three large egg-shaped beads of clouded amber. When he found how much pleased I was, he took pains to teach me the attributes.
I said to him, "Now that your Excellency has made me understand the solemn and beautiful words of the rosary, I shall be always sorry to hear them said quickly and thoughtlessly." He answered, "You are right, O my sister. God is to be approached with reverence." But I could perceive that he found it much more difficult to repeat the attributes leisurely, than to utter them, as usual, rapidly. After a pause, he said, "To every man who is not hateful or erring, one of these Divine attributes especially belongs, and influences his life." The date of the birth of an individual, in conjunction with his name, properly reckoned, discovers the particular attribute. As an example, he calculated mine, and always afterward called me "Miriam the Intercessor." I asked my Moslem teacher in what sense the word "Intercessor" was used as an attribute of God. He regarded it simply as mercy and goodness, and readiness to pardon. Another Moslem told me, one day, that it implied mercy pleading with justice. He acknowledged to me that he did not regard fasts, and forms, and ceremonies as important. He thought that doing our duty to man, and giving thanks to God, were all-sufficient. But he added, "If I did not keep the fasts and feasts, and perform certain ablutions and prayers three times a day, my voice would not be heard in the Medjlis—that is, the Council—and I should lose all my influence." He assured me me that there were many enlightened men who felt as he did on the subject, but they hid the thoughts of their hearts.
My brother scarcely ever spoke to Moslems about their religion, and warned me to be cautious how I did so; consequently, I never introduced the subject, directly or indirectly, except when I found myself with any one of superior intelligence and judgment, and then only carefully, and as an inquirer—never as a teacher or proselytizer.
