they walked, with firm
footsteps, according to the commands of the Koran. But a time will come
when the old customs will fall into oblivion, when new ways will creep
in among Mussulmen like a rattlesnake crawling into a bed of roses.
Faith will no longer give strength against those men of ice, and they
will enter the nine-and-twenty gates of the seven-hilled city.
"Lo! this did the Prophet reveal to me in the season of El-Ashsoer,
beginning at the time of sundown.
"Allah give his blessing to the rulers of this world.
Pages:
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178