He grieves for his benighted country; but when the moon slowly rises, shedding her soft rays over the old scene, the mountains, the valleys below, all calm, peaceful, radiant, he is comforted. He thinks of Him who "created the lesser orb to rule the night," and a great joy fills his heart that he has been led to a recognition of Him, and that he has been enabled to lead others to Him. His face glows with serene happiness and hope. He raises his eyes to the calm, deep heavens, and says: "O Father, I thank thee that 'mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts,' and his dear Son! I thank thee that thou hast led me to see Truth! O God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works! Now also when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come! And now, Father, 'what wait I for? My hope is in thee,' the great God, the ever-loving Father, now and for evermore. Amen and amen." And there will we leave him. "May he live Longer than I have time to tell his years! Ever beloved and loving, may his rule be! And when old Time shall lead him to his end, Goodness and he fill up one monument!" --_Shakespeare._ THE END. FOOTNOTES: [1] The month of Ramadhan was held as holy prior to Mohammed's time; its sanctity was but confirmed by him. [2] Medina at this time bore the name of Yathrib, but in this volume we shall give it the later and better-known name of "Medina," derived from the earlier "Mahdinah." [3] The Moslems _now_ assert that the sacred fire went out of itself at the birth of Mohammed. [4] A fourth, the "Darb-el-Sharki," or Eastern Road, has since been built by order of the wife of the famous Haroun al Raschid. [5] Joseph Pitts, A.D. 1680, says: "Mecca is surrounded for several miles with many thousands of little hills which are very near to one another. They are all stony-rock, and blackish, and pretty near of a bigness, appearing at a distance like cocks of hay, but all pointing towards Mecca." [6] Burton says the black stone is volcanic, but is thought by some to be a meteorite or aerolite. Burckhardt thought it composed of lava. Of its appearance Ali Bey says: "It is a block of volcanic basalt, whose circumference is sprinkled with little crystals, with rhombs of tile-red feldspath on a dark background like velvet or charcoal." [7] By the latest statistics the number of Mohammedans now scattered throughout Asia, Africa, and the south-eastern part of Europe amounts to some 176,834,372. [8] Moslems assert that upon this night Mohammed was carried through the seven heavens of which El Islam tells.