“That night I put together all my accumulated wealth (which now filled not less than four large bags with gold and silver) and charging it upon the mule of a peculiarly devout and therefore unobservant and abstracted pilgrim, and drawing the innocent beast away in the darkness by the bridle, I left the camp as slowly and cautiously as I might.
“Emissaries were sent out to kill me within half an hour of my departure. As I heard their approach I turned my mule round towards the camp as though I were arriving, and as they passed me, I said I was a pilgrim who had lost his way in the night and asked if I were on the right road for the shrine. This simple ruse deceived them. They went their way and I was alone once more. Still, their passage sufficiently alarmed me. I gave up the road for a less frequented path and wandered all that night through an unfamiliar district, for my poor beast could go no faster than a walking pace, so heavy were the bags of treasure which he bore.
“By dawn I felt myself secure, and——”
But here the Old Gentleman heard the first intolerable note of the Muezzin and stopped short, motioning to his nephews that they should leave him, which they did with their customary humility, each wondering in his heart whether he might not later feel a vocation to the Religious Life.
AL-MAHALLAT AL-JADIDA
That is:
The New Quarter of the City