Chapter IIITwo Sulu OrationsThe Sulu Oration for the Feast of Ramadan(Written in the six semicircles)PRAISE BE TO GOD. GLORY BE TO GOD. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD. GOD IS ALMIGHTYThis oration was finished at noon, Friday, the 29th of Rabi-el-Akhir, in the year 1321 Hejira.In the name of God the Compassionate and Merciful. God is greatest. God is exalted. He is the Master of the World and the King of the Universe who rules with conquering power. Invisible to the eye, He is visible through His power and might. His is all the power and glory. His is all kindness and glory. He is the Almighty and the Ruler of All. He is everlasting and never dies. There is no God but He. Everything vanishes but the face of God. He is our Governor, and to Him all shall return. Before Him the learned men are humiliated; and the mighty humble themselves in His presence. All the prophets have spoken of His Lordship; and all the men of old have borne witness to His unity. All the men of learning have spoken of His eternal being. The wise men are unable to give an adequate description of His attributes. All that is in the earth and the heavens acknowledge His worship, and praise Him day and night without ceasing. God is greatest. He is the Lord of Lords and the Liberator of the World. He inspired the Book and commands the clouds. He overcomes all difficulties. He is the Cause of all Causes. He opens all doors and answers all who call Him. The Lord has said, “Call Me, and I shall answer you. All who despise My worship shall enter hell.” God is almighty. All the heavens praise Him. The sandy deserts, the shades and all darkness, on the right and on the left, praise Him morning and night. There is nothing that does not sing His praises; but you can not understand their praises. Oh, how kind and forgiving He is! God is almighty. All the angels praise Him. The heavens, the earth, the mountains and hills, and all the birds praise Him. Praise and glory be to Thee, O Lord. Thou art the Lord of Indescribable Might and Honor. Peace be to the missionaries, and praise to God, the Lord of the Universe.Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, the God of Kindness and of Grace, who ordained that the faithful should observe the month of fasting and gave them at the end thereof a feast, to all whether near or far, in token of His hospitality and generosity. Let us praise him always. He is righteous and all sacredness. The King of the Universe, land and sea. He ordained for the Mohammedans the two feasts, Ramadan and that of the Sacrifice. I bear witness that there is but one God, who is alone without a partner. He made the two feasts for the observance of all Mohammedans and the time of their celebration the greatest season of the year. I testify that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. God bless Mohammed at all times and through all ages. Oh, you people, fear God. May God have mercy on you fellow-Mohammedans and brothers in the faith. He has sent down to you this exalting and magnifying day as an expression of his generosity and hospitality. On this day He permits you to feast and forbids you to fast. Respectful observance of this day is pleasing to God and he who so observes it shall be greatly blessed. Charity on this day is highly acceptable. All you ask on this day shall be given you. On this day every call is answered. The prophet, God bless him, said, “On this day give charity for everyone, male and female, for every free man, for every slave, for the young, and for the old give a measure of flour or a measure of dates, a measure of rice, a measure of raisins, or a measure of barley, or whatever you eat on this day give as charity for all the people who are of your religion, of your nation and under your law. This will atone for your sins and all your misdeeds during the days of fasting.” The prophet, God bless him, has said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and withholds his measure of charity on the feast day, his fasting shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall not reach heaven, but shall be stopped halfway between earth and heaven.” The prophet said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days ofShawalshall be regarded as if he had fasted forever.” May God make us successful and honest and enlist us in the ranks of His faithful followers. The best of all speech is the word of God, the All-knowing King, the Exalted and the Respected. God himself, whose word is perfect truth, said, “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, that ye may obtain mercy.”When the Quran is read, ask refuge in God from the accursed devil. Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “God our Lord, send us a table from heaven that we may all, from the first to the last, feast thereon.” Be Thou generous to us for Thou art the best of all givers. Exalted is God the true King. There is no God but God, the Lord of the great throne. He who calls another god whose deity he can not prove shall renderaccount to the Lord his God. Infidels can not succeed. Say my Lord, forgive me, and have mercy upon me. Thou art most merciful.He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, whose praise is exalted and glorious. I testify that there is no God but God, and that He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, and the bright light of the world. May God bless Mohammed and all his people and descendants. Oh, ye people, depart from evil and draw near to good. Avoid excess and ye shall be happy. God and His angels bless the prophet. Ye who have faith bless Him also. Ye servants of God answer His call, and bless Him through whom God has directed you. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants, for he has directed us to paradise and the roads that lead thereto. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants because he warned us of the fire and its evils. O God, forgive his followers, and his caliphs Abu-Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Talhat, Zubayr, Abdu-r-Rahmān the son of Awf, Sa’din Saidin, and Abi Ubaydat, because they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. O God, forgive all other followers and friends of your prophet, and all who follow them. Be kind to them in the day of judgment. Give them and us mercy, for Thou art most merciful. O God, perpetuate the power and the victories and the conquests of him whom Thou hast chosen for the administration and good management of temporal affairs and religion; he who beseeches the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the Sultan Mohammed Pudhalun, the son of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, and the Sultan, the master, and the noble whom Thou hast chosen, Sultan Esh-Sharīfu-l-Hāshim, the kindled light of God; and our thoughtful and wise master the late Sultan Kamālu-d-Dīn; and protect the kind and generous late Sultan Alawa-d-Dīn, whose descendants became the kings of the Sulu country. Protect the champion of the Mohammedan religion and faith, the late Sultan Amīrul Umara, and the late Sultan Shāh Muizzu-l-Mutawādhi-īn. Protect the power of the generous and victorious late Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the First. Defend the conqueror, the late Sultan Shāh Mohammed el Halīm; defend the intelligent late Sultan Batara Shāh; protect the noble late Sultan Muwalli el Wasīt Shāh; aid our great master, the excellent and powerful and the victorious on land and sea, the Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the Last; aid the just and honorable and ascetic master, the late Sultan Shāh Salāhu-d-Dīn.O God, support Islam and all Mohammedans. Fight against atheism and heresy and evil, the enemies of religion. Aid the ever-victorious Sultan Ali Shāh, the great and most superior sultan; sultan of the land and sea; and his heir, the late Sultan Shāh Shahābu-d-Dīn Mohammed,who was versed in law and all learning; and the late Sultan Shāh Shāfi-d-Dīn Mohammed Mustafa, the best of all things. Defend the late sultan and wise Governor Shāh Badaru-d-Dīn Mohammed, the victorious. May God perpetuate on earth his power, and his kingdom, and his justice.O God, support the late Sultan Nasaru-d-Dīn, the victorious, the administrator, and the able supporter of our religion; the late Sultan Alīmu-d-Dīn the First, Mohammed, the prince of the faithful, the seeker of God’s mercy; and the obedient to His will; the late Sultan Shāh Muizzi-d-Dīn Mohammed, the emigrant, the learned, the truthful, and the generous; the late patient Sultan Shāh Mohammed Isrāyil; the late Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Second, Mohammed, the peaceful, the chosen, and the powerful; the late Sultan Shāh Sharafu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the merciful, seeker of knowledge, and doer of good deeds; the late noble Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Third, Mohammed; the late Sultan Shah Aliu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the great and victorious; the late Sultan Shāh Shakira-l-Lah Mohammed, conqueror of atheism and heresy, who was versed in Mohammedanism and monotheism; the late Sultan Shāh Jamālu-l-Kīram Mohammed, the kind and the wise and beloved of his people, master of truth and good, whom God alone prevented from making the pilgrimage to the House, and who was patient, lenient, and good, who encouraged good deeds and forbade evil, and who was good in his administration. May God perpetuate his kingdom, his power, his justice, and his kindness. May God forgive him and his forefathers and be good to all of them and give them a place in paradise. O God, aid all who befriend him; be the enemy of all his enemies; uphold all who uphold him; reject those who reject him; and vanquish those who may vanquish him. Be Thou his help and aid, and use him as a sword of vengeance against all offenders.Thou art my God, the God of Truth and Lord of the Universe.O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the most powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. OGod, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.This was written by the poor and humble pilgrim Hajji Abdu-l-Bāqi, who hopes for forgiveness from the forgiving Lord and who was the son of Twan Hatib Jawari, a native of Sulug and follower of Shafi’i and Ash’ari.May God forgive them and all Mohammedans and all the faithful. Amen.First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanFirst page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanSecond page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanThird page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)The Sulu Friday OrationIN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL. TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT GODThis I repeat a thousand times more than others. God is greater, far greater, than He is thought to be. I testify that there is no God but God alone. God is one, and only one. He has no partner. