Our Little Persian Cousin

he mosque with Dada in th

d bathe on Friday and then come on foot to the mosque to prayers, and be revere

. The room was bare, except for a few mats and a small pulpit. When any o

with the mullah prayers and chapters from the

, in a very loud and musical voice he chanted the "Call to Prayer." This was in the Arabic language, so that Karim fo

that there is no God but God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Come to prayer

hat there is no God but God. I testify that Muhammad is the

ou have reached the age when the Recording Angel begins to write down in his book whatever you do, whether it is good or bad, so you must begin carefully to perform good deeds, that they may help to sav

bought for his son a little rug and a bit of dried clay that came from the holy city Mecca, where the prophet Muhammad had lived. Each morning, at t

y hard to obey this rule, but it was thought wicked to disobey it. What made it harder was that Karim had to work during the morning. In the afternoon he slept some, and longed for the sun to set. As

e poor widowed woman who lived down the street

f we wish to enter heaven, for o

le boy Nana had taken him with her to the mosque each day during this week. They had sat outside in

en Ali died his sons Hassan and Husain should have become rulers. Hassan soon died; the men of the city Kufa then promised to honour Husain if he should come to them. Husain believed them, and came from the city Mecca with his family, guarded only by a few warriors. But when he came near Kufa no one came to help him. Instead, the wicked governors of that city a

n, and later all burst into loud sobs, while the tears streamed down their faces. The

ears for Husain He gives us all the good things that come to us during the year. And the m

, "they have processions in

. They were beating their breasts in time with the music, and chanting a dirge that was so strangely stirring and yet so full of tears that I can never forget it. Indeed, I found myself running out to join the marchers, while my eyes were blinded with weeping. There were two little girls and a woman on horseback

marched, 'Awy! Hassán! Awy! Husaín!' After them came some men with white cloths spread over their shoulders

cut themselves

lied Dada, "almost as holy as to visit the g

hey can do it I cannot see. God gives them the power to forget their pain. Sometimes friends walk alongside with sticks in their hands to dull