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phecy; but never removed him from the station of a servant of himself."

Then said the Preacher moreover, "Of a truth, Christ never disdained to be the servant of God: neither would those angels nearest to His throne disdain so to be called. They are liars who assert a co-equal with God; and they err most widely. God never assumed a son: he never had posterity, nor desire (of offspring). All his children are those whom he hath created; whom he exalts one above another. Praise be to God! in that his mysteries are clearly revealed to the world; and may He be exalted far above that to which they would associate him as a partner. They are Infidels who have said that Christ the Son of Mary is God, on account of the miracles which God strengthened him to perform. Moreover, this is the first Kiblah, and the second Mosque, and the third place of veneration. The 'full complement in the number of Mosques shall never extend beyond this: never shall a finger's breadth be bound up in addition to the places of God's repose beyond this (i. e. no other Temple shall ever be founded beyond Al Akså); for unless we had been of the number of those whom God elected as his servants, and chosen to be the inhabitants of His sacred territory, then God would not have

appropriated to you, above others, those surpassing gifts with which the course of time can offer nothing that coincides, and with the glory of which no rival events can vie. Happy are ye for those blessings which are so pre-eminently yoursthe miracles of the Prophet, the stout warriors of the field of Bedr, the mighty acts of the Sincere One (Abú-Bekr), the conquests of Omar, the armaments of Othmán, and the skilful valour of Alí. Ye have renewed the time of the introduction of Islámism-those holy times!-the closed ranks of Yarmúk, the infantry-struggles of Khaibir, and the brave lieutenantship of Khálíd. Truly, God hath given to you a good lot. To you hath God given a gift in exchange for all that you have poured out in his service; a superabundant lot. He hath graciously accepted all the blood poured out by you as an offering to him, and in return hath given to you Paradise, that house of joy, that resting-place of bliss! O, then, become capable of possessing it! May God in his mercy grant you a claim to the possession of this gracious gift! for you have established the necessity of receiving this grant; for his munificence towards you is exceeding great, in setting apart for you this favour, and bringing you up for this service (in Heaven). The victory he will give you is, that the Heavens shall throw open

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her lofty gates, and opening clouds shall pour their splendour upon enraptured faces, and the chief angels shall exult over you, and the most intelligent prophets and apostles shall bring you near (to God). Behold, therefore, the favour he will effect for you-for the army which hath conquered on his behalf-the Consecrated House in the other world! Behold the good things which your swords have confirmed to you by means of the number of wounds (received) beneath the prophetic standards of the Faith! God shall hasten to unfold to your power these his similitudes (shall give you the reality of his types and proverbs). This, moreover, is the Temple which God Almighty hath mentioned in his Book, and hath raised to eminence among the most illustrious places of preaching, and hath rendered it one of the most established places (in the world) for dignity and antiquity."

Then he said, "Praise be to him! May his praises be exalted, who brought his servant by night to the Mosque Al Aksá, from the Baitu-lHaram! May the precinct thereof be blessed by us! This is the Temple which the true religions have raised to to magnificence, and whereunto apostles were sent, and wherein were given the four Books which came down from God the mighty and glorious. This is the Temple for

whose sake God, the great and glorious, heldback the Sun, at the word of Joshua the son of Nun, the son of Job, and caused the time of its setting to recede, in order that victory might prosper, and good fortune be brought near. This again is that House which God the glorious and mighty enjoined Moses to command the children of Israël to choose for him to dwell therein; and this they refused to ratify-all but two men. God, therefore, was angry with them on this account, and cast them into the desert as a punishment for disobedience. Praise, then, God! who hath brought home to you those necessary precepts, from which the children of Israël have swerved, and hath prospered you in those undertakings wherein the people who have preceded you have failed. And for this purpose he hath collected your Divine commands, which had been dispersed, and hath given you prosperity in those matters which, as I said before, were obtained by your fiery swords. And thus it hath become your exalted privilege to be mentioned by God as those who are his; and he hath made you to be his army, when, before, ye had been the army of a low estate.

"I exhort you also to praise those angels who have brought down to that House, which they have now given you, the sweet gift of the Unity,

the Sanctified Knowledge, the words of Praise. Remove not, then, from this path into the path of the Associators, the Trinitarians, the Binders of Deity with Humanity, the impure perpetrators of iniquity. May God of his compassion continue this gift to you, and confirm from age to age this favour among you! By that potency of God, of which if a man take a firm hold, he is at peace ; and by the handle of which, if a man grasp, he shall be preserved, and be defended against sin. Beware of the downward path! Beware of falling upon that rock! Beware of returning to (the practice of) retreating and turning your backs upon the enemy! Be zealous in seeking every opportunity of fulfilling the necessary precepts; nor decline the performance of that which is the very jewel (of Divine commands)! Fight, therefore, for God, the due and just holy war. Sell your lives, O servants of God! Obtain God's satisfaction, in order that he may make you of the number of his most excellent servants. For, alas for you! if the Devil should cast a stumblingblock in your way; and if the Serpent should enter you, and so fill you with fantasies, that you may trip, and say that this victory was won by your own sharp swords and your own swift steeds. Your vigour, on the contrary, consists in boldly using your sword in the place of martyrdom

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