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that is therein. God is owner of all.I testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle, sent by Him to guide all people to the true religion, and that His religion may thereby be exalted above all others, though the unfaithful and the worshipers of many gods may reject it. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and all his descendants and bestow on them all the blessings that can be named and all the blessings that can be forgotten. I advise ye, O people, and myself, servants of God, with fear of God which is the sign of faith and God’s command to us all. Fellow-Mohammedans, the mercy of God be upon you. Friday is the chief of all days. The apostle of God said: “The day Friday is the chief of all days.” It is greater than the day of Ramadan and the day of el-Adha and the day of Ashura.Charity on Friday is preferable to all charity. Good deeds done on Friday are preferable to all good deeds, and evil done on Friday is the greatest evil that can be done. The noblest and best men have testified to its greatness over other days. It is the beauty of all days and years. It is a pilgrimage that the poor can make once every seven days. Its observance intercedes for the offender before the King of Unbounded Knowledge.It has been told of the chosen prophet that he said: “God registers the name of the person who leaves out three successive Fridays, on a tablet on which he keeps the number of liars.” The prophet said that he who leaves out three successive Fridays shall have written on his forehead when the day of judgment comes: “He has no hope of the mercy of God.” May God bless us and give us all peace.May it be that God has declared us among the successful and the faithful and enlisted us into the number of His good servants. The best of all utterances and constitutions are in the word of God, King of Unbounded Knowledge, possessor of glory and of all reverence. It is God the Highest who speaks and who is the truest of all speakers.When the Quran is read you should listen attentively so that you may obtain mercy. He said, and His saying is most precious and full of wisdom, “When you read the Quran ask God’s help against the accursed Satan.” I take refuge in God the All Hearing and All Knowing from the accursed Satan. Oh, ye who have believed, when you hear the call for prayers on Friday go ye to hear God’s word. Leave your business, for you have a greater good and benefit in this. May God bless the great Quran for us, and may he benefit us through its texts and the wise mention of His name. May He reward us all with mercy from the painful punishment.I command you, and myself, with what God demands for good obedience so that you may obey Him. And I prohibit you from doing evil and from disobedience as He prohibits you so that you may not disobey him. I pray for the plentiful reward of God for you and for myself, so that you may seek Him; and I ask the pardon and forgiveness of God for you and for myself and for all the faithful Mohammedans for He is gracious and forgiving.Praise be to God. I praise and exalt God with all my strength and I testify that, there is no God but God. God is one and only one. God has no partner. He knows all and has good news for you all. I testify that Mohammed is the servant of God and His apostle, and a shining light to the world. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and his people and descendants because he is our preacher and warner. To ye, Oh, people, I say, fear God, draw near to good, and depart from evil. God and all His angels bless the prophet. All ye believers bless him, too. Ye servants of God, obey the call of God, and bless him who directed you to God. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the people of Mohammed, for he directed us to paradise and to the roads that lead thereto. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the descendants of Mohammed, because he warned us of the fire and its destruction. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed because he conquered the kings of the infidels and their empires. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his followers and his successors, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abi Ubaydat, for they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his two sons, Hasan and Husein, and his two noble uncles, Hamzat and Abbas; and mayst Thou be kind to all the emigrants and all the allies and followers till the judgment day, that we may share Thy mercy with them and through them, for Thou art most merciful. We ask Thee, O God, to perpetuate the power, the victory, and the valor of those whom Thou hast chosen for the good administration and good conduct of our religious and worldly affairs, chief among whom is he who begs the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the sultan and the pilgrim, Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, the brother of the late sultan, the pilgrim Mohammed Badaru-d-Dīn the Second, both of whom made the pilgrimage to the house Al-Harāam.May God give them a place with the faithful. They are the children of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-A’lam. May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power, and his justice and kindness. And may God forgive his predecessors and his grandfathers and be good to them and give them a place in paradise. We ask Thee, O God, to be friendly with those who are friendly with him, and to antagonize them who are against him; give victory to those who aid him; reject those who reject him; vanquish those who disobey him, and be his help and helper and make him Thy sword of vengeance against the offender. O God, my God, Thou art Truth and the Lord of the Universe. O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and in the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. O God, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.First page of the Sulu Friday orationFirst page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Second page of the Sulu Friday orationSecond page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Third page of the Sulu Friday orationThird page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
Chapter IIITwo Sulu OrationsThe Sulu Oration for the Feast of Ramadan(Written in the six semicircles)PRAISE BE TO GOD. GLORY BE TO GOD. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD. GOD IS ALMIGHTYThis oration was finished at noon, Friday, the 29th of Rabi-el-Akhir, in the year 1321 Hejira.In the name of God the Compassionate and Merciful. God is greatest. God is exalted. He is the Master of the World and the King of the Universe who rules with conquering power. Invisible to the eye, He is visible through His power and might. His is all the power and glory. His is all kindness and glory. He is the Almighty and the Ruler of All. He is everlasting and never dies. There is no God but He. Everything vanishes but the face of God. He is our Governor, and to Him all shall return. Before Him the learned men are humiliated; and the mighty humble themselves in His presence. All the prophets have spoken of His Lordship; and all the men of old have borne witness to His unity. All the men of learning have spoken of His eternal being. The wise men are unable to give an adequate description of His attributes. All that is in the earth and the heavens acknowledge His worship, and praise Him day and night without ceasing. God is greatest. He is the Lord of Lords and the Liberator of the World. He inspired the Book and commands the clouds. He overcomes all difficulties. He is the Cause of all Causes. He opens all doors and answers all who call Him. The Lord has said, “Call Me, and I shall answer you. All who despise My worship shall enter hell.” God is almighty. All the heavens praise Him. The sandy deserts, the shades and all darkness, on the right and on the left, praise Him morning and night. There is nothing that does not sing His praises; but you can not understand their praises. Oh, how kind and forgiving He is! God is almighty. All the angels praise Him. The heavens, the earth, the mountains and hills, and all the birds praise Him. Praise and glory be to Thee, O Lord. Thou art the Lord of Indescribable Might and Honor. Peace be to the missionaries, and praise to God, the Lord of the Universe.Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, the God of Kindness and of Grace, who ordained that the faithful should observe the month of fasting and gave them at the end thereof a feast, to all whether near or far, in token of His hospitality and generosity. Let us praise him always. He is righteous and all sacredness. The King of the Universe, land and sea. He ordained for the Mohammedans the two feasts, Ramadan and that of the Sacrifice. I bear witness that there is but one God, who is alone without a partner. He made the two feasts for the observance of all Mohammedans and the time of their celebration the greatest season of the year. I testify that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. God bless Mohammed at all times and through all ages. Oh, you people, fear God. May God have mercy on you fellow-Mohammedans and brothers in the faith. He has sent down to you this exalting and magnifying day as an expression of his generosity and hospitality. On this day He permits you to feast and forbids you to fast. Respectful observance of this day is pleasing to God and he who so observes it shall be greatly blessed. Charity on this day is highly acceptable. All you ask on this day shall be given you. On this day every call is answered. The prophet, God bless him, said, “On this day give charity for everyone, male and female, for every free man, for every slave, for the young, and for the old give a measure of flour or a measure of dates, a measure of rice, a measure of raisins, or a measure of barley, or whatever you eat on this day give as charity for all the people who are of your religion, of your nation and under your law. This will atone for your sins and all your misdeeds during the days of fasting.” The prophet, God bless him, has said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and withholds his measure of charity on the feast day, his fasting shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall not reach heaven, but shall be stopped halfway between earth and heaven.” The prophet said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days ofShawalshall be regarded as if he had fasted forever.” May God make us successful and honest and enlist us in the ranks of His faithful followers. The best of all speech is the word of God, the All-knowing King, the Exalted and the Respected. God himself, whose word is perfect truth, said, “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, that ye may obtain mercy.”When the Quran is read, ask refuge in God from the accursed devil. Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “God our Lord, send us a table from heaven that we may all, from the first to the last, feast thereon.” Be Thou generous to us for Thou art the best of all givers. Exalted is God the true King. There is no God but God, the Lord of the great throne. He who calls another god whose deity he can not prove shall renderaccount to the Lord his God. Infidels can not succeed. Say my Lord, forgive me, and have mercy upon me. Thou art most merciful.He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, whose praise is exalted and glorious. I testify that there is no God but God, and that He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, and the bright light of the world. May God bless Mohammed and all his people and descendants. Oh, ye people, depart from evil and draw near to good. Avoid excess and ye shall be happy. God and His angels bless the prophet. Ye who have faith bless Him also. Ye servants of God answer His call, and bless Him through whom God has directed you. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants, for he has directed us to paradise and the roads that lead thereto. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants because he warned us of the fire and its evils. O God, forgive his followers, and his caliphs Abu-Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Talhat, Zubayr, Abdu-r-Rahmān the son of Awf, Sa’din Saidin, and Abi Ubaydat, because they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. O God, forgive all other followers and friends of your prophet, and all who follow them. Be kind to them in the day of judgment. Give them and us mercy, for Thou art most merciful. O God, perpetuate the power and the victories and the conquests of him whom Thou hast chosen for the administration and good management of temporal affairs and religion; he who beseeches the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the Sultan Mohammed Pudhalun, the son of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, and the Sultan, the master, and the noble whom Thou hast chosen, Sultan Esh-Sharīfu-l-Hāshim, the kindled light of God; and our thoughtful and wise master the late Sultan Kamālu-d-Dīn; and protect the kind and generous late Sultan Alawa-d-Dīn, whose descendants became the kings of the Sulu country. Protect the champion of the Mohammedan religion and faith, the late Sultan Amīrul Umara, and the late Sultan Shāh Muizzu-l-Mutawādhi-īn. Protect the power of the generous and victorious late Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the First. Defend the conqueror, the late Sultan Shāh Mohammed el Halīm; defend the intelligent late Sultan Batara Shāh; protect the noble late Sultan Muwalli el Wasīt Shāh; aid our great master, the excellent and powerful and the victorious on land and sea, the Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the Last; aid the just and honorable and ascetic master, the late Sultan Shāh Salāhu-d-Dīn.O God, support Islam and all Mohammedans. Fight against atheism and heresy and evil, the enemies of religion. Aid the ever-victorious Sultan Ali Shāh, the great and most superior sultan; sultan of the land and sea; and his heir, the late Sultan Shāh Shahābu-d-Dīn Mohammed,who was versed in law and all learning; and the late Sultan Shāh Shāfi-d-Dīn Mohammed Mustafa, the best of all things. Defend the late sultan and wise Governor Shāh Badaru-d-Dīn Mohammed, the victorious. May God perpetuate on earth his power, and his kingdom, and his justice.O God, support the late Sultan Nasaru-d-Dīn, the victorious, the administrator, and the able supporter of our religion; the late Sultan Alīmu-d-Dīn the First, Mohammed, the prince of the faithful, the seeker of God’s mercy; and the obedient to His will; the late Sultan Shāh Muizzi-d-Dīn Mohammed, the emigrant, the learned, the truthful, and the generous; the late patient Sultan Shāh Mohammed Isrāyil; the late Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Second, Mohammed, the peaceful, the chosen, and the powerful; the late Sultan Shāh Sharafu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the merciful, seeker of knowledge, and doer of good deeds; the late noble Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Third, Mohammed; the late Sultan Shah Aliu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the great and victorious; the late Sultan Shāh Shakira-l-Lah Mohammed, conqueror of atheism and heresy, who was versed in Mohammedanism and monotheism; the late Sultan Shāh Jamālu-l-Kīram Mohammed, the kind and the wise and beloved of his people, master of truth and good, whom God alone prevented from making the pilgrimage to the House, and who was patient, lenient, and good, who encouraged good deeds and forbade evil, and who was good in his administration. May God perpetuate his kingdom, his power, his justice, and his kindness. May God forgive him and his forefathers and be good to all of them and give them a place in paradise. O God, aid all who befriend him; be the enemy of all his enemies; uphold all who uphold him; reject those who reject him; and vanquish those who may vanquish him. Be Thou his help and aid, and use him as a sword of vengeance against all offenders.Thou art my God, the God of Truth and Lord of the Universe.O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the most powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. OGod, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.This was written by the poor and humble pilgrim Hajji Abdu-l-Bāqi, who hopes for forgiveness from the forgiving Lord and who was the son of Twan Hatib Jawari, a native of Sulug and follower of Shafi’i and Ash’ari.May God forgive them and all Mohammedans and all the faithful. Amen.First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanFirst page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanSecond page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanThird page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)The Sulu Friday OrationIN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL. TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT GODThis I repeat a thousand times more than others. God is greater, far greater, than He is thought to be. I testify that there is no God but God alone. God is one, and only one. He has no partner. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that is therein. God is owner of all.I testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle, sent by Him to guide all people to the true religion, and that His religion may thereby be exalted above all others, though the unfaithful and the worshipers of many gods may reject it. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and all his descendants and bestow on them all the blessings that can be named and all the blessings that can be forgotten. I advise ye, O people, and myself, servants of God, with fear of God which is the sign of faith and God’s command to us all. Fellow-Mohammedans, the mercy of God be upon you. Friday is the chief of all days. The apostle of God said: “The day Friday is the chief of all days.” It is greater than the day of Ramadan and the day of el-Adha and the day of Ashura.Charity on Friday is preferable to all charity. Good deeds done on Friday are preferable to all good deeds, and evil done on Friday is the greatest evil that can be done. The noblest and best men have testified to its greatness over other days. It is the beauty of all days and years. It is a pilgrimage that the poor can make once every seven days. Its observance intercedes for the offender before the King of Unbounded Knowledge.It has been told of the chosen prophet that he said: “God registers the name of the person who leaves out three successive Fridays, on a tablet on which he keeps the number of liars.” The prophet said that he who leaves out three successive Fridays shall have written on his forehead when the day of judgment comes: “He has no hope of the mercy of God.” May God bless us and give us all peace.May it be that God has declared us among the successful and the faithful and enlisted us into the number of His good servants. The best of all utterances and constitutions are in the word of God, King of Unbounded Knowledge, possessor of glory and of all reverence. It is God the Highest who speaks and who is the truest of all speakers.When the Quran is read you should listen attentively so that you may obtain mercy. He said, and His saying is most precious and full of wisdom, “When you read the Quran ask God’s help against the accursed Satan.” I take refuge in God the All Hearing and All Knowing from the accursed Satan. Oh, ye who have believed, when you hear the call for prayers on Friday go ye to hear God’s word. Leave your business, for you have a greater good and benefit in this. May God bless the great Quran for us, and may he benefit us through its texts and the wise mention of His name. May He reward us all with mercy from the painful punishment.I command you, and myself, with what God demands for good obedience so that you may obey Him. And I prohibit you from doing evil and from disobedience as He prohibits you so that you may not disobey him. I pray for the plentiful reward of God for you and for myself, so that you may seek Him; and I ask the pardon and forgiveness of God for you and for myself and for all the faithful Mohammedans for He is gracious and forgiving.Praise be to God. I praise and exalt God with all my strength and I testify that, there is no God but God. God is one and only one. God has no partner. He knows all and has good news for you all. I testify that Mohammed is the servant of God and His apostle, and a shining light to the world. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and his people and descendants because he is our preacher and warner. To ye, Oh, people, I say, fear God, draw near to good, and depart from evil. God and all His angels bless the prophet. All ye believers bless him, too. Ye servants of God, obey the call of God, and bless him who directed you to God. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the people of Mohammed, for he directed us to paradise and to the roads that lead thereto. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the descendants of Mohammed, because he warned us of the fire and its destruction. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed because he conquered the kings of the infidels and their empires. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his followers and his successors, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abi Ubaydat, for they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his two sons, Hasan and Husein, and his two noble uncles, Hamzat and Abbas; and mayst Thou be kind to all the emigrants and all the allies and followers till the judgment day, that we may share Thy mercy with them and through them, for Thou art most merciful. We ask Thee, O God, to perpetuate the power, the victory, and the valor of those whom Thou hast chosen for the good administration and good conduct of our religious and worldly affairs, chief among whom is he who begs the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the sultan and the pilgrim, Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, the brother of the late sultan, the pilgrim Mohammed Badaru-d-Dīn the Second, both of whom made the pilgrimage to the house Al-Harāam.May God give them a place with the faithful. They are the children of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-A’lam. May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power, and his justice and kindness. And may God forgive his predecessors and his grandfathers and be good to them and give them a place in paradise. We ask Thee, O God, to be friendly with those who are friendly with him, and to antagonize them who are against him; give victory to those who aid him; reject those who reject him; vanquish those who disobey him, and be his help and helper and make him Thy sword of vengeance against the offender. O God, my God, Thou art Truth and the Lord of the Universe. O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and in the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. O God, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.First page of the Sulu Friday orationFirst page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Second page of the Sulu Friday orationSecond page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Third page of the Sulu Friday orationThird page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
