For, indeed, but a month later, the old man began to fail, and in a few weeks more was warned by his physicians of approaching death. He summoned scribes to his bed, dictated in a firm voice his Will, wherein (after reciting provision already made—under heavy pressure—for his wife) he left to the youngest nephew the whole of his wealth, saying with his last breath, “Allah! Creator and Lord! Lest the Talent should fall into unworthy hands!”
Transcriber's note
- Obvious printer errors have been silently corrected.
- Original spelling was kept, but variant spellings were made consistent when a predominant usage was found.
- Blank pages have been skipped.
- The following changes were made:
- “[wells of Ayn-ayoum]” (p. [297]) and “[wells of Ayn-Ayoub]” (p. [307]) have been kept as distinct even though they probably denote the same location.
- The Arabic as written is not consistent in terms of voweling, some words being fully voweled, some partially, and some not at all.