“Lady,” said the young man, “have patience for a moment.”  At these words he shut the Koraun, put it into a rich case, and laid it in the niche.  I took that opportunity to observe him, and perceiving in him so much good nature and beauty, I felt emotions I had never known before.  He made me sit down by him, and before he began his discourse, I could not forbear saying, with an air that discovered the sentiments I felt, “Amiable sir, dear object of my soul, I can scarcely have patience to wait for an account of all these wonderful objects that I have seen since I came into your city; and my curiosity cannot be satisfied too soon:  therefore pray, sir, let me know by what miracle you alone are left alive among so many persons that have died in so strange a manner.”

“Madam,” said the young man, “by the prayer you just now addressed to him, you have given me to understand that you have a knowledge of the true God.  I will acquaint you with the most remarkable effect of his greatness and power.  You must know, that this city was the metropolis of a mighty kingdom, over which the sultan my father reigned.  That prince, his whole court, the inhabitants of the city, and all his other subjects, were magi, worshippers of fire, and of Nardoun, the ancient king of the giants, who rebelled against God.

“But though I was born of an idolatrous father and mother, I had the good fortune in my youth to have a governess who was a good Moosulmaun. ‘Dear prince,’ would she oftentimes say, ‘there is but one true God; take heed that you do not acknowledge and adore any other.’  She taught me to read Arabic, and the book she gave me to study was the Koraun.  As soon as I was capable of understanding it, she explained to me all the passages of this excellent book, and infused piety into my mind, unknown to my father or any other person.  She happened to die, but not before she had perfectly instructed me in all that was necessary to convince me of the truth of the Moosulmaun religion.  After her death I persisted with constancy in the belief of its divinity:  and I abhor the false god Nardoun, and the adoration of fire.

“About three years and some months ago, a thundering voice was suddenly sounded so distinctly, through the whole city, that nobody could miss hearing it.  The words were these:  ‘Inhabitants, abandon the worship of Nardoun, and of fire, and worship the only God who shews mercy.’

“This voice was heard three years successively, but no one was converted.  On the last day of that year, at four o’clock in the morning, all the inhabitants were changed in an instant into stone, every one in the condition and posture they happened to be in.  The sultan, my father, shared the same fate, for he was metamorphosed into a black stone, as he is to be seen in this palace, and the queen, my mother, had the like destiny.

“I am the only person who did not suffer under that heavy judgment, and ever since I have continued to serve God with more fervency than before.  I am persuaded, dear lady, that he has sent you hither for my comfort, for which I render him infinite thanks; for I must own that this solitary life is extremely irksome.”