This, combined with the absolute belief in fate, assures that thorough absence of any sort of free will which makes the weaving of spells easy, and it is difficult to make even the better educated Arabs scoff at its possibilities. All is predestined, and the casting of spells therefore can not be avoided. What is the good of going into the matter further? It would only lead to unnecessary controversy and a disbelief in God’s power. _Mektoub!_ CHAPTER XVII ABD-EL-KADER It would take too long to cast even a cursory glance over the many holy men venerated in Algeria, and it will suffice merely to touch on the two most important. Some confusion appears to exist in the minds of many as to who Abd-el-Kader really is. The name is spoken of all over North Africa, and is often discussed at cross-purposes. The fact is that there are two Abd-el-Kaders, both of great importance to the Arabs, but as different one from the other as possible. The first, whose _kouba_, or shrine, can be seen in practically every town all over North Africa, and whose full name is Abd-el-Kader-el-Djelali, was born in the twelfth century A. D. at Djel near Bagdad. God said of him: “If I had not sent Mohammed before thee to earth, I should have chosen thee as my prophet.” He is, therefore, venerated as only second to the founder of the Faith. He was apparently a man of proverbial goodness, who spent his life in protecting the poor and the oppressed, whose broadness of mind extended to listening to the prayers of Jews, as well as to Christians, and who was the most merciful of all saints. The miracles attributed to him are innumerable, and the legends would fill volumes, but to the practical mind the greatest miracle seems to have been the range of his travels. Quite apart from the places he visited in other countries, he seems to have sojourned in every center of importance in Algeria. With his roan horse he stopped in the cities of the coast, in the villages of the mountains, in the oases of the Sahara, doing good to those about him, helping those in distress who invoked him at great distance. Space seems to have meant nothing to him, and in every place where he rested a _kouba_ was erected in his honor, and thither the faithful flock regularly and light candles in the shrine and pray for his blessings, while on fine nights they congregate and sing his deeds. It is said that his death was caused by God selecting him to suffer three-quarters of the diseases which fall yearly on the earth, and that, when suffering and near to death, the angels came and placed him between the third and fourth heavens, for the Koran says: “God created the seven heavens, and placed them one above the other.” From this point of vantage Abd-el-Kader remains, and watches over the sufferings of the Faithful.