As the chant intensified, the words began to blur for Selim. It wasn't just "God, He is God" anymore. The rhythm— Allah Hu, Allah Hu —began to match the thumping in his own chest.
He closed his eyes. In the darkness of his mind, he stopped thinking about the grammar of the Arabic or the history of the melody. He felt the "Hu"—the Divine Breath—that the Sufis say was breathed into the first clay of man. Д°lahi Allah Hu Allah
The sun was sinking behind the jagged peaks of the Taurus Mountains when Selim reached the gates of the ancient lodge. He was a man of books and logic, a scholar who had spent years trying to find God in the ink of old manuscripts. Yet, his heart felt like a dry well. As the chant intensified, the words began to blur for Selim