Muslim TraditionThe following text was extracted from the clever and remarkable book
by Mr. Géraldy Saintine, published under the title “Three years in
Judea”.
“When the Sultan of Babel Bakhtunnassar (Nebuchadnezzar) was
sent by God to punish the children of Israel, who had abandoned the doctrine
of unity, he stripped the temple from all precious objects which were
there. He kept for himself the throne of Solomon with its supports, the
two pure golden lions animated by witchcraft and defending the gates,
and then distributed the rest of the pillage to the several kings of the
court. The King of Roum received Adam’s costumes and Moses’ stick;
the King of Antakie got the throne of Belkis and the wonderful peacock
whose stoned tail formed a rich dossal around the throne; the King of
Andalucía received the golden table of the Prophet. A stone safe containing
the Torah was among the treasures but nobody paid any attention to
that, although it was the most precious of all assets. It was then left behind
to the caprices of bandits from around town, stealing everything in their
path; and the repository of God’s word disappeared in that huge chaos.”
“Forty years later, after the wrath of God had been appeased, he
decided to reestablish his inheritance to the children of Israel and gave
rise to the prophet Euzer (Ezra), – peace be upon him! – Predestined
by God’s will to a glorious mission. He had spent his whole youth in
prayers and meditation, neglecting human sciences to fully dedicate to the contemplation of the Infinite Being, separated from the world, at the
bottom of a cave around the sacred city. That cave is still called el Azerie.* Obeying God’s order he left his refuge and came to join the children of
Israel, telling them how they should reconstruct the temple and reestablish
the honor of the former rituals.”
“However, the people did not believe in the prophet’s mission. They
declared that they would not submit to the law; that the construction
work of the temple should stop and they would inhabit other lands, if the
book of Lord Moses – God bless him! – had consigned all religious prescription
given to him at Mount Sinai. The book had vanished and every
attempt to find it proved useless.”
“Hence, Euzer, in this big predicament, fervently prayed to God to
alleviate his suffering, and preventing the people from persisting on a path
to ruin. He was sitting under a tree, sadly contemplating the ruins of the
temple, around which an unruly crowd agitated, when a voice from above
commanded him to write. He obeyed immediately, although he had never
had a pen in his hand. He continued to write everything that the heavenly
voice dictated to him, from after the mid-day prayer to the same time on
the following day, fasting and grounded to the sacred soil, he did not hesitate
for a minute or stop at night because a supernatural light illuminated
his spirit and an angel guided his hand.”
“All children of Israel were stunned and quietly contemplated that divine
manifestation of power. However, when the prophet finished his miraculous
copy, the Imams, who were envious of the particular favor done
to him, they then pretended that the new book was a diabolical invention
and that it had no similarity with the former book.”
“Euzer reached out to the Infinite Goodness again and yielding to
a subtle inspiration he walked to the spring of Siloam, followed by the
crowd. At the spring he raised his hands to the skies and prayed a long
prayer with his heart and the people prostrated before him. A flat stone
suddenly appeared on the surface of the water, floating as if sustained by
an invisible hand. The trembling Imams recognized in the stone the long lost sacred arc. Euzer took it with deference. The arc then broke open by
itself. Moses’ Torah came out as if alive and the new copy, leaving the
prophet’s hands, rested inside the sacred box.”
“There was no more doubt. The sacred man, however, demanded that
the Imams had the two exemplars confronted. The Imams obeyed, despite
their confusion. After a long examination they testified in a loud
voice that not a word, not a single accent showed the minor difference
between the book written by Euzer and the one given by Moses. As they
had paid that tribute to the truth, God then punished them for their first
mistakes, blinding their eyes, throwing them into eternal darkness.”
“That is how the children of Israel were driven back to their forefather’s
faith. The place where their God given leader sat since then was
called “Kerm ech Cheick” (Sheikh’s pen).
Who would not acknowledge in that report several spiritist phenomena
that the mediums reproduce before our eyes and have nothing do to with
the supernatural?
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* Arabic name for the cave known as Lazarus’ Grave.
