'History of the imâms and seyyids of 'Omân by Salîl-ibn-Razîk, from A.D. 661-1856; translated from the original Arabic, and edited with notes, appendices, and an introduction, continuing the history down to 1870, by George Percy Badger, F.R.G.S., late chaplain in the Presidency of Bombay.' [‎254] (415/612)

254
THE IMAMS OP 'OMAN.
and Muhammad-bin-Sakar, both of el-Bahrein. I he Seyyid
Said had taken away all the rudders from their boats and
imprisoned them in the fort, when he was about to set out on
his first expedition against el-Bahrein.) " Go this instant,"
added Salim, " to the commandant of the troops at the lesser
gate"—Suleiman, el-Huwaisy, held the appointment at that
time—" and also to the commandant of the troops at the
great gate" — Muhammad-bin-Salim, er-Euwahy — "and
order them each to bring ten of their men to me." On their
arrival he set out, some of us going before and others after
him, until we came near the house of the sheikh Muhammad-
bin-Ghalum, when he ordered the soldiers and slaves to
halt. Then taking my hand and the hand of a man of the
Abu-Said, named 'Aly-bin-Muhammad, he walked on until
we approached the fort, when the watch threw a stone at us.
Finding that the watchmen were on the alert, we walked
away quickly by the broken wall of a house which the sea
had demolished—the house belonged to Muhammad-bin-
'Akil, a victorious Amir—and saw on a mound of the ruins
twelve figures, about twelve cubits in height, clad in white
shirts and turbans, all in the act of praying together, behind
an Imam who was taller than the rest. When he came to
the salutation and had saluted them, he then turned to us
and said, " Stop where you are." We accordingly halted,
and, in fact, our legs seemed as if they were bound with
iron fetters. After witnessing this apparition we returned
to the soldiers and slaves, and inquired of them whether
they had seen what we had. They had neither seen nor
heard of any such thing before we told it to them. Going
back in company to the same spot we saw nothing of what
we had seen previously, and were greatly amazed. Then we
were convinced beyond doubt that those we had seen were
pure Sufis. 1 We accompanied the Seyyid Salim to his house,
' In the original, SiXfiyy-An safiyy An, meaning probably purified Sufis,
who through mortification and devotion had attained a beatified state,