THE EASTERN QUESTIONTHE OPPOSITE POINT OF VIEW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 46, 22 February 1877, Page 4

THE EASTERN QUESTIONTHE OPPOSITE POINT OF VIEW.

The following is a translation of . a letter in Arabic, which has been addrkisedto tho Madras Mailhjd, Mahometan gentleman of Bombay :— I'ilPraise he to the great Physician. This is written in the month of Rabbee-oo!-akbur.—-After the usual* greetings, I am overjoyed to tell you that tbe Deen-00l islam is nourishing, and that the day will yet be ordered by ai KhairooPHafizeea (the best of protectors) when all the earth will shout from their housetops the Hashad (belief of the faithful) Praise be to God ! You are, I know/the wielder of a weapon which is ten thousand times mightier than the sword, and that truth falls from its point as numerous as the raindrops in a shower. You muU therefore hold up a mirror of event before the people, the daszlihg reflection of which shall cause them to close their eyes for its very brilliance. By our Holy Prophet Bo'um (/Turkey) is now engaged in a war wilh Christians. Yah Cumbuckhut / (ob,' wretch that I am) did t say Christians, the believers in {Essas alleas salaam) Jesus, whom may God ever 'honor— ho, but dogs who are .neither Christians nor Kaffirs ; reptiles jWho. ai*e seeking to overthrow Roum •(Turkey) and plant the flag of the Roos (Russia) on the palace of Sultan Moored. But it cannot be in our time, for when this is attempted, it is according -to Al Koran, the sign of the JRozejaseh (the last day). When the green banner of the Prophet rasoolillah (the messenger of God) is once again raised by its millions of staunch adherents, the last great battle on earth will bejfoagbt. Tbe faithful on that day will be aa numerous as the stars, as brilliant as the meteors, as fierce as the noonday sun on the desert sand, and as implacable , as Shuitan neerwrh gen (Satan who was stoned). Other nations -have aroused Roum <o do battle, and if ' not soon settled, the spark will be fanned into a conflagration which shall -conßdme the world (or the inhabitants c theVeof)i and shall bring to pass the holy sayings of Koraua chereej (the blessed Koran) that Islam will be the 'last religion iv this world. Do yon T dbnbt this ? Do not fear, for is not God great and wise, and will he not do as he pleaseth ? Mark me, this war -will "not be -easily ended, for it- would appear that God bad so ordained! Glory to his name ! Amen. What 'more shall I write now ? I will write j ho more at present, but give you news from . Mecca occasionally concerning this great war which is stirring up the hearts of all men, and causing the angels to be prepared; for the fig tree (the world) is about to be shaken, and the evil of man is to be weighed and punished."