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204 the Prophet—blessings on him—say that Allah will not wrong any one, even the weight of an ant?"

That night the kadee, the protector of the poor and the friend of the oppressed, gave hospitality to the son of Taib, the noble Khassoum, and the next morning, after prayer, he sent summons to Nassim and to the Bedawin woman and ordered them to appear before his divan. Nassim came and with him came the Bedawin woman and also the six Greek merchants who were in his pay and whom he had brought as witnesses.

The kadee told him of what his brother had accused him, and he answered: "O kadee full of wisdom, judge not before thou knowest and remember the saying of the wise: 'Look first to the end of whatever thou undertakest, and then act accordingly.' Khassoum is indeed my brother, but he is envious of my riches and he loves me not. Give not access in thy heart to his deceptions, and remember the words of the Messenger—on whom be peace—that lies and cunning deceptions are the forerunners of the accursed work of Satan, the evil one. Thou art just, O kadee, and the dirt of lying deceptions cannot sully the hem of thy white garments of knowledge and wisdom. Mohammed