Chapter LXVI
Several days after this, while I was sitting with Trudy and her father, discussing the tour to Hebron which I was to lead in the morning, Charles and Hamed returned from Joppa bringing an old man who wore the garb of a monk such as Brother Hildebrandt. They came into the room and the monk raised his hand and made the Nasrani sigh, intoning a blessing.
"Here is the man you seek," Charles told him, pointing to Sid Guy, then to Sid Guy he said, "Sir, this is Brother Carolus, a member of the same house as Brother Hildebrandt. He is very anxious to visit Mar Saba and Brother Hildebrandt recommended us to him."
Es-Sid rose to greet the man.
"Welcome," he said. "The name of Brother Hildebrandt is a respected one in this house. How can we serve you?"
The monk smiled. "I bring you greetings from Brother Hildebrandt, who is much respected among us also. When he knew that I was coming to the Holy Land he advised me to seek for the house of Guy d'Orleans and obtain your help in my quest. Your two young men have been most obliging and I thank them for their help so far; now if you can bring me to this monstery of Mar Saba I shall be most grateful."
Es-Sid sat down and patted the seat beside him. Brother Carolus crossed the room and sat down.
"What is your interest in that place?" Es-Sid asked.
"Have you heard of John of Damascus?" the monk asked. "I have been studying his great work, 'The Fount of Knowledge' and as a result I conceived a great desire to see the place where that man of God lived and carried out his work. Father Hilarion, the abbot of our house, graciously gave me permission to make this pilgrimage and here I am."
"And thrice welcome," es-Sid smiled. "The only trouble is that I don't think any of us has ever been to Mar Saba. It belongs to the Greeks, you see, and ever since the Latins took John's body - I think it is in Venice now - we have not been very welcome there. To be frank, I don't know how you will be received."
Brother Carolus grinned. "I hope I can persuade them," he said. "I have, after all, been studying Greek in order to read John's book and after reading it so much I can quote most of it by heart."
"They'll still regard you as a schismatic and a heretic," es-Sid said, grinning in his turn.
Brother Carolus shrugged. "And we regard them in the same way."
There was a moment of silence and then es-Sid spoke again. "The trouble is, you see, that because of this ill-feeling, we don't usually take pilgrims to Mar Saba. I don't think any of us have ever been there. I'll have to contact one of the Greek guides and get him to take you."
I stood up, for it seemed to me that this was an opportunity for me to win honour.
"Sid," I said, "This Mar Saba is in the lands of the Bani Ibrim and I have been there many times - though never inside the monastery itself. I can take this man there if you wish it."
"Can you, Fuad?" es-Sid sounded surprised. He thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose that would be fine. Fuad is very reliable," he said to Brother Carolus. "You would be completely safe in his hands. When do you want to go?"
"As soon as possible," Brother Carolus replied. "I can see the holy places of Jerusalem when I return.
"Well," Sid Guy said, "it's too late to leave today. Stay with us tonight and in the morning Fuad will take you. Fuad, Hilmi can take your place on the trip to Hebron. You'll need horses, food and water - especially water."
I salaamed and left to make the preparations for the trip so that all would be ready for an early start the following day.
Thus the following morning, while Hilmi and Karl pricked off the names of the group of pilgrims going to Hebron, Brother Carolus and I sat on our horses waiting for the gates to open, skins of water and bags of food hanging from our saddles. As soon as the guards pushed the door ajar, we left and rode out and down the slope to the Kidron Valley.
"That is the place where the Prophet Isa - Jesus Christ - prayed," I told him, pointing to the left to a small stand of trees. "It is called 'Gethsemane'."
Brother Carolus looked at me, his eyebrows raised. "The Prophet Isa?" he said. "That's what the Muslims say, isn't it? Are you a Muslim?"
"I am," I answered him.
"Now that is good fortune," he said, smiling. "I came here to talk to the Greeks and learn more of their heretical views, but I have also long wanted to talk to a Muslim, for you also have heretical views."
"Heretical?" I burst out. "Brother, we are not Christians. How can our beliefs be heretical?"
Brother Carolus shook his head. "That is not what John of Damascus says."
"Who is this John of Damascus?" I demanded. "What does he know of this matter?"
"Well," Brother Carolus said, speaking slowly, "I am sure you have heard of Khalid ibn-Walid? He was the Muslim general who captured Damascus."
I nodded in the Frankish manner. "Yes, his name is remembered among us with honour."
"The governor of Damascus was a man called Mansour ibn-Sargun," Brother Carolus continued. "He it was who surrendered the city to Khalid ibn-Walid. His son, Sergios ibn-Mansour, held high office under the Khalifs of Damascus and so, for a time, did his son, John ibn-Sergios, whom we call John of Damascus."
"But only for a time?" I asked.
Brother Carolus nodded. "The Emperor of the Greeks was angry with him because he, a Christian, was serving the Muslims and so he caused a letter to be written that made it appear that John ibn-Sergios was disloyal to the Khalif. The Khalif became very angy with him and some say that his hands were cut off - though they also claim that his hands were miraculously restored to him by the mercy of God."
"Wallah!" I exclaimed, for such things are not impossible.
"Nevertheless," Brother Carolus continued, "John decided that it was too dangerous to continue to serve the Khalif. He gave up his position, sold his belongings and came here to Mar Saba to spend the rest of his life serving God."
Brother Carolus fell silent and after a moment I said, "And this is the man who thought that Islam is a Christian heresy?"
"Yes," said Brother Carolus. "You see, there are many different Christian heresies, particularly in this matter of Jesus - the Prophet Isa, as you call him.
"But why do you say that Islam is a Christian heresy?" I demanded. "The Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, was given the message from God. We are not Christians."
"Whether your prophet was truly given messages by God or not, let us not dispute. Just consider this: you worship the God of Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon, don't you?"
"Indeed we do," I affirmed.
"So, like us, you accept the Jewish prophets. Then, like us, you reverence Jesus and respect his mother, the Lady Mary?"
"That is so," I agreed.
"In fact, I think that you accept the Holy Gospels which tell the story of Jesus' life, do you not?"
"The injil?" I asked. "Yes, I think so."
"So you worship the same God as we do, you receive the same prophets as we do, you respect the same books as we do. All that is different between us is that you believe differently about Jesus, just as all these other heresies believe differently about him."