Chapter IIITwo Sulu OrationsThe Sulu Oration for the Feast of Ramadan(Written in the six semicircles)PRAISE BE TO GOD. GLORY BE TO GOD. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD. GOD IS ALMIGHTYThis oration was finished at noon, Friday, the 29th of Rabi-el-Akhir, in the year 1321 Hejira.In the name of God the Compassionate and Merciful. God is greatest. God is exalted. He is the Master of the World and the King of the Universe who rules with conquering power. Invisible to the eye, He is visible through His power and might. His is all the power and glory. His is all kindness and glory. He is the Almighty and the Ruler of All. He is everlasting and never dies. There is no God but He. Everything vanishes but the face of God. He is our Governor, and to Him all shall return. Before Him the learned men are humiliated; and the mighty humble themselves in His presence. All the prophets have spoken of His Lordship; and all the men of old have borne witness to His unity. All the men of learning have spoken of His eternal being. The wise men are unable to give an adequate description of His attributes. All that is in the earth and the heavens acknowledge His worship, and praise Him day and night without ceasing. God is greatest. He is the Lord of Lords and the Liberator of the World. He inspired the Book and commands the clouds. He overcomes all difficulties. He is the Cause of all Causes. He opens all doors and answers all who call Him. The Lord has said, “Call Me, and I shall answer you. All who despise My worship shall enter hell.” God is almighty. All the heavens praise Him. The sandy deserts, the shades and all darkness, on the right and on the left, praise Him morning and night. There is nothing that does not sing His praises; but you can not understand their praises. Oh, how kind and forgiving He is! God is almighty. All the angels praise Him. The heavens, the earth, the mountains and hills, and all the birds praise Him. Praise and glory be to Thee, O Lord. Thou art the Lord of Indescribable Might and Honor. Peace be to the missionaries, and praise to God, the Lord of the Universe.Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, the God of Kindness and of Grace, who ordained that the faithful should observe the month of fasting and gave them at the end thereof a feast, to all whether near or far, in token of His hospitality and generosity. Let us praise him always. He is righteous and all sacredness. The King of the Universe, land and sea. He ordained for the Mohammedans the two feasts, Ramadan and that of the Sacrifice. I bear witness that there is but one God, who is alone without a partner. He made the two feasts for the observance of all Mohammedans and the time of their celebration the greatest season of the year. I testify that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. God bless Mohammed at all times and through all ages. Oh, you people, fear God. May God have mercy on you fellow-Mohammedans and brothers in the faith. He has sent down to you this exalting and magnifying day as an expression of his generosity and hospitality. On this day He permits you to feast and forbids you to fast. Respectful observance of this day is pleasing to God and he who so observes it shall be greatly blessed. Charity on this day is highly acceptable. All you ask on this day shall be given you. On this day every call is answered. The prophet, God bless him, said, “On this day give charity for everyone, male and female, for every free man, for every slave, for the young, and for the old give a measure of flour or a measure of dates, a measure of rice, a measure of raisins, or a measure of barley, or whatever you eat on this day give as charity for all the people who are of your religion, of your nation and under your law. This will atone for your sins and all your misdeeds during the days of fasting.” The prophet, God bless him, has said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and withholds his measure of charity on the feast day, his fasting shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall not reach heaven, but shall be stopped halfway between earth and heaven.” The prophet said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days ofShawalshall be regarded as if he had fasted forever.” May God make us successful and honest and enlist us in the ranks of His faithful followers. The best of all speech is the word of God, the All-knowing King, the Exalted and the Respected. God himself, whose word is perfect truth, said, “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, that ye may obtain mercy.”When the Quran is read, ask refuge in God from the accursed devil. Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “God our Lord, send us a table from heaven that we may all, from the first to the last, feast thereon.” Be Thou generous to us for Thou art the best of all givers. Exalted is God the true King. There is no God but God, the Lord of the great throne. He who calls another god whose deity he can not prove shall renderaccount to the Lord his God. Infidels can not succeed. Say my Lord, forgive me, and have mercy upon me. Thou art most merciful.He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, whose praise is exalted and glorious. I testify that there is no God but God, and that He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, and the bright light of the world. May God bless Mohammed and all his people and descendants. Oh, ye people, depart from evil and draw near to good. Avoid excess and ye shall be happy. God and His angels bless the prophet. Ye who have faith bless Him also. Ye servants of God answer His call, and bless Him through whom God has directed you. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants, for he has directed us to paradise and the roads that lead thereto. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants because he warned us of the fire and its evils. O God, forgive his followers, and his caliphs Abu-Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Talhat, Zubayr, Abdu-r-Rahmān the son of Awf, Sa’din Saidin, and Abi Ubaydat, because they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. O God, forgive all other followers and friends of your prophet, and all who follow them. Be kind to them in the day of judgment. Give them and us mercy, for Thou art most merciful. O God, perpetuate the power and the victories and the conquests of him whom Thou hast chosen for the administration and good management of temporal affairs and religion; he who beseeches the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the Sultan Mohammed Pudhalun, the son of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, and the Sultan, the master, and the noble whom Thou hast chosen, Sultan Esh-Sharīfu-l-Hāshim, the kindled light of God; and our thoughtful and wise master the late Sultan Kamālu-d-Dīn; and protect the kind and generous late Sultan Alawa-d-Dīn, whose descendants became the kings of the Sulu country. Protect the champion of the Mohammedan religion and faith, the late Sultan Amīrul Umara, and the late Sultan Shāh Muizzu-l-Mutawādhi-īn. Protect the power of the generous and victorious late Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the First. Defend the conqueror, the late Sultan Shāh Mohammed el Halīm; defend the intelligent late Sultan Batara Shāh; protect the noble late Sultan Muwalli el Wasīt Shāh; aid our great master, the excellent and powerful and the victorious on land and sea, the Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the Last; aid the just and honorable and ascetic master, the late Sultan Shāh Salāhu-d-Dīn.O God, support Islam and all Mohammedans. Fight against atheism and heresy and evil, the enemies of religion. Aid the ever-victorious Sultan Ali Shāh, the great and most superior sultan; sultan of the land and sea; and his heir, the late Sultan Shāh Shahābu-d-Dīn Mohammed,who was versed in law and all learning; and the late Sultan Shāh Shāfi-d-Dīn Mohammed Mustafa, the best of all things. Defend the late sultan and wise Governor Shāh Badaru-d-Dīn Mohammed, the victorious. May God perpetuate on earth his power, and his kingdom, and his justice.O God, support the late Sultan Nasaru-d-Dīn, the victorious, the administrator, and the able supporter of our religion; the late Sultan Alīmu-d-Dīn the First, Mohammed, the prince of the faithful, the seeker of God’s mercy; and the obedient to His will; the late Sultan Shāh Muizzi-d-Dīn Mohammed, the emigrant, the learned, the truthful, and the generous; the late patient Sultan Shāh Mohammed Isrāyil; the late Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Second, Mohammed, the peaceful, the chosen, and the powerful; the late Sultan Shāh Sharafu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the merciful, seeker of knowledge, and doer of good deeds; the late noble Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Third, Mohammed; the late Sultan Shah Aliu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the great and victorious; the late Sultan Shāh Shakira-l-Lah Mohammed, conqueror of atheism and heresy, who was versed in Mohammedanism and monotheism; the late Sultan Shāh Jamālu-l-Kīram Mohammed, the kind and the wise and beloved of his people, master of truth and good, whom God alone prevented from making the pilgrimage to the House, and who was patient, lenient, and good, who encouraged good deeds and forbade evil, and who was good in his administration. May God perpetuate his kingdom, his power, his justice, and his kindness. May God forgive him and his forefathers and be good to all of them and give them a place in paradise. O God, aid all who befriend him; be the enemy of all his enemies; uphold all who uphold him; reject those who reject him; and vanquish those who may vanquish him. Be Thou his help and aid, and use him as a sword of vengeance against all offenders.Thou art my God, the God of Truth and Lord of the Universe.O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the most powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. OGod, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.This was written by the poor and humble pilgrim Hajji Abdu-l-Bāqi, who hopes for forgiveness from the forgiving Lord and who was the son of Twan Hatib Jawari, a native of Sulug and follower of Shafi’i and Ash’ari.May God forgive them and all Mohammedans and all the faithful. Amen.First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanFirst page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanSecond page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanThird page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)The Sulu Friday OrationIN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL. TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT GODThis I repeat a thousand times more than others. God is greater, far greater, than He is thought to be. I testify that there is no God but God alone. God is one, and only one. He has no partner. