Truly the khoja was a wise and holy man. Verily he was orthodox and not one of the idolaters. He read much, but he thought more. The Koran was his guide, and every action of his life was inspired (according to the khoja himself) by the teachings contained in the Suras, Sunnas and Hadis of Mohammed. His first thought on waking was about Allah and his Prophet. His thoughts during the day were fixed on the same subject, and his last prayer at night was: "Allah! the only true guide! Help thy servant to a pious appreciation of the Suras! Praise be to Thee, O Allah! Place me not, O Lord, with the ungodly people!"

At intervals during the day he would burst out into the great prayer of the Mohammedans: "Allah! there is no God but he, the living, the self-sub sisting. Neither slumber nor sleep seizeth him. To him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and on earth. Who is he that can intercede with him but through his good pleasure? He knoweth that which is past and that which is to come unto them, and they shall not comprehend anything of his knowledge but so far as he pleaseth. His throne is extended over heaven and earth, and the preservation of both is no burden unto him. He is the high, the mighty."

The great endeavour of his life was to imitate in thought and deed as far as it was possible the life of Mohammed. The Koran permits man, under certain legal and moral conditions, to take as many as four wives. The Prophet himself took more (but he was the Prophet), and amongst them was a widow. To do this all that was required (besides pluck) was an inspired Sura. He even had the courage to marry another man's wife. This also the Sura permitted – nay ordered. [1]

And here I might explain for the benefit of the unbelievers whom I see here before me today that in Islam marriage is not only a civil contract but also a religious duty incumbent on all who possess the ability. "When a servant of God marries, verily he perfects half his religion." The Prophet once asked a man if he was married, and being answered in the negative said, "Art thou sound and healthy?"

When the man replied that he was, the Prophet said unto him, "Then thou art one of the brothers of the devil."

"Marry early and marry often!" Such, O true believers, is the teaching of Islam on this point. And it is owing to ignorance of this salutary teaching, dearly beloved, that we behold the sad state of things which prevails today among the unhappy children of the Giaour. Do we not hear of men growing up actually unto the age of twenty without having taken unto themselves even one single wife? Do we not hear of unveiled and masterless women running wild in the bazaars and in the public places, burning mosques and breaking coffee house windows because, verily, no man hath taken them to his harem? Alas! Vdh! Vâh! how pitiful! Thanks be to Allah that such disorders are unknown amongst us, their absence being an evident proof of the truth of our holy religion. Though verily, brethren, a certain one of those mad women of Ingiltera (England) must have been inspired by Allah himself, if it is true, as I hear, that she smote even with a scimitar a certain famous idol, yclept "Venus," representing an unveiled hanoum (lady) in Londra (London). [2] And is not this inspiration all the more likely when we remember that in the opinion of the wisest Sheikhs and Imams the All-merciful doth illuminate the mind of every woman for a few seconds once in forty years?

But of what was I discoursing? The happiness of marriage. And yet, O true believers, all marriages, even in Islam, are not necessarily happy. Hence the necessity for that beautiful facility of divorce which hath been mercifully accorded us by the Prophet (on whom be peace!). Even the pious Khoja Nasr-ud-Dín married thoughtlessly on one occasion a woman who did not bring him peace – far from it. Need I add, dear brethren, that she was a widow?

For a short period the holy man seemed content, for the Mohammedan never speaks of his home life, but to the surprise of the neighbours the widow suddenly sued one day for a divorce, and both she and the khoja appeared in court, the wife to plead her case and the husband to defend himself as best he could. Beginning with the customary salutation of "Strength to the kadi!" the widow complained volubly that the khoja had ill-treated her to such a degree that she could no longer stay with him. He had destroyed and broken all her furniture and belongings, and at the same time inflicted on her, and that without any cause, severe bodily injuries.

"Yes, verily," quoth the good woman, "having first smashed all the crockery in the house with a flat-iron, he suddenly hit me over the head with a frying-pan. There's still a lump on my head as big as a duck's egg, but without the permission of the Court I cannot, of course, raise my veil in order to exhibit it."

The irate lady concluded by declaring in a shrill voice that her statements would not be difficult to prove. Their house was close at hand, and everything in it was her personal property; and it would be easy to verify her assertion that the khoja had smashed the tables, chairs, crockery, cooking utensils, and everything else which the place contained. As for herself, she was ready, she repeated, to exhibit if necessary the marks of the severe ill-treatment she had personally received from the khoja on the previous night. She claimed both her immediate freedom and full compensation for the things destroyed by the khoja. Having shaken her clenched fist in the direction of her husband she left the witness-box.

But the khoja (though there was a scratch or two on his nose, and though some of his beard seemed to be missing) – the khoja, I say, never once lost for an instant the calm and benignant bearing which befitted a servant of Allah.

When asked what defence he had to offer, the holy man was eloquent but simple. "It is true," quoth he, "that all the furniture belonged to my wife, and that I have destroyed it all. It is also true that I unwittingly did her bodily harm. This I regret, but the circumstances of the case are as follows: "The first night of our life she told me the life of Mehmet, her late husband, and how long she and he had lived happily together. The second night she told me how much it had cost her late husband to buy the furniture with which she had furnished my house. The third night she dwelt so long and so fondly on the perfections of her Mehmet that, when day dawned, I was beginning to see the shadow of that perfect and lamented man flitting about the bedroom. On the fourth night when she began to compare Mehmet to me, and to show that he was superior to me in every way – well, O kadi! the shadow materialized. In despair and in self-protection against this superior intruder, I used as missiles or as weapons every thing that came within my reach. In order to drive him away, I hurled at him tables and chairs, pots and pans. In my strange agitation, O kadi! I broke his furniture; and, alas! when he got too near my wife, I must have struck her also in my efforts – my perfectly legitimate efforts, mind you – to strike him and to defend myself.

"It is possible – nay it is right, under lawful conditions – for a man to have one, two, three, or even four wives; but has anyone ever heard of one woman having two husbands, and both husbands living under the same roof? Let her go, then, to her Mehmet – I cannot take her back!" Then, raising his voice so suddenly and so high that the kadi (who, as a matter of fact, was half asleep) nearly fell off the bench, the khoja vociferated: " Git! Git! Git! [3] Get thee hence; thou shalt be one of the contemptible! Get thee hence, despised! And may I never see thy face again!"

The divorce was granted, but the widow received no compensation, for a Moslem husband has but to tell his wife three times to depart and the divorce is accomplished, he being then in the position of petitioner. This we owe, as you are all aware, O true believers, to the benignant and heaven-inspired legislation of the Prophet. [General reverential murmur of, "May Allah be pleased with him!"]