Chapter XXXVII: Appendix: U

Letter from the Mahdi to General Gordon.

In the name of God the merciful and compassionate: praise be to God, the bountiful Ruler, and blessing on our lord Mahomed with peace.

From the servant who trusts in God—Mahomed the son of Abdallah.

To Gordon Pasha of Kartoum: may God guide him into the path of virtue, amen!

Know that your small steamer, named _Abbas_—which you sent with the intention of forwarding your news to Cairo, by the way of Dongola, the persons sent being your representative Stewart Pasha and the two Consuls, French and English, with other persons, has been captured by the will of God.

Those who believed in us as the Mahdi, and surrendered, have been delivered; and those who did not were destroyed—as your representative afore-named, with the Consuls and the rest—whose souls God has condemned to the fire and to eternal misery.

That steamer and all that was in it have fallen a prey to the Moslems, and we have taken knowledge of all the letters and telegrams which were in it, in Arabic and in Frankish (languages), and of the maps, which were opened to us (translated) by those on whom God has bestowed His gifts, and has enlightened their hearts with faith, and the benefits of willing submission. Also (we have found therein) the letters sent from you to the Mudir of Dongola, with the (letters, &c.) accompanying, to be forwarded to Egypt and to European countries. All has been seized, and the contents are known. It should all have been returned to you, not being wanted here; but as it was originally sent from you, and is known unto you, we prefer to send you part of the contents and mention the property therein, so that you may be certified; and in order that the truth may make a lasting impression on thy mind—in the hope that God may guide thee to the faith of Islam, and to surrender; that you and your followers may surrender to Him and to us, that so you and they may obtain everlasting good and happiness.

Now first (among the documents seized) is the cipher dated Sept. 22, 1884, sent to Mustafa Jāwer, Mudir of Dongola, in answer to his letter dated 30th August, 1884, European reckoning, (saying) that you have given him the rank of Liwa—on the back of which is your telegram to the Khedive of Egypt, asking that he will confirm the said appointment. We have also taken knowledge of (extract from) the Journal (daily record) of the provision in the granary (as) seen by the Inspector Moosa Othmān, namely 3374 ardebs of dhoora; 4 ardebs and ⅓ and ¼ of wheat, &c. Also (extract from) the Journal[343] (daily register) of the ammunition seized by the Inspector Mohamed, dated Aug. 18, 1884—the number (? of cartridges) in store being 581,395.

Also of the telegram sent to the Khedive of Egypt, and Nubar Pasha, and to the English Consul-General from nineteen persons who have put their seals to it, and who are presidents of the Court of Appeal, (namely) Hassan Abdul Munam, and the members and the merchants, who pray (therein) that the Soudan Railway, which the Egyptian Government find it difficult to make, (may be) exchanged for river steamers and military stations, with telegraphic lines between the stations.[344]

Further, (there is) the letter (found) with the French Consul, written by you to him on July 12, 1884, No. 512/38, in acknowledgment of the 100 francs distributed to the poor and needy.

(There is) also your letter dated August 28, 1884, No. 35/144, sent to Nubar Pasha, and to the English Consul-General, and to the Chief of the Egyptian Treasury, with information about the 50,000 guineas sent from Egypt to Berber, and captured by the auxiliaries of the faith, and mentioning the advances (made) by the merchants at interest of one piastre per 100 piastres, with the hope of paying it back to the principals or their agents in that part.

(There is) also your communication dated August 26, 1884, No. 34/144, sent to the President of the Council, with a list of sixteen persons, in which you ask for confirmation of the rank which you have bestowed on them.

Also your letter, No. 1/141, dated August 14, 1884, to the Mohurdâr (Keeper of the Seals) of the Khedive, as to disposal of the four decorations you have given, and of which you enclose a specimen.

Also (as to) the ranks of the officers named by you, and the note containing eleven names, like Nuehr Bey Mahomed, Commandant of the Army of Sennaar, whom you made Liwa (General).

Also your telegram, dated Sept. 3, 1884, No. 23, to the afore-mentioned Mohurdâr (Keeper of the Seals), to confirm the appointment of Ibrahim Foozi, and Mohammed Nefii, and Moosa Shoki as Liwas (Generals).

Also your letters, (written) in European (language), all about the siege of Kartoum, and all about the arranging of the steamers, with the number of the troops in them, and their arms, and the cannon, and about the movements of the troops, and the defeat of your people, and your request for reinforcements, even if only a single regiment, and all about how your agent Cuzzi turned Moslem.

