Salaam

“ We are all in God’s hands. Let my brother give thanks to Allah the most Merciful that he came to a man so friendly disposed as Salaam son of Absalaam. It shall be even as thou wishest, Sidi. But first thou and thy son must come to my village, for your bird yonder is too heavy to be carried without much preparation. It will need the shoulders of a great number of men. ”

“ Like a little courtier, he made his small salaam, and through his grandfather replied to some playful questions I addressed to him, with good emphasis and discretion, without either awkwardness or boldness, and especially without a smile. [Pg 736] When I gave him a rupee, he construed it as the customary signal, and with another small salaam immediately dismissed himself.
Little Karlee must have taken lessons in deportment with his primal pap; and in India all good little boys, who hope to go to heaven when they die, keep their noses clean, and never romp or whistle. ”

“ The young man who wore a robe-de-chambre and Turkish slippers worked in gold, returns my salaam courteously and invites me up to the divan. There is a spark of intelligence in his eyes, and an alien affectation in his speech. I foresaw that he had been in America. He does not ask me the conventional questions about my religious persuasion; but after his inquiries of whence and whither, he offers me an Egyptian cigarette, and goes in to order the coffee. ”

“ Allah, give him into my hands, the Sultan Casim Ammeh, who has robbed me of the flower of my desire. That milk-white maid—a houri of thy sending. Guide my step to those who are his enemies. To those who would break him, as he has broken me. Surely a man so mighty has others as mighty who hate him. There are always kings ready to make war on other kings. Allah, most high, let me find them. Allah, most merciful, grant my prayer. Like the wind in the desert I will roam—to the east, the west, the north, the south—until I find them.—His enemies. ”

“ By Allah except Whom none has the right to be worshipped, you people know for certain, that I am Apostle of Allah and that I have come to you with the Truth, so embrace Islam." The Jews replied, "We do not know this." So they said this to the Prophet and he repeated it thrice. Then he said, "What sort of a man is 'Abdullah bin Salam amongst you?" They said, "He is our chief and the son of our chief and the most learned man, and the son of the most learned amongst us." He said, "What would you think if he should embrace Islam?" They said, "Allah forbid! He can not embrace Islam." ”

“ O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper. ”

“ He and his family are very patient. Their enemy [10] is the chief of sinners.
We have announced to thee a race of just men, men [11] who will not oppose our orders. My mercy and peace are on them living [12] or dead.
As to those who walk in their way, my mercy is on them; they will certainly gain the mansions of Paradise."
2. The Sunnat.—The second foundation of Islám is based on the Hadís (plural Ahádís) or Tradition. Commands from God given in the Qurán are called 'farz' and 'wájib.' A command given by the Prophet or an example set by him is called 'sunnat,' a word meaning a rule. ”

“ After he had told me this story, I said, "Sheik Ali, there are two things which I grudge to you Mohammedans; one is the custom of summoning people to divine worship by the call of the human voice rather than by a metallic bell; and the other is the exclusive use among yourselves of the salutation, 'Peace be to you.'" When one Moslem meets another, he salutes him, "Peace be to you," and the other responds, "And on you be the peace of God." A Moslem will never intentionally give this salutation to a Christian. ”

“ And no spirit can live upon earth against this demon. I pray thee then, forasmuch as the spirit is a wind, contrive something according to the wisdom given in thee by the Lord thy God, and deign to send a man able to capture it. And behold, King Solomon, I and my people and all my land will serve thee unto death. And all Arabia shall be at peace with thee, if thou wilt perform this act of righteousness for us. Wherefore we pray thee, contemn not our humble prayer, and suffer not to be utterly brought to naught the eparchy subordinated to thy authority. ”

“ Remain faithful to your vows to the Mahdi and to myself. Obey my commands, which will give you peace on earth and joy in the world to come. As the stones of a building go to make the structure complete, so should you support one another. Forgive one another. Love each other as the sons of one mother [and the crowd shouts, "We forgive each other!"] . May God bless you! May He lead you to victory! May He ever preserve and keep you! ”

“ Saladin, King of Kings, to Melech Ric, the Lion of England. Whereas, we are informed by thy last message that thou hast chosen war rather than peace, and our enmity rather than our friendship, we account thee as one blinded in this matter, and trust shortly to convince thee of thine error, by the help of our invincible forces of the thousand tribes, when Mohammed, the Prophet of God, and Allah, the God of the Prophet, shall judge the controversy betwixt us. ”

“ Everybody at Sennaar and the neighbourhood—Ulema, merchants, citizens, notables, officers, and soldiers—kiss the hands of your Excellency, and we proclaim about your Excellency, that by the power of God and His protection, and by the help of our prophet—on whom and on his people be the best of blessings and peace—the disturbances of the Soudan and the pretensions of the Mahdi are stopped, and nothing remains thereof but little trifles in some parts. And they will all submit to the sword of the Government.
To God belongs success, and help is in Him. ”

“ But touching this pretty priest, this amiable individual, who hesitates not to buy poor slaves for rum, although he is far too good to fight for them. He’ll be along this way in a day or two. Now I greatly object to be hurried, especially when I am out upon a little pleasure trip like the present—ha! ha! I don’t think for a moment that either an Arab or any of you Somali fellows are half so clever at picking up a trail as your genuine North American backwoods Indian; but then, you know, even an Arab or a Somali couldn’t go past the mark of an old camp-fire without smelling a rat. ”

“ The tones rise triumphant and die away in grave cadence. It thrills inexpressibly does this salute to the omnipotent Creator ringing out over every town and village in the Moslem Hausa States. “God the Greatest! There is no God but the God!” ”

