I.—"But you say, God, is الرحمان الرحيم, (Most merciful.)"
He.—"Yes; but men won't obey his religion and Mahomet."
I.—"What is to become of those who never saw, nor never could see or read the Koran?"
The Taleb.—"I don't know; God is great; God must have mercy upon them."
I.—"Undoubtedly God created the world; but according to you, the world is now all corrupt (fesad), and nearly all men must soon be destroyed. Is this honourable to God?"
The Taleb.—"All is decreed."
I.—"But many of the unbelieving Infidels are better than the Touaricks and Arabs. Is not the British Consul in Tripoli better than a Shânbah bandit?—better than an assassin who cuts the throats of the Faithful? Do not all the people speak well of our Consul?"
The Taleb.—"I know it; he's very good."
I.—"But you can't change the religion of some people though you kill them. When the Mohammedans conquered India, they got tired of putting Hindoos to death for not changing their religion, and becoming Mussulmans."
The Taleb.—"God knows all, but you don't know," (a frequent phrase in the Koran).