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ʾILÂM-EN-NÂS.
THE REIGN OF EL-WALÎD-IBN-ʾABD-EL-
MÁLIK-IBN-MARWÂN.
IT was his custom to read through the whole Kurân every three days; during Ramadhân[1] he used to read it through seventeen times. Ibrahîm-ibn-ʾUlîah relates, "He sent me bags of dinârs to be dis-
- ↑ Ramadhân. "The month of Ramadhân shall ye fast, in which the Kurân was sent down from Heaven. … Therefore let him among you who shall be present in this month fast the same month; but he who shall be sick or on a journey shall fast the like number of other days."—el-Kurân, Sûr. 2., V. 181. Muslims are extremely particular in their observance of this fast, which, as their year is reckoned by lunar months, varies in the season at which it takes place, being a few days earlier every year. When Ramadhân occurs during the heat of summer, when the days are longest, the trial to bodily health and strength is excessive; for they neither eat, nor drink, nor even smoke, from early dawn till sunset, and the nights are spent in eating and drinking, visiting the mosques, and reading the Kurân or hearing it read. A true Muslim should not, however, betray weariness or languor on account of what he endures during Ramadhân; but at the same time it is a pious act on the part of those in authority to spare their servants and show them as much consideration as possible.
