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210 over again the words "La ilah illallah," until his mind had absorbed the deepest meaning of Islam: There is no God but the God.

On the evening of the third day, Khizr gently closed his eyes, but the eyes of his soul were wide open, and it seemed to him that he was in the courtyard of a huge palace, whose roof melted dimly into the silvery blueness of the skies; the walls of the palace were of pearl and red jacinth and yellow gold; and wherever he turned his eyes, he saw written on these walls the shining words: La ilah illallah. … From afar he could hear the rippling waters of Selsebil, the river that flows through Paradise, and he felt an indescribable happiness.

And Khizr summoned Azrael, the black-winged angel of death, and Azrael came and kissed lightly the lips of Khassoum, the pilgrim, the son of Taib, the Welee, the great saint.