At the end
of the ceremony they shout out, 'There is no other god but God, and
Mohammed is his prophet'; after which they kiss the superior's hand
and retire. The whole is performed with the most solemn gravity." Lady
M. W. Montague's _Letters_, vol. ii, p. 43.]
The great reputation of this honest man having spread to the town from
whence he had come, it touched the envious man so much to the quick
that he left his own house and affairs with a resolution to ruin him.
With this intent he went to the new convent of dervishes, of which his
former neighbor was the head, who received him with all imaginable
tokens of friendship. The envious man told him that he was come to
communicate a business of importance, which he could not do but in
private; "and that nobody may hear us," he said, "let us take a walk
in your court; and seeing night begins to draw on, command your
dervishes to retire to their cells." The chief of the dervishes did as
he was requested.
When the envious man saw that he was alone with this good man, he
began to tell him his errand, walking side by side in the court, till
he saw his opportunity; and getting the good man near the brink of the
well, he gave him a thrust, and pushed him into it.
This old well was inhabited by peris[17] and genies, which happened
luckily for the relief of the head of the convent; for they received
and supported him, and carried him to the bottom, so that he got no
hurt.
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