Sulali wrote down what Halil said.
"Mussulmans. Yesterday, before the Abdestan, I was reading the book
whose name is the 'Takimi Vekai.'"
"Mashallah!" exclaimed all the Mohammedans mournfully.
"In that book the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire is predicted. The
year, the day is at hand when the name of Allah will no longer be
glorified on this earth, when the tinkling of the sheep-bells will be
heard on the ruins of the marble fountains, and those other bells so
hateful to Allah will resound from the towers of the minarets. In those
days the Giaours will play at quoits with the heads of the true
believers, and build mansions over their tombs."
"Mashallah! the will of God be done!" said old dervish Mohammed with a
shaking voice, "by then we shall all of us be in Paradise, up in the
seventh Heaven, the soil whereof is of pure starch, ambergris, musk, and
saffron. There, too, the very stones are jacinths and the pebbles pure
pearls, and the Tuba-tree shields the faithful from the heat of the sun,
as they rest beneath it and gaze up at its golden flowers and silver
leaves, and refresh themselves with the milk, wine, and honey which flow
abundantly from its sweet and glorious stem. There, too, are the
dwellings of Mohammed and the Prophets his predecessors, in all their
indescribable beauty, and over the roof of every true believer bend the
branches of the sacred tree, whose fruits never fail, nor wither, nor
rot, and there we shall all live together in the splendour of Paradise
where every true believer shall have a palace of his own.
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