Also many letters which had come to you from our lieutenants, and what they contained of advice; also stating the number of Europeans at Kartoum, 3 English, 2 Austrians, 1 Prussian, 1 Frenchman, 4 Italians, 40 Greeks.

Also the diary (registry) of the arms, ammunition, guns and soldiers sealed by Faraj (Ferratch) ez Zainy, Commander of the Army, which has 2 Krupp guns and 284 shells; 11 mountain field-pieces, and their ammunition (? cartridges), numbering 2303; 2 matchlock guns and their ammunition, 315; 5 mortars and their ammunition 565; and 1 field piece, and 2 mitrailleuses without ammunition; and 8 howitzers (?) and their ammunition, 599; and 7064 Remington rifles, and 1205 percussion muskets; and 246 muskets (called) arshalik; and 127 rifles, old bore, and 19 pistols; and the ammunition (cartridges) for the Remingtons being 150,233 packets. And the number of the soldiers: 2 Liwas (Generals), 2 Colonels, 5 Lieut.-Colonels, and so on for other grades, and 2370 privates; the contingent of Bashi-Bazouk, and of the Shaggyeh and Khotriyeh and others, the amount of their strength (being) 26 divisions, numbering 4797 men. Also giving the number of the servants of the arsenal and on the steamers, ship by ship.

We have also taken knowledge of the two letters of Salehh, the Melek of the Sanjak (district) of Sanik, which he gave up to us (the Mahdi).

One of them, dated April 30, 1884, in which he threatens (this); and the second, dated May 1, in which he states that which he has already stated, and in which he asks for his reward.

We have also noted the telegram of the officials and of the presidents of courts, and of the Kadi and the Muftis and Ulema, numbering 34 sent to the Mohurdâr of the Khedive in Egypt, dated August 28, 1884, in which they ask for succour from the Egyptian Government; to which was attached your note to the Mudir of Dongola on account of his drafts. Also your cipher telegrams, one of which is dated August 8, 1884, to the Mohurdâr of the Khedive, in which you explain that on your arrival at Kartoum the impossibility had become clear to you of withdrawing the troops and the employés, and sending them to Egypt; on account of the disturbances (rebellions) in the country, and the cutting (closing) of the roads; for which reason you ask for reinforcements, which did not come until that happened which has happened to the Mudiriyeh of Berber.

Also about your coming to Kartoum with seven men after the annihilation of Hicks’s army; and your requesting a telegram to be sent to you in Arabic, in plain language about the Soudan, to show to the people of Kartoum—as the telegrams in European cipher do not explain enough, except only certain news (matters), and their meaning is not intelligible, except only certain things (which are understood).

And also (you refer) to the useless waste of time, so much so, that from your repeated promises to the people of Kartoum about arrival of reinforcements, you have appeared to them as if you were a liar.

Also (about) your asking for Turkish troops and your promise to send your representative, Stewart, and Mr. Power to Dongola, both of whom the Most High God has destroyed.

And the second (telegram) with the same date and the same tenor, to the President of the Council and the English Minister in Cairo.

And the third (telegram) dated August 28, 1884, to the Mohurdâr (of the Khedive), in which you promise to send a detachment to attack Sheikh el Obeyed; which you sent, and the Most High God has destroyed.

Also your letter to the Khedive of Egypt, without date, in which you ask to have English soldiers sent, and appoint Zubair Pasha with reinforcements for withdrawal of the Egyptian troops to Egypt, and that you (will) give the Soudan to the Sultan on the arrival of the reinforcements of 200,000 men. And (you state that) if this be not done those in the Soudan will be killed, and their blood will be on their conscience (i.e. those to whom he writes will be responsible for their deaths). And the last you say in it (is) that Mahomed Ali Pasha is the only and single one in the Soudan on whom you (could) rely to take your place. But God has destroyed Mohamed Ali Pasha, on whom you rely.

The fourth telegram is dated August 28, to the Khedive of Egypt, and to Nubar Pasha and the English Consul in Egypt, in which you say that you were expecting the reinforcements before asked for—by way of Merowé—and also state the telegrams sent to the above-named at that date; in which you speak about fighting my auxiliaries, and about your having provisions for five months.

Also the telegram, dated August 25, 1884, to the above-mentioned, in which you pretend (suppose) that Ibrahim el Obeyed has been killed. And you say that you have the news of our arrival, which, however, was not confirmed.

And your letter to the President of the Council and the English Minister in Cairo, dated August 8, 1884, in which you speak of your appointing three steamers to go and inquire as to the state of Sennaar, and that you will send soldiers to Berber by the steamers to recapture it, sending with them Stewart and the Consuls, whom the Most High God has destroyed.

