No. 24. — 1881.] Ml'RA KANTIRI FESTIVAL. 129 



feeding on the various fruits of the leafy grove, surrounded by his de- 

 votees, reached the sea-shore. Perceiving that the sea was boisterous 

 and having a mind to visit Maldive Island, (the Shaikh,) after 

 meditating upon God and performing the prayers of two raka't* 

 looked at Hazrat Yusuf Sahib and the others, and said : " Shut ye 

 your eyes, and placing your feet in the salt sea follow me." The 

 Sahib — exclaiming 'In the name of God \\ ' — first set his lotus-like 

 feet in the water and walked, the others following him. Before the 

 twinkling of an eye the Shaikh with his holyj mouth commanded 

 the devotees to open their eyes. When they looked and saw that 

 they were on the shore of Maldive Island they rejoiced exceedingly. 

 Bat the Ruler of that country and the other infidels, § seeing Hazrat 

 Sahib come with a company, spoke one with another : " They 

 are come to make war on our land"; and, intending to kill them by 

 stratagem, introduced deadly poisons into fruits and other eatables. 

 Taking these, the King and the rest of the inhabitants approached 

 Hazrat Sahib with great respect, as though they had come to welcome 

 them, and set before them the poisoned viands they had brought. 

 But the Sahib — although cognizant (of their treachery) — feigning 

 ignorance, saying 6 In the name of God' ! and laying his holy hands 

 on the food, ate it, and handing to the others they too ate and rejoiced. 

 Seeing this, that King and his subjects were perplexed and departed, 



* " The Muslim has to perform [five times a day] certain prayers held 

 to be ordained by God, and others ordained by the Prophet ; each kind 

 consisting of two, three, or four 4 rek'ahs/ which term signifies the 

 repetition of a set form of words [Farz, Sunnat, Nafl, or Witr], chiefly 

 from the Kuran, and ejaculations of 'God is most great'! &c, accom- 

 panied by particular postures." — Lane's "Arabian Nights," Vol. I., p. 16. 

 Introduction, Note 1. See too Hughes' "Notes on Muhammadanism," 

 pp. 104-118, London, 1877. 



f lSI&vlSIsv [PismW] : Arabic Bismilldh — the usual Muslim ejaculatory 

 prayer preceding any important action. 



+ (LpurrpsHGtsr [mupdraMna]: Arabic mubdrak, "holy," "blessed." 



§ airiS jb&m [kdpirka}] : Arabic kdfir y " infidel," 



