The Mercy of Allah

By Hilaire Belloc

Book Overview

First published in 1922, The Mercy of Allah describes the civilization of the Arabs through the extraordinary tales a wealthy grandfather relates to his beloved grandchildren. These richly textured stories show how this prosperous Arab deceived his own countrymen to gain great fortunes, while also demonstrating the richness of Arab culture through the ages. The cultural standards described are still quite common in the Middle East. Mahmoud's saga points out the contrasts between Western and Eastern attitudes toward trade, banking, and human relations.Excerpt from the beginning:"IN the days of Abd-er-Rahman, who was among the wisest and most glorious of the Commanders of the Faithful, there resided in the City of Bagdad an elderly merchant of such enormous wealth that his lightest expressions of opinion caused the markets of the Euphrates to fluctuate in the most alarming manner.This merchant, whose name was Mahmoud, had a brother in the middle ranks of Society, a surgeon by profession, and by name El-Hakim. To this brother he had frequently expressed a fixed determination to leave him no wealth of any kind. "It is my opinion," he would say, "that a man's first duty is to his own children, and though I have no children myself, I must observe the general rule." He was fond of dilating upon this subject whenever he came across his relative, and would discover from time to time new and still better reasons for the resolution he had arrived at. His brother received with great courtesy the prospect held out to him by the wealthy merchant; but one day, finding tedious the hundredth repetition of that person's pious but somewhat wearisome resolve, said to him:"

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1508454132
• ISBN13: 9781508454137
• Release Date: February 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"