And the telegram, dated August 8, 1884, sent to the President of the Council and the English Minister, in which you promise to send 2000 soldiers to Berber for recovering it, and (say) that unless the reinforcements come to strengthen Berber, when the water of the Nile gets lower the same thing will happen again to Berber which had (already) happened.

Also your telegram to the Khedive of Egypt and Nubar Pasha, dated Sept. 8, 1884, in which you say it was your purpose to remove those (the garrison, &c.) at Sennaar, but that you saw that it would not be done; and (you mention) the sorrow of the inhabitants and of the employés at Kartoum and Sennaar at the non-arrival of succour.

Also the telegram, dated Sept. 9, to the Khedive of Egypt and Nubar Pasha and to the General, in which you speak of the sending of Stewart and those with him by the small steamer, and (with) the two large steamers escorting them for protection. And that you had so many times already asked for succour, and had deep anxiety for the state of the Soudan.

And (stating) that you had received no answer whatever, so that the people had become disgusted.

Also your telegram, dated August 28, 1884, stating that (as to) the Firmān emanating from the Khedive to all the nobles and notables and people of the Soudan, announcing the withdrawal of the troops of the Government from it, and their evacuation of the country, (and) leaving it to the Soudanese to appoint rulers of the country from among the natives,—you had not been able to communicate or to show it to anybody on account of what had taken place.

Also (we have seen) the two seals engraved with our name to imitate our seal.

We never miss any of your news, nor what is in your innermost thoughts, and about the strength and support—not of God—on which you rely. We have now understood it all.

Tricks in making ciphers, and using so many languages, are of no avail.

From the Most High God, to whom be praise, no secrets can be hidden.

As to your expecting reinforcements, reliance for succour on others than God, that will bring you nothing but destruction, and (cause you to) fall into utmost danger in this world and the next.

For God most High has dispersed sedition through our manifestation, and has vanquished the wicked and obstinate people, and has guided those who have understanding to the way of righteousness.

And there is no refuge but in God, and in obedience to His command, and that of His Prophet and of His Mahdi.

No doubt you have heard what has happened to your brethren, from whom you expected help, at Suakin and elsewhere, whom God has destroyed, and dispersed and abandoned.

Notwithstanding all this, as we have now arrived at Mushra’ el Koweh’, at a day’s journey from Omdurman, and are coming, please God, to your place, if you return to the Most High God, and become a Moslem, and surrender to His order and that of His Prophet, and believe in us as the Mahdi, send us a message from thee, and from those with thee, after laying down your arms and giving up the thought of fighting, so that I may send you one with safe conduct, by which you will obtain (assurance of) benefit of the blessing in this world and the next. Otherwise, and if you do not act thus, you will have to encounter war from God and His Prophet. And know that the Most High God is mighty (able) for thy destruction, as He has destroyed (others) before thee, who were much stronger than thou, and more numerous.

And you, and your children and your property, will be for a prey to the Moslems, and you will repent when repentance will not avail. For, after the beginning of the battle were you to surrender, it would be from fear, and not willingly, and that will not be accepted.

And there is no succour or strength but in God, and peace be upon those who have followed the Guidance.[345]

Dated (Wednesday) 7th day 2nd of Moharram, 1302.
Oct. 22, 1884.

_Postscript._—In one of your cipher telegrams sent to Bahhri and seized, you mention that the troops present in Bahr Gazelle and the Equator and elsewhere (number) 30,000 soldiers, whom you cannot leave behind, even though you should die.

And know that Bahr Gazelle and the Equator are both of them under our hand (power), and that both have followed us as Mahdi, and that they and their chief and all their officers are now among the auxiliaries of the Mahdi. And they have joined our lieutenant in that part, and letters from them are constantly coming and going without hindrance, or diminution of numbers.

And here inclosed are two letters of those which we have received from our agents (lieutenants) there. On seeing them thou wilt understand and know if Bahr Gazelle is (or not) in thy possession as thou thinkest, or whether it forms part and parcel of the Mahdi’s dominions.

And for thy better information, and in our compassion for thee and the worshippers of God (with thee), we have thought of adding this postscript, and so that you should see clearly what to do, this postscript was necessary.

(Seal.) There is no God but (God) ALLAH.
Mahomed is the prophet of (God) ALLAH.
Mahomed the Mahdi (son of) ABD-ALLAH.
(Year) 1292.

This Seal is square, and very large. It is roughly engraved, and the inscription forms a triplet, each line ending with the name of God.

The letter is altogether written on one side of a very large sheet of paper.