Explore "The Mercy of Allah" by Hilaire Belloc on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
When the nephews of Mahmoud once again attended their uncle at the hour of public executions he gazed at them in his benevolent fashion, again stroking his long beard, the better to expose the jewels upon his fingers, and continued the tale of his fortunes.
"You left me, my dear children, at the end of my last recital in a very deplorable condition. You will remember that through the superior business ability of a merchant renowned for his organizing power, grasp of detail, sense of affairs, etc., etc., etc., I had been reduced in property to a few camels and their attendants, and that even this poor remainder of my fortune I had lost through a miscalculation of the camel market on the eve of war.