From the servants of their Lord Abderrahhmân en Najoomi and Abdallah en Noor to Gordon Pasha, representative of England and of the Khedive. May God guide him into truth. Amen.
We have to state to you that as to thy presence in the Soudan this last time, and thy first letter to the Imâm the Mahdi, on whom be peace, and as to thine appointment by the Khedive; the Imâm the Mahdi, on whom be peace, has written to thee, and has shown thee the truth in leading thee to God; and also that which concerns thy salvation and that of those with thee, and how thou mayest attain salvation in this world and in the next.
Thou hast replied to his Highness (in a manner) contrary to that (which was) expected (of thee) rejecting the truth, whether for or against thee. After we arrived with our hosts to fight thee and drive thee into submission—willingly or unwillingly—the Imâm, out of compassion for thee and those with thee, a second time exhorted thee to surrender to the command of God and his prophet, and gave thee the covenant (in the name) of God and His promise that if thou didst surrender thou shouldst be (assured of) safety, with thy children, thy property, and all that thou hast, (thus) securing to thee the same (privileges) as to us, and the same (duties) as are required of us.
You have received that letter of his by his messengers the Moslems whom he appointed from thence to advise thee, after our arrival in this (desert) Deem. But neither you nor those with you have accepted the call (wherewith) God and His prophet have called you.
You answered as you did to our lord, and you demanded a thing of Abd el Kâder Ibrahim, when el Jâber the Moslem came (to thee), (who was) one of the messengers sent to thee for negotiation—(but) thou didst send him back. Yet we had sent him to thee in our intention for good and in our goodwill towards thee and towards those with thee. And we wrote to you the advice which reached you. Nevertheless, you did not listen to the truth nor accept it—because the will of God must be accomplished.
We had therefore resolved not to correspond any more with you, nor to communicate with you except by the sword and such like weapons, until we have destroyed your glory and your strength departs (from you) and we pluck you out by the roots when we seize you in our grasp. However, yesterday your messenger arrived with a letter from you to our brother Abd el Kâder Ibrahim, in which you deceitfully counsel him and try to seduce him from his religion, and in which you tell him to desire us and Aboo Kerja to go to the Dâr el Gharb (West) (as being) better for us—because when you are arranging matters you will make us Sultans. But every man of sense knows that all things are in the power of God and not in your hand, nor in that of those who appointed you, nor in that of the English, on whom you depend. And you lie unto the people with you about their arrival (the English) at Dongola, and about their killing Sheikh Ahhmed el Huda and the Shereef Mohammed; and that they were going straight to Berber; and that Mahomed el Khair[272] the Emir of Berber ran away from them, and made fools of the men with him when they asked him for their pay. As to your promise of making us Sultans when you settle the affairs of the country as stated in your letter, and your statement that the steamers sent last week by you had found Berber desolate and deserted, and that the two steamers found there had been captured, we have learned from this letter of yours that the steamers you sent did not seize anything at Berber except only the steamers, and it is known to all the world that the Moslems captured a quantity of Government stores which were in Berber. But you do not mention having seized any of them—only the steamers.
Lying does not become a Pasha such as you.
And we received the day before yesterday a letter from Mahomed el Khair telling us that he was on the shore—both east and west—ready to fight your steamers. And, please God, they (the steamers) with the guns, will not go back to you a second time. But the last will overtake (redeem) the first, and you will not hear of them again. We did not think that with your intelligence and your knowledge that God has strengthened us in His earth, you would have told us lies or tried to frighten and deceive us, and those who are with us, by talking of things (already better) known to us, and of which we have constant information, (receiving) news day and night from all parts of the world.
And you seem to have chosen for us, that we should go back to the West (Dâr el Gharb;) trying to deceive and mislead us through desire for the life of this world, and (as though) we covet (the dignity) of being Sultans and (to have) dominion. But we call upon thee to come to God and His prophet, and to follow the right faith, and to reject the religion in which thou art, and to adopt the religion of our prophet Mahomed, on whom be blessing and peace; and the fellowship of his Khâlif Mahomed, the Mahdi, on whom be peace. If thou wilt do this thou shalt have honour in this world and in the next.
Otherwise, if thou dost still look forward to the coming of the English, who, as thou pretendest, have reached Dongola, and are going to Berber, know for certain and be sure—and accept the advice we give thee on the subject—that all the Soudan country, except Kartoum and the towns of Sennaar and Dongola, is all of it in the hands of the Mahdi, and in the possession of his honourable friends. From the extreme border of the Soudan to Suakin, and to Reef, no one shares with them (in the possession thereof).