Oh sublime doctrines! Doctrines truly from heaven! Oh perfect morals, and worthy of martyrdom or the apostolate! I will cross the seas to teach these admirable laws to the savage people--to distant nations; I will say unto them: * This word is, in the religion of the Hindoos, a sacred emblem of the Divinity.

It is only to be pronounced in secret, without being heard by any one.

It is formed of three letters, of which the first, a, signifies the principal of all, the creator, Brama; the second, u, the conservator, Vichenou; and the last, m, the destroyer, who puts an end to all, Chiven.

It is pronounced like the monosyllable om, and expresses the unity of those three Gods.

The idea is precisely that of the Alpha and Omega mentioned in the New Testament.
** This is one of the grand points of schism between the partisans of Omar and those of Ali.