The Mercy of Allah by Hilaire Belloc

As Mahmoud's nephews filed in just after the hour of public / executions to hear the continuation of their uncle's absorbing tale, / they wore an expression different from that which he had observed / on their faces during so many days. The thought of this great man / subjected to misfortune like any other, and passing through the / trials of actual poverty, had shocked their young and sensitive / souls. They had been trained indeed, even in their short experience, / to the idea that they and their poor father must suffer contempt; / but that the head of the family should ever have passed through such / things shook their faith in the world.

The aged merchant, a little concerned with their appearance, warned / them that what he had to tell them, not only upon that day but / later too, would be concerned with no happy relation. "These were, / my children," said he, "the days of my dereliction. They served to / humble me, and often when I have occasion to turn a poor man out / of his house or to prosecute some starving widow for debt, or to / see to the imprisonment of one who has failed to keep some contract / I may have imposed upon him, I sigh and chasten myself with the / thought that I myself might (but for the infinite goodness of my God) / have been in his or her position. Though, frankly, I cannot say, / considering the ineptitude of such people, that I can ever imagine / them in mine. " Having so prefaced what he had to tell, the merchant / proceeded: