Therefore, when you see Osman again, tell him that you will go with
him. And now, farewell, Mohammed; consult with your thoughts, and be
strong."
Greeting Mohammed with a wave of his hand, the sheik turned and
walked away, leaving his friend gazing after him in amazement.
The people are right: the sheik is a prophet; else how could he know
what he had discussed with Osman that day, inducing him to consider
the matter and give his decision by the following morning? But,
then, if he is a prophet, he has also announced the truth and
foretold the future. Very great things are in store for him, and the
whole world of glory dreamed of in his youth lies open to him. This
may then still be realized. No, Mohammed, deny yourself and be
strong. Bow beneath the will of Allah; and it surely cannot be his
will that you should forsake wife and children, but, rather, that
you should remain patiently with them.
He returned to his house, but it was in vain that he endeavored to
silence the voices that whispered in his heart.
With earliest dawn he arose noiselessly from the couch on which he
had passed a restless night.
The sun has risen! Is it for the last time that he sees it mount
above these cliffs? Perhaps! He ascends the mountain-rock, higher
and higher. Now he stands still; he is approaching a consecrated
spot!
Why should he come to this place now? His heart had never before
permitted him to approach it since he had become Ada's husband.
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