Turkish Literature; Comprising Fables, Belles-lettres, and Sacred Traditions
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Turkish Literature; Comprising Fables, Belles-lettres, and Sacred Traditions
Turkey -- Literary collections; Turkish literature -- Translations into English
I went and prostrated myself, bewailing my fate. The Lord, hearkening
favorably unto me, remitted another ten prayers and only demanded thirty
of me. Moses, on my return, said,
O Mahomet, turn again to God, who will surely make another concession.
Thirty prayers are yet too many. I went, I entreated, I presented my
request. I obtained the remission of another decade, and was ordered to
say twenty only.
It is still too much, said Moses, when I had rejoined him. Thy followers
cannot acquit themselves of the obligation, and will be deemed
rebellious before the Lord. Seek again; doubtless thou wilt obtain what
thou askest.
I went, I implored, and God excused me from ten more prayers; there
remained now but ten. I came back to Moses. O Mahomet, ten prayers are
still too many; it is to be feared that the faithful cannot say them.
All that thou dost ask this night, God will grant unto thee. Arise,
therefore, and ask again. I went, and entreated, moaning, and God
excused me from five more prayers. When I returned to Moses, he said: If
thou shouldst return, the Lord God would not desire to send thee away
disappointed in thy hopes, but he will doubtless come to the rescue of
thy followers.
I rejoiced to have obtained so great favors, and was satisfied.
Then the voice of the Almighty said to me: O Mahomet, to him of thy
followers who will recite in the ardor of faith these five prayers, I
promise to give the recompense due to fifty. Nor is this all; should one
of the faithful form the resolution to perform a good work, I will order
the angels to inscribe ten good deeds on the record of his life. If, on
the contrary, he commit an evil deed, I will command it to be inscribed
as one only. I will blot out the sins of those who do penance with a
sincere heart, and to those who shall fast during thirty consecutive
days I will grant for each day the reward of ten, which will make a
total of 300 for the thirty days. Whoever will fast six days in the
month of Schevval, I will grant him for each day the recompense of sixty
days, so that he shall receive the reward for 360 days of abstinence.
And to all these I will grant paradise at their deaths.
I said unto the Lord God: My God, thou hast given sovereignty over all
to Solomon, the miraculous rod to Moses, and to Isaiah the power to
bring the dead to life.
The Voice of Voices replied: O Mahomet, I have raised thee above all.
Moreover, I have suffered all thy followers to approach me, and I will
grant them participation in my mercy.
And the voice of the Most High pronounced unto me 90,000 utterances:
30,000 on laws, 30,000 on the spiritual life, and 30,000 on the essence
of truth. Then I was given this commandment: Proclaim unto all the
30,000 utterances concerning the laws; tell those on the spiritual way
to those whom thou desirest, but not to those whom thou wilt reject;
repeat not importunely to anyone the words on the essence of truth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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