The New Yorker, January 1, 1972 P. 25
5 mystical stories. 3) "The Mirror of Ink". The cruelest of the rulers of Sudan was Yaqub the Ailing, who left his country to the Egyptian tax xollectors & died on the 14th day of the moon of Barmahat, in 1842. The wizard Abd-er-Rahman al-Masmudi ("Servant of the All-Merciful ")told this tale. He was in the captivity of the castle of Yaqub the Ailing. His brother had just died by the sword, &he flung himself at the hated feet of the Ailing, telling him that he was a wizard, & that if he spared his life he would show him shapes & appearances more wonderful than those of the magic lantern. The tyrant demanded proof, so he asked for a reed pen, a pair of scissors, a leaf of Venetian paper, an inkhorn, a chafing dish with live coals in it, some coriander seeds, & an ounce of benzoin. He drew a magic square in the palm of Yaqub's right hand, told him to make a hollow of its, & into a center poured a pool of ink. The ruler named the images he wanted to see, & was able to see what he wanted reflected in the ink. This went on for a long time. He saw things impossible to tell, & often in the middle of the image was the Man with the Mask. They dared not ask who it was. On the 14th day of the moon of Barmahat he asked to see an execution. The doomed man was the mysterious man of the veil. The tyrant ordered that the mask be removed. Yaqub's stricken eyes could see the face-it was his own. He was filled with fear, but the wizard ordered him to go on witnessing the ceremony of his death. When in the vision the sword fell on the guilty head, Yaqub moaned & fell to the floor, dead.
