"Mohammed!" suddenly exclaimed a voice behind him. "Mohammed Ali!
The man who weeps has no manly courage, and it would be vain to call
on him for assistance!"
Is another evil spirit beside him? What woman is this who suddenly
appears at his side, closely shrouded in a black veil? Is it another
ghin come up from the deep?
"You are right," murmured he, "no one need longer hope for
assistance from me; I will give vengeance and destruction to those
who call on me for help!"
He springs to his feet and stares fiercely at the woman. "Away from
me! Allah is Allah, the only one in heaven, and Mohammed is his
prophet. Away from me, evil spirit!"
He exorcises this creature with the oath with which evil spirits are
driven out. But it seems this spirit is not to be exorcised. The
veiled woman remains quietly standing, regarding him sorrowfully.
"Mohammed, there are many who suffer, and yet do not break out into
loud lamentations. Many a woman wails in the silence of her chamber;
the lamentation of many a young girl resounds, unheard and unheeded,
through the harem. I know a girl, Mohammed Ali, who weeps and
laments, because she well knows that one whom she looked upon and
greeted in the holy stillness of the morning as though he were her
lord, entering the harem for the first time--that this one
wrongfully accuses her, calls her faithless; yes, perhaps at this
very moment, appeals to Allah for vengeance for a crime which she
has not committed; for a wrong that does not burden her soul!"
"You know such a girl?" he cries, with loud, mocking laughter.
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