“ In fact, there was every reasonable ground for hope, that the joyful period was advancing, when, by the blessing of Heaven upon the endeavours used, the continent of Africa would be rescued from the darkness that obscured her, and would exhibit the soul-cheering scene of light and knowledge, of civilization and order, of peaceful industry and domestic comfort. But these anticipations were destroyed by the treachery and faithlessness of a government, which professed to hold the rights of man as sacred. ”

“ If we call upon the millions of Islam to loose from their moorings amidst the reefs and shoals of a false system, and to steer forth into the wide ocean of religious inquiry, we must surely direct them to some fair haven of refuge where they will find rest and peace. ”

“ The people of this city and of the four islands every night when it's half passed lift their heads from the tank in which thou hast turned them to fishes and cry to Heaven and call down its anger on me and thee; and this is the reason why my body's baulked from health. Go at once and set them free then come to me and take my hand, and raise me up, for a little strength is already back in me." When she heard the King's words (and she still supposed him to be the slave) she cried joyously, “O my master, on my head and on my eyes be thy command, Bismillah [FN#136] !” ”

“ For from his light men and angels draw life.
That sun is hidden in the form of a man,
Understand me! Allah knows the truth.
O 'Ali, out of all forms of religious service
Choose thou the shadow of that dear friend of God!
Every man takes refuge in some form of service,
And chooses for himself some asylum;
Do thou seek refuge in the shadow of the wise man,
That thou mayest escape thy fierce secret foes. ”

“ When the prisoner saw the snare that was set for him, he commended himself to God the Most High for protection and closing his eyes, applied himself to prayer and reciting the Koran. Now he had a mellow voice and a penetrating wit; and the young lady fell passionately in love with him and said in herself, ‘Would God he would consent to admit me into the Faith of Islam!’ And the tongue of her case recited the following verses:
Wilt turn away, from me whose soul is thrall to thee, thy face, From me whose life thy ransom is, whose heart thy dwelling-place? ”

“ O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. ”

“ So she saluted her with the Salam, and thanked her for her fair boons, saying, “By Allah, O my lady, all that we are in of gladness never befel us save by thy blessing; so praised be Allah who deigned vouchsafe us thy sight!” Then they tarried all three, Salma, Salim and his wife, in joy and happiness and delight three days, veiled from the folk; and it was bruited abroad in the city that the king had found his brother, who was lost for many a year, and had saved him from the Cook’s house. ”

“ It should therefore be clear to the whole world from the result of your work that Your Holinesses have been guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit to accomplish your task in love and unity.
The great common tasks accomplished by this Conference in unison bestow on the true faith and true order of the Oriental Orthodox Church the admiration of the whole world.
As Solomon says, physical distance cannot be a barrier to love. Likewise, the distances among your respective countries have been abolished by the proximity of your hearts. ”

“ Your servant, Ali Kumar, is used to these desert sunsets, and can see where others are blinded by the glare. A flag flies from the summit of one of those trees, and men are coming out to greet us. They are friends. Yes, our comrades are safe and well. ”

“ The American boy told me the Arabs are wicked, and are accursed of God. Said he to me that same day in hearing of the Sultan’s son, as if he was not a bit afraid of the consequences, ‘The Lord God makes his anger known against the Arabs by refusing knowledge and the gifts of understanding unto them, because they are wicked, because they go forth into Africa with armed servants a-plenty to destroy and kill the poor black people, and to take slaves of parents and children, whom they bring to Zanzibar to sell for their own profit.’ Is he not an unbeliever, father? ”

“ Surely thou art cruel to think of leaving me alone here—both my lord Amer and my son at one time!”
“Nay, my mother, what I shall see in Africa will be new and strange. The sight of new and strange things is like the lessons which the good Imam used to give me at school from the Küran. Every day I shall see something new, and every day I shall grow in wisdom and experience; and my mind will be enriched by each new thing, and in time will become a store of wisdom, to be applied to my advantage in affairs of life. Thou art surprised that I talk so, mother. I have been talking with wise white men. ”

“ As We are very happy to explain the idea We have for your Honour at any time, We reveal Our wishing for your country's development and your Honour's health.
And now We beg that the Most High God keep you and give you long lifespan. ”

“ For my own part, I intend to go out as a missionary, and hope boldly, but with civility, to state the truth of Christianity, and my belief that those who do not possess it are in error. My object in Africa is not only the elevation of man, but that the country might be so opened that man might see the need of his soul's salvation. ”

“ The people who respond to it and prostrate themselves in the dust at its appeal? Let us be quite sure that our own salvation is secured by our own methods, that the masses of our own people are as vividly conscious of the Omnipotent, as free and happy in their lives, as these Nigerian folk, ere we venture to disturb the solemn acknowledgment and petition that peal forth into the dusk of the Nigerian morn. ”

“ It is the true spirit of human sympathy and fellowship that has moved me—the sympathy and fellowship that would draw together, or at least nearer to each other, the worlds of Christendom and Islam.
The better to achieve my object, I have consulted no works on either Mohammed or Islam, but have gone straight to the source or fountain head—to Mohammed himself, the Koran, and to Moslems of various nationalities with whom I have been brought into close and personal touch during a wide and a varied experience. It is here in the man and his work that the true soul of Islam is to be found. ”

“ Leaves and bark eaten.
Salam, Arabic, salutation, peace. The word occurs in the following Arabic expression, which natives make use of on certain formal occasions, when they meet and salute each other. The first person who speaks says: Salam aleikum, peace be unto you, on which the other replies: Aleikum salam, unto thee is peace. Salamat, Arabic, prosperity, welfare, safety. Safe, prosperous. In Sunda it also implies: attended with blessing, uninjured, by divine favour. ”