Page:Path of Vision; pocket essays of East and West.djvu/149

 too near the enchanted corners, which offer a shelter to the body of the Muslem as well as to his soul. And here you often find a mumbling fakir, a blind beggar, a wayworn hammal, or a wayfaring Arab. In the most informal spirit of devotion, they drop in for a rest or a snooze; and they prostrate themselves before a mihrab or stretch themselves on the cool marble under the arches, while a great sheikh or a prince of the blood in another corner is genuflecting on a precious Persian rug and swinging his torso to and fro in prayer. Bism illah irrihman irrahim! (In the name of Allah the most Merciful and Compassionate). The fakir telling his beads chants himself into a state of coma. The beggar yawns out, Ya-Allah, ya-Karim! and drops off as he kneels. The Beduin is stretched under the huge arch like a corpse. And no one is there ill-bred or impious enough to intrude upon any one in his holy occupation. The mosque is a haven of rest to beggar and prince, a temple of democracy to the Faithful, a divine hostelry for the