nothing of pity and love; and the religion of the prophet, which
teaches that we should love and do good to our fellow-men, they
practised with their tongues only, but not in reality. They thought
it sufficient to be able to call themselves descendants of the great
prophet, without imitating him in his good works.

"At last one of them even dared to proclaim himself the prophet. His
name was Hakem. To him it did not seem enough to be the descendant
of Mohammed, of our great prophet--he wished to be king and prophet
himself. He desired to found a new religion, and, because the
inhabitants of El-Kahera would not bow down before him in the dust,
and abandon their prophet, Mohammed, for his sake, he caused the one
half of the beautiful city of El-Kahera, the Victorious, to be laid
in ashes, and he allowed his wild hordes to plunder and rob the
other half. He rejoiced in this, and imagined Allah would be
contented. He said, too, that Allah conversed with him each day, and
gave him instructions with his own lips. It was for this purpose
that he went daily into the mountains of Mokatan, which rise on the
banks of the Nile, near the city; and there he, a second Moses,
communed, as he declared, with Allah.

"But one day he did not return from the mountains, and when his
janizaries sought him they found him lying dead on the ground,
pierced with daggers.

"The Fatimites had ruled over Egypt for two hundred years. Their
glory was now at an end, and Allah sent the unbelievers as a scourge
to punish those who had dared to set themselves above the prophet,
to punish the sons of Hakem who had declared himself to be the
prophet.