Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the EastHume-Griffith, M. E.
Philosophy
Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia: An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East
Hume-Griffith, M. E.
Arabian Peninsula -- Social life and customs; Iran -- Social life and customs
Finally, ere saying farewell, the old man with extended hands presented
the apple to the boy, who gladly accepted it, and proposed eating it at
once. The mullah, taking a penknife from his inner pocket, peeled the
apple, and returned it on the point of the knife to the young prince,
who, boylike, grasped it eagerly. In taking the apple the point of
the knife pricked the finger of the lad, with the result that blood
poisoning set in, and in a short time the beautiful boy lay dead. The
mullah in his sorrow wept aloud, and as he wept he awoke. With humble
heart and head bowed in submission, he gave glory to Allah.
On the day appointed the two men returned to hear the verdict of the
wise mullah. He received them kindly, but sorrowfully, assuring them
that it made not the slightest difference whether they walked under
the ladder or not.
"For," said the old man, "if it is written that you are to be killed
by a ladder falling upon you, it must be so, you cannot escape. What
Allah has written must be fulfilled. His designs cannot be frustrated."
This doctrine, taught to the old mullah by means of his dream, is
very prominent in the minds of all Moslems to-day.
When in Persia we had an Indian servant who was a Mohammedan. He told
us that three times on successive nights our Lord had appeared to
him in a dream, in the form of an old man with a long white beard. So
struck was he with the persistency of the dream, that he went to an
English clergyman, asking to be taught the Christian religion.
The women in Mosul have often told me of wonderful things which they
declared were going to happen to me, as had been revealed to them in
dreams. Even now I receive letters from some of these women in which
they say, "We see you every night in our dreams."
The first women in-patients in our so-called hospital in Mosul had to
be content with a kind of outhouse for their ward. The only place we
could find for them which would be hareem was a large room which we
used as a wood-house. This my husband had whitewashed and thoroughly
cleansed and disinfected. The first unfortunate woman to be put in
this ward (?) was a very quiet, gentle Moslem woman, who came for an
operation. Her mother came with her to look after her, and these two
were alone in their none too comfortable quarters.
Two or three days after the operation, these women declared that in
the night a huge form of dragon-like appearance rose from the ground
at their side!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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