catch up with them, while they did not hear his call. And he could hear his inner mind repeating the guide's voice: "Trust in God, Suleiman; we shall arrive — yes, we shall arrive!" Then he would take heart, and a flash of hope would gleam within his soul, and he would push on, quickening his steps; but the harder he pressed in his running, the greater appeared the distance between him and them, until his legs grew heavy and his strength betrayed him, and he flung himself upon the sand, panting, worn out — and the bitterness of death seemed sweet to him.

And he became aware of a voice calling him from afar — the voice of the guide: "Suleiman, Suleiman... we have arrived, Suleiman — come!" So he revived and rose to run anew — running while hardly aware of the movements he was making... his eyes straying into the distance, searching for his companions...

...The voice died away in his breast... and the flame of light in his eyes almost died out, for he could no longer see anything. The world had become for him a spinning disk... and he felt as though he himself were turning round and round. And he

imagined that he could see, far off, an oasis and a spring of water with the companions seated about it. So he strained himself and took a few numbered steps — the last that remained to him of will to run and of strength to bear the pains of thirst and hunger — and he collapsed like a man paralyzed, senseless, thinking of nothing but "death" and "life."

He no longer hoped that he would live, and he set about preparing himself to meet his Lord. How hard this hour was, and how long!

Suleiman had loved life... this life