"Tawidh?" She mimicked exactly the Arabic pronunciation. "How can numbers on a scroll protect from wounds?"
He did not fully understand himself the Sufi belief that all things are numbers, and that numbers written by a holy man could control objects and events.
"One must be of my faith to understand it," he said briefly.
She looked at him earnestly. "It is so hard to think of you as a Mohammedan, David."
"Not Mohammedan—Muslim. And David is not my name. My true name is Arabic. Shall I tell it to you?"
"Oh, yes, please. I will use it with you when we are alone together."
"I am called Daoud ibn Abdallah. Daoud is Arabic for David."
"Then your name is David."
"No, it is Daoud," he said. "The sound matters a great deal. It is the sound that God hears."
"You believe that God speaks Arabic?"