From the slave of his Lord, the Imām Mohamed the Mahdi, the son of the Seyyed Abdallah, to all his beloved in God the believers, men and women, in God and in His Book.
What I have to inform you is that the world is the abode of him who has no (other) abode, and it is a prison to believers, and that the other (world) is better, and (is) enduring, and that is the abode of those who fear God.
Fear God and do....
This Manifesto is written on four sides of a two-leaved sheet of paper, and breaks off abruptly, “and do” being written at bottom as catch-word for the next page.
Specially to be noticed is the attempt made to forestall the objections of those who would see that this man contradicts well known passages in the writings which Moslems hold to be authoritative. Mahomed Achmet boldly declares all such passages to be either abrogated or superseded, or unintelligible save to those to whom deep thought and insight are given!
[APPENDIX X.]
Letter from Major Kitchener to General Gordon.
Debbeh, 14th October, 1884.
My dear General Gordon,