"What have you now to show me, O _M'alme ?_" "Listen!" the chief commanded sternly.

"The Meccans are a people corrupt and accursed.

'Their hearts are black as their skins are white.' They live by fleecing the _Hujjaj_, by making sale and barter of relics, by turning the holy places into marts of trade.

All this is well known throughout Islam.

Ah, the degenerate breed of the sons of the Prophet!" "That is true, Master.