At Constantinople Faustus visited the emperor of the Turks, assuming
to himself the figure of the prophet Mahomet. His approach was
preceded by a splendid illumination, not less than that of the sun in
all his glory. He said to the emperor, "Happy art thou, oh sultan, who
art found worthy to be visited by the great prophet." And the emperor
in return fell prostrate before him, thanking Mahomet for his
condescension in this visit. The doctor also entered the seraglio,
where he remained six days under the same figure, the building and its
gardens being all the time environed with a thick darkness, so that no
one, not the emperor himself, dared to enter. At the end of this time
the doctor, still under the figure of Mahomet, was publicly seen,
ascending, as it seemed, to heaven. The sultan afterwards enquired of
the women of his seraglio what had occurred to them during the period
of the darkness; and they answered, that the God Mahomet had been with
them, that he had enjoyed them corporeally, and had told them that
from his seed should arise a great people, capable of irresistible
exploits.
Faustus had conceived a plan of making his way into the terrestrial
paradise, without awakening suspicion in his demon-conductor. For this
purpose he ordered him to ascend the highest mountains of Asia. At
length they came so near, that they saw the angel with the flaming
sword forbidding approach to the garden. Faustus, perceiving this,
asked Mephostophiles what it meant. His conductor told him, but added
that it was in vain for them, or any one but the angels of the Lord,
to think of entering within.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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