has sent down to the last of the Prophets and lord of the children of Adam, our Prophet Muḥammad (the peace and blessing of God be upon him!). I have not despaired of success, but had hope of it for you from God who showeth the right path to whomsoever He willeth, and I have prayed that He may make me an instrument to this end. God in His perfect book says ‘Verily the religion before God is Islam’ (iii. 17), and again, confirming His first saying, ‘And whoso desireth any other religion than Islam, it shall by no means therefore be accepted from him, and in the next world he shall be among the lost’ (iii. 79), and again He confirms it decisively, when He says, ‘O believers, fear God as He deserveth to be feared; and die not without having become Muslims.’ (iii. 97.) “And you know—(May God deliver you from the ignorance of unbelief and open your heart to the light of faith!)—that I am one over whom many years have passed and I have sounded the depths of other faiths and weighed them and studied many of their books especially your books.” [Here he enumerates the chief books of the Old and New Testaments, and explains how he has studied the various Christian sects.] “I have met with many monks, famous for their austerities and vast knowledge, have visited many churches and monasteries, and have attended their prayers.... I have observed their extraordinary diligence, their kneeling and prostrations and touching the ground with their cheeks and beating it with their foreheads and humble bearing throughout their prayers, especially on Sunday and Friday nights, and on their festivals when they keep watch all night standing on their feet praising and glorifying God and confessing Him, and when they spend the whole day standing in prayer, continually repeating the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and in the days of their retreats which they call Holy Week when they stand barefooted in sackcloth and ashes, with much weeping and shedding of tears continually, and wailing with strange cries. I have seen also their sacrifices, with what cleanliness they keep the bread for it, and the long prayers they recite with great humility when they elevate it over the altar in the well-known church at Jerusalem with those cups full of wine, and I have observed also the meditations of the monks in their cells during their six fasts,—i.e. the four greater and the two less, etc. On all such occasions I have been present and observant of the people. Also I have visited their Metropolitans and Bishops, renowned for their learning and their devotion to the Christian faith and extreme austerity in the world, and have discussed with them impartially, seeking for the truth, laying aside all contentiousness, ostentation of learning and imperiousness in altercation and bitterness and pride of race. I have given them opportunity to maintain their arguments and speak out their minds without interruption or browbeating, as is done by the vulgar and