Page 373 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

334 TRAVELS IN OMAN.

“ From the Fakir, Servant of God, Nasir Ibn
’Abu Mihan, the Distressed One!” And verily,

as regards his outward man, nothing could be
more appropriate than the latter portion of this

designation. When I last saw him he was
clothed in rags, the personification of misery,
and exhibited every symptom of squalid

wretchedness. A beggar, however, by choice,

his state of poverty was entirely voluntary,
for the prince, his master, in consideration of
his great endowments, has repeatedly offered

him a permanent and comfortable asylum.
This he obstinately refuses to accept, pre­

ferring a vagabond, unsettled condition before
the favours of a court. He therefore depends
for his daily sustenance upon alms, bestowed

by pious Moslems, who regard works of
charity as an essential portion of their reli­

gious observances.
The manuscript itself is really a literary
curiosity. Some small portion has been al­

ready quoted, verbatim, in these pages, and
the reader will perceive it to be imbued with

a spirit which too frequently pervades religious
discussions in every country. He will dis­

cover excessive spiritual pride; the fiercest