Part 40 (1/2)
When Michael entered the sick man's tent, he was surprised to find how much better he seemed. He had regained a little strength and partial consciousness. But he was still weak and suffering from the effects of malarial fever, or so Michael imagined, though he was articulate and his mind seemed to be clearing.
The more Michael saw of him the more sure he was that he was neither an idiot nor a lunatic, nor one of the cla.s.s in the East whose flagrant acts of immorality do not affect their fame for sanct.i.ty. Certainly his thoughts and reasoning powers appeared still to be in heaven, but that was because he was a religious zealot. Of the genuineness of his piety there could be no doubt. The impostors and charlatans who bring discredit upon the term ”holy man,” who trade upon the credulity of the natives, do not seek the wastes of the arid eastern desert. The neighbourhood of hospitable villages and cities suits their profession and tastes better.
The saint had requested of Abdul that he might thank the Effendi for his charity. Before sunrise he wished to leave the tent.
As Michael approached him, he called out in a weak but sonorous voice a _sura_ from the Koran:
”'Verily those who do deeds of real kindness shall drink of a cup tempered with camphor.'”
The word camphor (_kafier_), which is derived from the word _kafr_, means to ”suppress or cover.” Michael understood. The quaffing of camphor, as spoken of in the Koran, is supposed to subdue unlawful pa.s.sions; it cleanses the heart; it rids man's mind of all material desires.
”I thank you, O my father.” Michael used the ordinary form of a Moslem in addressing one of a higher spiritual station than himself. In Egypt even the native Christians reverence Moslem saints or holy men. They pay frequent visits to them to ask for counsel and to hear their prophecies, to beg a hair of them in memory, ”and dying, mention it within their wills, bequeathing it as a rich legacy unto their issue.”
Any relic of a venerated saint is worn as a protection from evil.
Quite apart from Michael's feeling on the subject as to whether this desert fanatic would prove of any real a.s.sistance to him on his journey, he had no inclination to scoff at his religious zeal. Were there not St. Jeromes, who lived in the desert and trusted to the ravens of the air to feed them? Were pa.s.sions in the desert not known before the days of Mohammed? Why should saints no longer exist?
It seemed to him very wonderful that this semi-conscious Arab should have chosen a text from the Koran so singularly appropriate to his condition. There were hundreds of _suras_ familiar to Michael, relating to the benefits to be received by the faithful who performed disinterested acts of charity. ”Do good to the creatures of G.o.d, for G.o.d loves those who do good.” These words came to his mind as more suitable, as referring only to his hospitality to the fainting wayfarer. Or again, ”The truly righteous are those who, in order to please G.o.d, a.s.sist their kindred out of their wealth, and support the orphans and take care of the needy, and give alms to the wayfarer.”
In the moral conditions of the Koran, there are many _suras_ relating to charity, the love which covers a mult.i.tude of sins. Yet he had told Michael that because of his love for one of G.o.d's creatures he would ”drink of a cup tempered with camphor.” Had the sick man a seer's vision? Had he read the secrets of his, Michael's, heart?
Or might it have been that already Abdul had confided to him the gossip of the camp? Had his seer's eyes told him who lay in the white tent, the white tent whose open door so persistently invited him to turn in?
He rejected the idea that the saint's apt choice of a text could have been mere accident. To Michael there was no such thing as chance.
Nothing is unessential, nothing unforeseen by the All-seeing.
He spoke to the saint seriously and sympathetically of his condition and tried to persuade him that he was too weak to travel. He must rest for one whole day, and after that he must allow Michael to see him on his journey. To Michael's offer of hospitality and help on his pilgrimage, he again answered by quoting the Koran:
”'Verily to the ”favoured of G.o.d” no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve.'”
His eyes, lit with spiritual fire, expressed his complete confidence in divine protection.
Michael expressed his belief that G.o.d did look after those who were specially favoured of Him, but he asked if it might not be that it was by G.o.d's guidance that he, Michael, had been permitted to offer one specially beloved of Allah the rest he so greatly needed? If it was not also decreed by Allah that the saint should remain in his tent until he was stronger?
”Whither are you going, O my son? If Allah wills it we shall not part.”
Michael described his geographical destination; he did not mention the real mission of his journey.
”What seek you there, O my son?”
”The tomb of a holy man.”
”An infidel or a child of Allah?”
”Of a prophet, O my father, a prophet to whom G.o.d revealed himself even before the days of Moses, a prophet born in Egypt, who lost his distant kingdoms to gain his own soul.”
”Your heart is full of charity, O my son. In the name of the Lord, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful, may the divine light surround you.”
”If I acknowledge but one G.o.d, O my father, and truly love Him, I must love all things that He has created, for without Him was not anything made that is in heaven or on earth.”
”Truly said, O my son. And praise be to Allah! you are no infidel.