of battle were displayed. The temples of both nations, besieged by an
immense multitude, presented a spectacle which fixed all my attention.

On one side, the Mussulmen gathered before their mosques, washed
their hands and feet, pared their nails, and combed their beards; then
spreading carpets upon the ground, and turning towards the south,
with their arms sometimes crossed and sometimes extended, they made
genuflexions and prostrations, and recollecting the disasters of the
late war, they exclaimed:

God of mercy and clemency! hast thou then abandoned thy faithful people?
Thou who hast promised to thy Prophet dominion over nations, and stamped
his religion by so many triumphs, dost thou deliver thy true believers
to the swords of infidels?

And the Imans and the Santons said to the people:

It is in chastisement of your sins. You eat pork; you drink wine; you
touch unclean things. God hath punished you. Do penance therefore;
purify; repeat the profession of faith;* fast from the rising to the
setting sun; give the tenth of your goods to the mosques; go to Mecca;
and God will render you victorious.

* There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet.

And the people, recovering courage, uttered loud cries:

There is but one God, said they transported with fury, and Mahomet is
his prophet! Accursed be he who believeth not!