THE MAHDI. 31

God, and only with those who refuse to obey him. His daily life (peace he unto him !) is quite opposed to worldly matters, nor does he care for its enjoy¬ ments. He is simple in his diet and plain in dress. Kisaret dourra (millet) steeped in water is all that he eats. A plain shirt and trousers made from the native cloth is all that he wears. He is always smiling, and his face is as resplendent as the new moon. His body and form is of the sons of Israel, and on his right cheek is a mole (khal), and also other marks which are written in the hooks of the holy law are stamped upon him. He neither honors the rich for their riches, nor does he neglect the poor on account of their poverty. All Muslims to him are equal. Like a kind father to his children, so much is his kindness towards us. Had he punished us for what we have done none of us would he saved, but he forgave us on our repentance. We all received a sufficient sum from the treasury for the support of our family, but

do not get any fixed pay. If I were to describe to you all the good qualities

of the Mahdi, it would take a long letter to do so. He is following in the footsteps of his grandfather (ancestor ?)—peace be to his bones !—and if you are Muslims and the sons of Muslims, banish worldly affairs, and follow not the inclination of sinful souls, which leads its possessor to destruction, but look to the end and to Paradise.”

Such is the man whom England is now doing her best to crush. It would be interesting here to discuss the lightness or wrongness of so doing—indeed this is a question which not a few of the journals on this side

of the Atlantic have already more than once touched upon. On the one side it may be said : His followers, if not he himself, believe him to be the true Imam Mahdi who was to appear ; they are fighting against oppression and a government which they abhor ; and they believe they are doing God’s service by exterminating the feringhees or infidels sent by the British and Egyptian

Governments to conquer him. The following letter sent to Admiral Hewett and General Graham, signed and sealed by the sheikhs of twenty-one tribes,

describes accurately their belief

“ In the name of the most merciful God, the Lord be praised, etc.—From the whole of the tribes and their sheikhs who have received your writings, and those who did not receive writings, to the Com iiandant of the English soldiers, whom God help to Islam. Amen. Then your letters have arrived with us, and what you have informed us in them—to come in—then know that the gracious God has sent his Madhi suddenly who was expected, the looked-for messenger for the religious and against the infidels, so as to show the religion of God through him, and by him to kill those who hate him, which has happened. You have seen who have gone to him from the people and soldiers, who are countless. God killed them, so look at the multitudes.” Here follow verses from the Koran. “ You who never know religion till after