The very popular prayer of the thief Abdurrahman (Duai-duzd Abdurrahman) illustrates most strikingly this opinion. It consists of about fifteen to twenty sentences, and its substance is as follows: "When the Prophet (the blessing of God be upon him!) lived in Medina, he went one afternoon upon the terrace of his house, in order to perform his devotions. He looked about with his blessed eyes and saw in his part of the town a funeral procession pass through the streets, followed only by a few persons, and the coffin surrounded by a marvellous brilliancy, not unlike a sea of rosy light. As soon as he had finished his prayer he hastened to the spot, joined the funeral procession, and saw, to his great amazement, that the shine did not leave the coffin, even when let down into the grave. The Prophet could not recover from his surprise; he went to the wife of the deceased, and asked what and who her husband had been. 'Alas!' she answered, with tears, 'God be merciful unto him, his death is a blessing to all, for throughout his life he was a highwayman and murderer; and the tears of widows and orphans he has caused to flow, are more than the water he has drunk. He lived only to cause unhappiness to others. I have often remonstrated with him, but in vain. He lived as a sinner, and as a sinner he died!' 'What!' exclaimed the Prophet, with ever-increasing astonishment, 'Did he possess no single good quality, has he never shown repentance?' 'Alas, no!' she sobbed out; 'the only thing he used to do every evening after his wicked daily work, was to read over these few lines (and she showed the prayer), and then fell asleep, and woke to sin anew on the morrow.' The Prophet looked at the prayer, and recognising at once its marvellous efficacy, he has left it behind to exercise the same virtue upon all orthodox Mussulmen." The moral drawn from this narrative needs no explanation; and it is easy to imagine how many Central Asiatics, furnished with such a recipe, _à la Tetzel_, will commit the most atrocious deeds, and retain withal the consciousness of being pious and religious men.