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that is therein. God is owner of all.I testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle, sent by Him to guide all people to the true religion, and that His religion may thereby be exalted above all others, though the unfaithful and the worshipers of many gods may reject it. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and all his descendants and bestow on them all the blessings that can be named and all the blessings that can be forgotten. I advise ye, O people, and myself, servants of God, with fear of God which is the sign of faith and God’s command to us all. Fellow-Mohammedans, the mercy of God be upon you. Friday is the chief of all days. The apostle of God said: “The day Friday is the chief of all days.” It is greater than the day of Ramadan and the day of el-Adha and the day of Ashura.Charity on Friday is preferable to all charity. Good deeds done on Friday are preferable to all good deeds, and evil done on Friday is the greatest evil that can be done. The noblest and best men have testified to its greatness over other days. It is the beauty of all days and years. It is a pilgrimage that the poor can make once every seven days. Its observance intercedes for the offender before the King of Unbounded Knowledge.It has been told of the chosen prophet that he said: “God registers the name of the person who leaves out three successive Fridays, on a tablet on which he keeps the number of liars.” The prophet said that he who leaves out three successive Fridays shall have written on his forehead when the day of judgment comes: “He has no hope of the mercy of God.” May God bless us and give us all peace.May it be that God has declared us among the successful and the faithful and enlisted us into the number of His good servants. The best of all utterances and constitutions are in the word of God, King of Unbounded Knowledge, possessor of glory and of all reverence. It is God the Highest who speaks and who is the truest of all speakers.When the Quran is read you should listen attentively so that you may obtain mercy. He said, and His saying is most precious and full of wisdom, “When you read the Quran ask God’s help against the accursed Satan.” I take refuge in God the All Hearing and All Knowing from the accursed Satan. Oh, ye who have believed, when you hear the call for prayers on Friday go ye to hear God’s word. Leave your business, for you have a greater good and benefit in this. May God bless the great Quran for us, and may he benefit us through its texts and the wise mention of His name. May He reward us all with mercy from the painful punishment.I command you, and myself, with what God demands for good obedience so that you may obey Him. And I prohibit you from doing evil and from disobedience as He prohibits you so that you may not disobey him. I pray for the plentiful reward of God for you and for myself, so that you may seek Him; and I ask the pardon and forgiveness of God for you and for myself and for all the faithful Mohammedans for He is gracious and forgiving.Praise be to God. I praise and exalt God with all my strength and I testify that, there is no God but God. God is one and only one. God has no partner. He knows all and has good news for you all. I testify that Mohammed is the servant of God and His apostle, and a shining light to the world. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and his people and descendants because he is our preacher and warner. To ye, Oh, people, I say, fear God, draw near to good, and depart from evil. God and all His angels bless the prophet. All ye believers bless him, too. Ye servants of God, obey the call of God, and bless him who directed you to God. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the people of Mohammed, for he directed us to paradise and to the roads that lead thereto. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the descendants of Mohammed, because he warned us of the fire and its destruction. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed because he conquered the kings of the infidels and their empires. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his followers and his successors, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abi Ubaydat, for they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his two sons, Hasan and Husein, and his two noble uncles, Hamzat and Abbas; and mayst Thou be kind to all the emigrants and all the allies and followers till the judgment day, that we may share Thy mercy with them and through them, for Thou art most merciful. We ask Thee, O God, to perpetuate the power, the victory, and the valor of those whom Thou hast chosen for the good administration and good conduct of our religious and worldly affairs, chief among whom is he who begs the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the sultan and the pilgrim, Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, the brother of the late sultan, the pilgrim Mohammed Badaru-d-Dīn the Second, both of whom made the pilgrimage to the house Al-Harāam.May God give them a place with the faithful. They are the children of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-A’lam. May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power, and his justice and kindness. And may God forgive his predecessors and his grandfathers and be good to them and give them a place in paradise. We ask Thee, O God, to be friendly with those who are friendly with him, and to antagonize them who are against him; give victory to those who aid him; reject those who reject him; vanquish those who disobey him, and be his help and helper and make him Thy sword of vengeance against the offender. O God, my God, Thou art Truth and the Lord of the Universe. O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and in the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. O God, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.First page of the Sulu Friday orationFirst page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Second page of the Sulu Friday orationSecond page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Third page of the Sulu Friday orationThird page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
The Sulu Oration for the Feast of Ramadan(Written in the six semicircles)PRAISE BE TO GOD. GLORY BE TO GOD. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD. GOD IS ALMIGHTYThis oration was finished at noon, Friday, the 29th of Rabi-el-Akhir, in the year 1321 Hejira.In the name of God the Compassionate and Merciful. God is greatest. God is exalted. He is the Master of the World and the King of the Universe who rules with conquering power. Invisible to the eye, He is visible through His power and might. His is all the power and glory. His is all kindness and glory. He is the Almighty and the Ruler of All. He is everlasting and never dies. There is no God but He. Everything vanishes but the face of God. He is our Governor, and to Him all shall return. Before Him the learned men are humiliated; and the mighty humble themselves in His presence. All the prophets have spoken of His Lordship; and all the men of old have borne witness to His unity. All the men of learning have spoken of His eternal being. The wise men are unable to give an adequate description of His attributes. All that is in the earth and the heavens acknowledge His worship, and praise Him day and night without ceasing. God is greatest. He is the Lord of Lords and the Liberator of the World. He inspired the Book and commands the clouds. He overcomes all difficulties. He is the Cause of all Causes. He opens all doors and answers all who call Him. The Lord has said, “Call Me, and I shall answer you. All who despise My worship shall enter hell.” God is almighty. All the heavens praise Him. The sandy deserts, the shades and all darkness, on the right and on the left, praise Him morning and night. There is nothing that does not sing His praises; but you can not understand their praises. Oh, how kind and forgiving He is! God is almighty. All the angels praise Him. The heavens, the earth, the mountains and hills, and all the birds praise Him. Praise and glory be to Thee, O Lord. Thou art the Lord of Indescribable Might and Honor. Peace be to the missionaries, and praise to God, the Lord of the Universe.Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, the God of Kindness and of Grace, who ordained that the faithful should observe the month of fasting and gave them at the end thereof a feast, to all whether near or far, in token of His hospitality and generosity. Let us praise him always. He is righteous and all sacredness. The King of the Universe, land and sea. He ordained for the Mohammedans the two feasts, Ramadan and that of the Sacrifice. I bear witness that there is but one God, who is alone without a partner. He made the two feasts for the observance of all Mohammedans and the time of their celebration the greatest season of the year. I testify that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. God bless Mohammed at all times and through all ages. Oh, you people, fear God. May God have mercy on you fellow-Mohammedans and brothers in the faith. He has sent down to you this exalting and magnifying day as an expression of his generosity and hospitality. On this day He permits you to feast and forbids you to fast. Respectful observance of this day is pleasing to God and he who so observes it shall be greatly blessed. Charity on this day is highly acceptable. All you ask on this day shall be given you. On this day every call is answered. The prophet, God bless him, said, “On this day give charity for everyone, male and female, for every free man, for every slave, for the young, and for the old give a measure of flour or a measure of dates, a measure of rice, a measure of raisins, or a measure of barley, or whatever you eat on this day give as charity for all the people who are of your religion, of your nation and under your law. This will atone for your sins and all your misdeeds during the days of fasting.” The prophet, God bless him, has said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and withholds his measure of charity on the feast day, his fasting shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall not reach heaven, but shall be stopped halfway between earth and heaven.” The prophet said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days ofShawalshall be regarded as if he had fasted forever.” May God make us successful and honest and enlist us in the ranks of His faithful followers. The best of all speech is the word of God, the All-knowing King, the Exalted and the Respected. God himself, whose word is perfect truth, said, “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, that ye may obtain mercy.”When the Quran is read, ask refuge in God from the accursed devil. Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “God our Lord, send us a table from heaven that we may all, from the first to the last, feast thereon.” Be Thou generous to us for Thou art the best of all givers. Exalted is God the true King. There is no God but God, the Lord of the great throne. He who calls another god whose deity he can not prove shall renderaccount to the Lord his God. Infidels can not succeed. Say my Lord, forgive me, and have mercy upon me. Thou art most merciful.He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, whose praise is exalted and glorious. I testify that there is no God but God, and that He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, and the bright light of the world. May God bless Mohammed and all his people and descendants. Oh, ye people, depart from evil and draw near to good. Avoid excess and ye shall be happy. God and His angels bless the prophet. Ye who have faith bless Him also. Ye servants of God answer His call, and bless Him through whom God has directed you. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants, for he has directed us to paradise and the roads that lead thereto. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants because he warned us of the fire and its evils. O God, forgive his followers, and his caliphs Abu-Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Talhat, Zubayr, Abdu-r-Rahmān the son of Awf, Sa’din Saidin, and Abi Ubaydat, because they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. O God, forgive all other followers and friends of your prophet, and all who follow them. Be kind to them in the day of judgment. Give them and us mercy, for Thou art most merciful. O God, perpetuate the power and the victories and the conquests of him whom Thou hast chosen for the administration and good management of temporal affairs and religion; he who beseeches the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the Sultan Mohammed Pudhalun, the son of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, and the Sultan, the master, and the noble whom Thou hast chosen, Sultan Esh-Sharīfu-l-Hāshim, the kindled light of God; and our thoughtful and wise master the late Sultan Kamālu-d-Dīn; and protect the kind and generous late Sultan Alawa-d-Dīn, whose descendants became the kings of the Sulu country. Protect the champion of the Mohammedan religion and faith, the late Sultan Amīrul Umara, and the late Sultan Shāh Muizzu-l-Mutawādhi-īn. Protect the power of the generous and victorious late Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the First. Defend the conqueror, the late Sultan Shāh Mohammed el Halīm; defend the intelligent late Sultan Batara Shāh; protect the noble late Sultan Muwalli el Wasīt Shāh; aid our great master, the excellent and powerful and the victorious on land and sea, the Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the Last; aid the just and honorable and ascetic master, the late Sultan Shāh Salāhu-d-Dīn.O God, support Islam and all Mohammedans. Fight against atheism and heresy and evil, the enemies of religion. Aid the ever-victorious Sultan Ali Shāh, the great and most superior sultan; sultan of the land and sea; and his heir, the late Sultan Shāh Shahābu-d-Dīn Mohammed,who was versed in law and all learning; and the late Sultan Shāh Shāfi-d-Dīn Mohammed Mustafa, the best of all things. Defend the late sultan and wise Governor Shāh Badaru-d-Dīn Mohammed, the victorious. May God perpetuate on earth his power, and his kingdom, and his justice.O God, support the late Sultan Nasaru-d-Dīn, the victorious, the administrator, and the able supporter of our religion; the late Sultan Alīmu-d-Dīn the First, Mohammed, the prince of the faithful, the seeker of God’s mercy; and the obedient to His will; the late Sultan Shāh Muizzi-d-Dīn Mohammed, the emigrant, the learned, the truthful, and the generous; the late patient Sultan Shāh Mohammed Isrāyil; the late Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Second, Mohammed, the peaceful, the chosen, and the powerful; the late Sultan Shāh Sharafu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the merciful, seeker of knowledge, and doer of good deeds; the late noble Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Third, Mohammed; the late Sultan Shah Aliu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the great and victorious; the late Sultan Shāh Shakira-l-Lah Mohammed, conqueror of atheism and heresy, who was versed in Mohammedanism and monotheism; the late Sultan Shāh Jamālu-l-Kīram Mohammed, the kind and the wise and beloved of his people, master of truth and good, whom God alone prevented from making the pilgrimage to the House, and who was patient, lenient, and good, who encouraged good deeds and forbade evil, and who was good in his administration. May God perpetuate his kingdom, his power, his justice, and his kindness. May God forgive him and his forefathers and be good to all of them and give them a place in paradise. O God, aid all who befriend him; be the enemy of all his enemies; uphold all who uphold him; reject those who reject him; and vanquish those who may vanquish him. Be Thou his help and aid, and use him as a sword of vengeance against all offenders.Thou art my God, the God of Truth and Lord of the Universe.O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the most powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. OGod, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.This was written by the poor and humble pilgrim Hajji Abdu-l-Bāqi, who hopes for forgiveness from the forgiving Lord and who was the son of Twan Hatib Jawari, a native of Sulug and follower of Shafi’i and Ash’ari.May God forgive them and all Mohammedans and all the faithful. Amen.First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanFirst page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanSecond page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanThird page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
The Sulu Oration for the Feast of Ramadan
(Written in the six semicircles)PRAISE BE TO GOD. GLORY BE TO GOD. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD. GOD IS ALMIGHTYThis oration was finished at noon, Friday, the 29th of Rabi-el-Akhir, in the year 1321 Hejira.In the name of God the Compassionate and Merciful. God is greatest. God is exalted. He is the Master of the World and the King of the Universe who rules with conquering power. Invisible to the eye, He is visible through His power and might. His is all the power and glory. His is all kindness and glory. He is the Almighty and the Ruler of All. He is everlasting and never dies. There is no God but He. Everything vanishes but the face of God. He is our Governor, and to Him all shall return. Before Him the learned men are humiliated; and the mighty humble themselves in His presence. All the prophets have spoken of His Lordship; and all the men of old have borne witness to His unity. All the men of learning have spoken of His eternal being. The wise men are unable to give an adequate description of His attributes. All that is in the earth and the heavens acknowledge His worship, and praise Him day and night without ceasing. God is greatest. He is the Lord of Lords and the Liberator of the World. He inspired the Book and commands the clouds. He overcomes all difficulties. He is the Cause of all Causes. He opens all doors and answers all who call Him. The Lord has said, “Call Me, and I shall answer you. All who despise My worship shall enter hell.” God is almighty. All the heavens praise Him. The sandy deserts, the shades and all darkness, on the right and on the left, praise Him morning and night. There is nothing that does not sing His praises; but you can not understand their praises. Oh, how kind and forgiving He is! God is almighty. All the angels praise Him. The heavens, the earth, the mountains and hills, and all the birds praise Him. Praise and glory be to Thee, O Lord. Thou art the Lord of Indescribable Might and Honor. Peace be to the missionaries, and praise to God, the Lord of the Universe.Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, the God of Kindness and of Grace, who ordained that the faithful should observe the month of fasting and gave them at the end thereof a feast, to all whether near or far, in token of His hospitality and generosity. Let us praise him always. He is righteous and all sacredness. The King of the Universe, land and sea. He ordained for the Mohammedans the two feasts, Ramadan and that of the Sacrifice. I bear witness that there is but one God, who is alone without a partner. He made the two feasts for the observance of all Mohammedans and the time of their celebration the greatest season of the year. I testify that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. God bless Mohammed at all times and through all ages. Oh, you people, fear God. May God have mercy on you fellow-Mohammedans and brothers in the faith. He has sent down to you this exalting and magnifying day as an expression of his generosity and hospitality. On this day He permits you to feast and forbids you to fast. Respectful observance of this day is pleasing to God and he who so observes it shall be greatly blessed. Charity on this day is highly acceptable. All you ask on this day shall be given you. On this day every call is answered. The prophet, God bless him, said, “On this day give charity for everyone, male and female, for every free man, for every slave, for the young, and for the old give a measure of flour or a measure of dates, a measure of rice, a measure of raisins, or a measure of barley, or whatever you eat on this day give as charity for all the people who are of your religion, of your nation and under your law. This will atone for your sins and all your misdeeds during the days of fasting.” The prophet, God bless him, has said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and withholds his measure of charity on the feast day, his fasting shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall not reach heaven, but shall be stopped halfway between earth and heaven.” The prophet said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days ofShawalshall be regarded as if he had fasted forever.” May God make us successful and honest and enlist us in the ranks of His faithful followers. The best of all speech is the word of God, the All-knowing King, the Exalted and the Respected. God himself, whose word is perfect truth, said, “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, that ye may obtain mercy.”When the Quran is read, ask refuge in God from the accursed devil. Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “God our Lord, send us a table from heaven that we may all, from the first to the last, feast thereon.” Be Thou generous to us for Thou art the best of all givers. Exalted is God the true King. There is no God but God, the Lord of the great throne. He who calls another god whose deity he can not prove shall renderaccount to the Lord his God. Infidels can not succeed. Say my Lord, forgive me, and have mercy upon me. Thou art most merciful.He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:God is Almighty. Praise be to God, whose praise is exalted and glorious. I testify that there is no God but God, and that He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, and the bright light of the world. May God bless Mohammed and all his people and descendants. Oh, ye people, depart from evil and draw near to good. Avoid excess and ye shall be happy. God and His angels bless the prophet. Ye who have faith bless Him also. Ye servants of God answer His call, and bless Him through whom God has directed you. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants, for he has directed us to paradise and the roads that lead thereto. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants because he warned us of the fire and its evils. O God, forgive his followers, and his caliphs Abu-Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Talhat, Zubayr, Abdu-r-Rahmān the son of Awf, Sa’din Saidin, and Abi Ubaydat, because they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. O God, forgive all other followers and friends of your prophet, and all who follow them. Be kind to them in the day of judgment. Give them and us mercy, for Thou art most merciful. O God, perpetuate the power and the victories and the conquests of him whom Thou hast chosen for the administration and good management of temporal affairs and religion; he who beseeches the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the Sultan Mohammed Pudhalun, the son of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, and the Sultan, the master, and the noble whom Thou hast chosen, Sultan Esh-Sharīfu-l-Hāshim, the kindled light of God; and our thoughtful and wise master the late Sultan Kamālu-d-Dīn; and protect the kind and generous late Sultan Alawa-d-Dīn, whose descendants became the kings of the Sulu country. Protect the champion of the Mohammedan religion and faith, the late Sultan Amīrul Umara, and the late Sultan Shāh Muizzu-l-Mutawādhi-īn. Protect the power of the generous and victorious late Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the First. Defend the conqueror, the late Sultan Shāh Mohammed el Halīm; defend the intelligent late Sultan Batara Shāh; protect the noble late Sultan Muwalli el Wasīt Shāh; aid our great master, the excellent and powerful and the victorious on land and sea, the Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the Last; aid the just and honorable and ascetic master, the late Sultan Shāh Salāhu-d-Dīn.O God, support Islam and all Mohammedans. Fight against atheism and heresy and evil, the enemies of religion. Aid the ever-victorious Sultan Ali Shāh, the great and most superior sultan; sultan of the land and sea; and his heir, the late Sultan Shāh Shahābu-d-Dīn Mohammed,who was versed in law and all learning; and the late Sultan Shāh Shāfi-d-Dīn Mohammed Mustafa, the best of all things. Defend the late sultan and wise Governor Shāh Badaru-d-Dīn Mohammed, the victorious. May God perpetuate on earth his power, and his kingdom, and his justice.O God, support the late Sultan Nasaru-d-Dīn, the victorious, the administrator, and the able supporter of our religion; the late Sultan Alīmu-d-Dīn the First, Mohammed, the prince of the faithful, the seeker of God’s mercy; and the obedient to His will; the late Sultan Shāh Muizzi-d-Dīn Mohammed, the emigrant, the learned, the truthful, and the generous; the late patient Sultan Shāh Mohammed Isrāyil; the late Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Second, Mohammed, the peaceful, the chosen, and the powerful; the late Sultan Shāh Sharafu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the merciful, seeker of knowledge, and doer of good deeds; the late noble Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Third, Mohammed; the late Sultan Shah Aliu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the great and victorious; the late Sultan Shāh Shakira-l-Lah Mohammed, conqueror of atheism and heresy, who was versed in Mohammedanism and monotheism; the late Sultan Shāh Jamālu-l-Kīram Mohammed, the kind and the wise and beloved of his people, master of truth and good, whom God alone prevented from making the pilgrimage to the House, and who was patient, lenient, and good, who encouraged good deeds and forbade evil, and who was good in his administration. May God perpetuate his kingdom, his power, his justice, and his kindness. May God forgive him and his forefathers and be good to all of them and give them a place in paradise. O God, aid all who befriend him; be the enemy of all his enemies; uphold all who uphold him; reject those who reject him; and vanquish those who may vanquish him. Be Thou his help and aid, and use him as a sword of vengeance against all offenders.Thou art my God, the God of Truth and Lord of the Universe.O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the most powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. OGod, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.This was written by the poor and humble pilgrim Hajji Abdu-l-Bāqi, who hopes for forgiveness from the forgiving Lord and who was the son of Twan Hatib Jawari, a native of Sulug and follower of Shafi’i and Ash’ari.May God forgive them and all Mohammedans and all the faithful. Amen.First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanFirst page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanSecond page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanThird page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
(Written in the six semicircles)
PRAISE BE TO GOD. GLORY BE TO GOD. THERE IS NO GOD BUT GOD. GOD IS ALMIGHTY
This oration was finished at noon, Friday, the 29th of Rabi-el-Akhir, in the year 1321 Hejira.
In the name of God the Compassionate and Merciful. God is greatest. God is exalted. He is the Master of the World and the King of the Universe who rules with conquering power. Invisible to the eye, He is visible through His power and might. His is all the power and glory. His is all kindness and glory. He is the Almighty and the Ruler of All. He is everlasting and never dies. There is no God but He. Everything vanishes but the face of God. He is our Governor, and to Him all shall return. Before Him the learned men are humiliated; and the mighty humble themselves in His presence. All the prophets have spoken of His Lordship; and all the men of old have borne witness to His unity. All the men of learning have spoken of His eternal being. The wise men are unable to give an adequate description of His attributes. All that is in the earth and the heavens acknowledge His worship, and praise Him day and night without ceasing. God is greatest. He is the Lord of Lords and the Liberator of the World. He inspired the Book and commands the clouds. He overcomes all difficulties. He is the Cause of all Causes. He opens all doors and answers all who call Him. The Lord has said, “Call Me, and I shall answer you. All who despise My worship shall enter hell.” God is almighty. All the heavens praise Him. The sandy deserts, the shades and all darkness, on the right and on the left, praise Him morning and night. There is nothing that does not sing His praises; but you can not understand their praises. Oh, how kind and forgiving He is! God is almighty. All the angels praise Him. The heavens, the earth, the mountains and hills, and all the birds praise Him. Praise and glory be to Thee, O Lord. Thou art the Lord of Indescribable Might and Honor. Peace be to the missionaries, and praise to God, the Lord of the Universe.
Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:
Here the orator shall repeat, “God is almighty,” seven times, then say the following:
God is Almighty. Praise be to God, the God of Kindness and of Grace, who ordained that the faithful should observe the month of fasting and gave them at the end thereof a feast, to all whether near or far, in token of His hospitality and generosity. Let us praise him always. He is righteous and all sacredness. The King of the Universe, land and sea. He ordained for the Mohammedans the two feasts, Ramadan and that of the Sacrifice. I bear witness that there is but one God, who is alone without a partner. He made the two feasts for the observance of all Mohammedans and the time of their celebration the greatest season of the year. I testify that Mohammed is His servant and apostle. God bless Mohammed at all times and through all ages. Oh, you people, fear God. May God have mercy on you fellow-Mohammedans and brothers in the faith. He has sent down to you this exalting and magnifying day as an expression of his generosity and hospitality. On this day He permits you to feast and forbids you to fast. Respectful observance of this day is pleasing to God and he who so observes it shall be greatly blessed. Charity on this day is highly acceptable. All you ask on this day shall be given you. On this day every call is answered. The prophet, God bless him, said, “On this day give charity for everyone, male and female, for every free man, for every slave, for the young, and for the old give a measure of flour or a measure of dates, a measure of rice, a measure of raisins, or a measure of barley, or whatever you eat on this day give as charity for all the people who are of your religion, of your nation and under your law. This will atone for your sins and all your misdeeds during the days of fasting.” The prophet, God bless him, has said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and withholds his measure of charity on the feast day, his fasting shall not be acceptable to God, and he shall not reach heaven, but shall be stopped halfway between earth and heaven.” The prophet said, “He who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days ofShawalshall be regarded as if he had fasted forever.” May God make us successful and honest and enlist us in the ranks of His faithful followers. The best of all speech is the word of God, the All-knowing King, the Exalted and the Respected. God himself, whose word is perfect truth, said, “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, that ye may obtain mercy.”
