Page:Ossendowski - The Fire of Desert Folk.djvu/143

 CHAPTER X

THE ISLAMIC FLAME

GAIN we were in Fez el-Bali, htot under the rays of the summer sun and burning with the ardor of the Faith. Hafid, paying no heed to the temperature, led us through narrow streets beneath the balconies of homes of the rich, hurried us past all the shops in the suks and revealed clearly through the fire in his own eyes that he was anxious to show us something which had more than a passing interest for him as well.

As we finally came in sight of a high, square minaret, surmounted by a rounded dome and decked with gilded balls, Hafid whispered with unconcealed enthusiasm:

"This is the minaret of the most important mosque and greatest medersa in the city, Kairween. It is our most noted university, possessing the ablest professors in the land and counting the greatest number of students. The other universities have their eminent teachers in certain spheres of learning, but none of them boasts such a faculty as ours, among whom are the highest authorities in every branch of our science. The council of professors is the supreme authority in all religious and scientific disputes, to which even the authorities in Egypt, Turkey and Syria turn for advice. Oh! If only I might join the ranks of the students in Kairween!"