Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/561

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know him not.' A voice will then come from heaven, saying, 'This servant hath lied; then give it a bed from hell, and clothes also, and open for it a door towards hell.' Then a hot wind will come to it, and its grave will be contracted so as to break the bones on each side; after which an angel will come to it, deaf and dumb, with a mace of iron, with which, if a mountain were struck, it would turn to dust. Then the angel will strike the body with the mace, the noise of which will be heard by every thing between the east and west, excepting the genii and man, and it will turn to dust; after which, a soul will be returned to it, and it will be tormented to the day of resurrection."

The iron mace with which the angels torment the wicked is, it is said, the goorz, a sort of iron club, pointed at one end, and having a knob on the other covered with spikes. This sort of mace is carried by Muhammadan fakīrs, the goorz-mar, who believe the wounds made by it will quickly heal from the application of their spittle, by the influence of Syud Ahmad Kabeer.

The prophet said, "When any one of you dieth, his place is shown him morning and evening, whether in heaven or hell; and it is said to him, 'This grave is thy sitting place until the day of resurrection.'" "Aa'yeshah said, 'A Jew came to me, and mentioned the punishments of the grave.' Then I interrogated the prophet about them, and he said, 'Yes, punishments in the grave are true: and I always observed the prophet, at the end of every prayer, implore God to defend him from the sufferings of the grave.'"

The sums of money and the quantity of food distributed by Colonel Gardner's Begam in charity was surprising; she was a religious woman, and fulfilled, as far as was in her power, the ordinances of her religion. The necessity of giving alms is strongly inculcated. "To whomsoever God gives wealth, and he does not perform the charity due from it, his wealth will be made into the shape of a serpent on the day of resurrection, which shall not have any hair upon its head; and this is a sign of its poison and long life; and it has two black spots upon its