Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/349

Ⅻ, 36-42. And there entered the prison with him two young men. Said one of them, ‘Verily, I see myself pressing wine.’ And the other said, ‘Verily, I see myself bearing on my head loaves from which the birds do eat; inform us of the interpretation thereof; verily, we see that thou art of those who do good.’

He said, ‘There shall not come to you any food with which ye are provided, but I will inform you both of its interpretation before it comes to you. That is (some) of what my Lord has taught me ; verily, I have left the faith of a people who do not believe in God, while in the future too they disbelieve. And I have followed the faith of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob ; we could not associate aught with God ; that is from God′s grace upon us and upon: men : but most men give not thanks. O ye twain fellow-prisoners! Are manifold lords better, or God, the one, the dominant ? What ye worship beside Him are naught but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which God has sent down no authority. Judgment is only God′s; He bids you worship only Him. That is the standard of religion, — but most men do not know. O ye twain fellow-prisoners ! as for one of you, he shall pour out wine for his lord : and as for the other, he shall be crucified, and the birds shall eat of his head. The matter is decreed whereon ye asked me for a decision !’

And he said to him whom he thought would escape of those two, ‘Remember me with thy lord !’ But Satan made him forget the remembrance of his lord, so he tarried in prison a few years.