Macedonia, a plea for the primitive . ^ a whitehandkerchief) and having made obeisance toAllah by kneeling and touching the floor with hisforehead, he listens with rapt attention to a. \ .(J|:k, \IAt THE TURKISH MOSQUE 201 passage from the Koran. The priest, sitting onhis heels with a book on a cushion in front of him,recites in a weird monotone, accompanied by acurious swaying movement of the body—anexertion at which he never seems to tire. In every respect, the Moslem religion is in-structive if only in regard to its inculcation ofsimplicity and fervour of belief. We find
Macedonia, a plea for the primitive . ^ a whitehandkerchief) and having made obeisance toAllah by kneeling and touching the floor with hisforehead, he listens with rapt attention to a. \ .(J|:k, \IAt THE TURKISH MOSQUE 201 passage from the Koran. The priest, sitting onhis heels with a book on a cushion in front of him,recites in a weird monotone, accompanied by acurious swaying movement of the body—anexertion at which he never seems to tire. In every respect, the Moslem religion is in-structive if only in regard to its inculcation ofsimplicity and fervour of belief. We find nothingmysterious in the Turkish mosque, nothing cal-culated to instil awe or terror ; everything com-bines to produce mental tranquillity and an innate sense of the dignity of simplicity,the Mohammedan conveys the idea that God isgreat enough and wonderful enough without thepoor attempts of man to embellish his temples orto trick his worshippers into reverence. In themosques themselves—cool, solemn and. peaceful—there is no theatrical display, nothing to distractthe attention and nothing to produce the impres-sion that they might be intended for any otheruse
Size: 1562px × 1599px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1921
