d you. God is Almighty, Generous, Merciful, Eternal,
Holy, Clement.

Here ends the first sermon; after a short pause the preacher commences the
second.

In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Praise be to God, the Creator of the earth and heavens, the Maker of
light and darkness. I testify that there is no God but God. He is one.
He has no partner. Know, O believers! that this confession will save
you from trouble and calamity. I testify that Muhammad, who wipes out
error and infidelity, is the servant and Apostle of God. The mercy of
God be on our Lord Muhammad, the Lord of Creation; and on his
descendants; and on his Companions be grace and honour. O servants of
God! I advise you and my own soul thus: Obey God! Fear God, who created
life and death and who scrutinizes our good actions. O God! be pleased
with Abu Bakr, the righteous, the Sahib-ul-Ghar,[207] and with Omar
Ibn-ul-Khattab, the chief of the holy men; and with Osman the possessor
of two lights, who was martyred when reading the Holy Quran, and upon
'Ali Murtuza, the destroyer of infidels and sinners. O God! be pleased
with the great Imams Hasan and Husain. Be pleased with their mother
Fatimat-uz-Zuhra, the chief of women, and with Hamza and 'Abbas, the
uncles of the Prophet. Also be pleased with all the Ashab (Companions).
O God! help those who help the religion of Muhammad, and make us of
their number. Make those wretched who corrupt it, and keep us aloof
from all such. O believers! truly God orders you to do justice and to
show kindness to your kindred. He orders you to abstain from infidelity
and from the greater and the lesser sins. God warns you. God is the
Most High, the Most Glorious. God is Great!"

The collection of Khutbas from which the above have been translated
contains a considerable number on a variety of subjects, such as prayer,
the resurrection, worldliness, the various feast and fast days, &c. The
form in all is very similar. The exordium and the conclusion are
practically the same. A few sentences in the middle refer to the special
subject of the sermon. The second of the two {204} sermons is always the
same; it is practically an invocation of blessings on certain persons. Both
are said in Arabic. What would answer to our idea of a sermon, such as an
explanation of some doctrine, or an exposition of some passages in the
Quran,