The senna of Mecca, which is exported to Persia, to Central Asia, and to Syria, is also a product of the country of the tribesmen of Beni Sobh, who may be regarded as the richest and most peaceful of the tribes of Harb, reaping as they do the produce of their rich valleys without molesting the caravans in the hope of spoil. The date-tree is cultivated by them, my friend the Sheykh being the fortunate possessor of over a thousand trees. It surprised me to hear that these palms are sold not by the grove but by the tree, and, as it sometimes happens, the dates of a single tree may belong to two or more owners. When a tree has to be fructified, the gardener, having laid bare the female spathe and shaken over it the male pollen, sings in a low voice, saying: “Please God, you will thrive and be fruitful.”
CHAPTER II
THE TALISMAN-MONGER
On leaving the coffee-house (Kahvé-Kháné) we heard the voice of a muezzin calling to prayers. It was noon. “Listen,” said Seyyid ’Alí, “I know the Mullá well; he has the soul of a saint and the voice of an angel.” Emotional, the tears ran down ’Alí’s cheeks in streams; then, drying his eyes, his whole face shone as from some sudden light within him. The scoffer was mute—silenced by the majestic melody of that far-flung summons; but it must not be supposed that any translation in English could reflect the dignity of the original Arabic, the most devotional tongue ever spoken by the lips of man:
Mighty is the Lord! Mighty is the Lord!
Mighty is the Lord! Mighty is the Lord!
I bear witness, there is no god but God!
I bear witness, there is no god but God!
I bear witness, Muhammad is the messenger of God!
I bear witness, Muhammad is the messenger of God!
Come hither to prayers! Come hither to prayers!