When the Quran is read, ask refuge in God from the accursed devil. Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “God our Lord, send us a table from heaven that we may all, from the first to the last, feast thereon.” Be Thou generous to us for Thou art the best of all givers. Exalted is God the true King. There is no God but God, the Lord of the great throne. He who calls another god whose deity he can not prove shall renderaccount to the Lord his God. Infidels can not succeed. Say my Lord, forgive me, and have mercy upon me. Thou art most merciful.
He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:
He who may deliver this oration shall here repeat the chapter of the salvation, after which he shall rise and read the following oration twice, and shall say, “God is Almighty,” seven times:
God is Almighty. Praise be to God, whose praise is exalted and glorious. I testify that there is no God but God, and that He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, and the bright light of the world. May God bless Mohammed and all his people and descendants. Oh, ye people, depart from evil and draw near to good. Avoid excess and ye shall be happy. God and His angels bless the prophet. Ye who have faith bless Him also. Ye servants of God answer His call, and bless Him through whom God has directed you. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants, for he has directed us to paradise and the roads that lead thereto. O God, bless Mohammed and his descendants because he warned us of the fire and its evils. O God, forgive his followers, and his caliphs Abu-Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Talhat, Zubayr, Abdu-r-Rahmān the son of Awf, Sa’din Saidin, and Abi Ubaydat, because they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. O God, forgive all other followers and friends of your prophet, and all who follow them. Be kind to them in the day of judgment. Give them and us mercy, for Thou art most merciful. O God, perpetuate the power and the victories and the conquests of him whom Thou hast chosen for the administration and good management of temporal affairs and religion; he who beseeches the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the Sultan Mohammed Pudhalun, the son of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, and the Sultan, the master, and the noble whom Thou hast chosen, Sultan Esh-Sharīfu-l-Hāshim, the kindled light of God; and our thoughtful and wise master the late Sultan Kamālu-d-Dīn; and protect the kind and generous late Sultan Alawa-d-Dīn, whose descendants became the kings of the Sulu country. Protect the champion of the Mohammedan religion and faith, the late Sultan Amīrul Umara, and the late Sultan Shāh Muizzu-l-Mutawādhi-īn. Protect the power of the generous and victorious late Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the First. Defend the conqueror, the late Sultan Shāh Mohammed el Halīm; defend the intelligent late Sultan Batara Shāh; protect the noble late Sultan Muwalli el Wasīt Shāh; aid our great master, the excellent and powerful and the victorious on land and sea, the Sultan Shāh Nāsiru-d-Dīn the Last; aid the just and honorable and ascetic master, the late Sultan Shāh Salāhu-d-Dīn.
O God, support Islam and all Mohammedans. Fight against atheism and heresy and evil, the enemies of religion. Aid the ever-victorious Sultan Ali Shāh, the great and most superior sultan; sultan of the land and sea; and his heir, the late Sultan Shāh Shahābu-d-Dīn Mohammed,who was versed in law and all learning; and the late Sultan Shāh Shāfi-d-Dīn Mohammed Mustafa, the best of all things. Defend the late sultan and wise Governor Shāh Badaru-d-Dīn Mohammed, the victorious. May God perpetuate on earth his power, and his kingdom, and his justice.
O God, support the late Sultan Nasaru-d-Dīn, the victorious, the administrator, and the able supporter of our religion; the late Sultan Alīmu-d-Dīn the First, Mohammed, the prince of the faithful, the seeker of God’s mercy; and the obedient to His will; the late Sultan Shāh Muizzi-d-Dīn Mohammed, the emigrant, the learned, the truthful, and the generous; the late patient Sultan Shāh Mohammed Isrāyil; the late Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Second, Mohammed, the peaceful, the chosen, and the powerful; the late Sultan Shāh Sharafu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the merciful, seeker of knowledge, and doer of good deeds; the late noble Sultan Shāh Alīmu-d-Dīn the Third, Mohammed; the late Sultan Shah Aliu-d-Dīn Mohammed, the great and victorious; the late Sultan Shāh Shakira-l-Lah Mohammed, conqueror of atheism and heresy, who was versed in Mohammedanism and monotheism; the late Sultan Shāh Jamālu-l-Kīram Mohammed, the kind and the wise and beloved of his people, master of truth and good, whom God alone prevented from making the pilgrimage to the House, and who was patient, lenient, and good, who encouraged good deeds and forbade evil, and who was good in his administration. May God perpetuate his kingdom, his power, his justice, and his kindness. May God forgive him and his forefathers and be good to all of them and give them a place in paradise. O God, aid all who befriend him; be the enemy of all his enemies; uphold all who uphold him; reject those who reject him; and vanquish those who may vanquish him. Be Thou his help and aid, and use him as a sword of vengeance against all offenders.
Thou art my God, the God of Truth and Lord of the Universe.
O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the most powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.
O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease, and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. OGod, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.
This was written by the poor and humble pilgrim Hajji Abdu-l-Bāqi, who hopes for forgiveness from the forgiving Lord and who was the son of Twan Hatib Jawari, a native of Sulug and follower of Shafi’i and Ash’ari.
May God forgive them and all Mohammedans and all the faithful. Amen.
First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanFirst page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
First page of the Sulu oration for the feast of Ramadan
Photo by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanSecond page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
Second page of the Sulu oration for the feast of Ramadan
Photo by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanThird page of the Sulu oration for the feast of RamadanPhoto by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
Third page of the Sulu oration for the feast of Ramadan
Photo by Martin. (About two-thirds original size.)
The Sulu Friday OrationIN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL. TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT GODThis I repeat a thousand times more than others. God is greater, far greater, than He is thought to be. I testify that there is no God but God alone. God is one, and only one. He has no partner. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that is therein. God is owner of all.I testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle, sent by Him to guide all people to the true religion, and that His religion may thereby be exalted above all others, though the unfaithful and the worshipers of many gods may reject it. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and all his descendants and bestow on them all the blessings that can be named and all the blessings that can be forgotten. I advise ye, O people, and myself, servants of God, with fear of God which is the sign of faith and God’s command to us all. Fellow-Mohammedans, the mercy of God be upon you. Friday is the chief of all days. The apostle of God said: “The day Friday is the chief of all days.” It is greater than the day of Ramadan and the day of el-Adha and the day of Ashura.Charity on Friday is preferable to all charity. Good deeds done on Friday are preferable to all good deeds, and evil done on Friday is the greatest evil that can be done. The noblest and best men have testified to its greatness over other days. It is the beauty of all days and years. It is a pilgrimage that the poor can make once every seven days. Its observance intercedes for the offender before the King of Unbounded Knowledge.It has been told of the chosen prophet that he said: “God registers the name of the person who leaves out three successive Fridays, on a tablet on which he keeps the number of liars.” The prophet said that he who leaves out three successive Fridays shall have written on his forehead when the day of judgment comes: “He has no hope of the mercy of God.” May God bless us and give us all peace.May it be that God has declared us among the successful and the faithful and enlisted us into the number of His good servants. The best of all utterances and constitutions are in the word of God, King of Unbounded Knowledge, possessor of glory and of all reverence. It is God the Highest who speaks and who is the truest of all speakers.When the Quran is read you should listen attentively so that you may obtain mercy. He said, and His saying is most precious and full of wisdom, “When you read the Quran ask God’s help against the accursed Satan.” I take refuge in God the All Hearing and All Knowing from the accursed Satan. Oh, ye who have believed, when you hear the call for prayers on Friday go ye to hear God’s word. Leave your business, for you have a greater good and benefit in this. May God bless the great Quran for us, and may he benefit us through its texts and the wise mention of His name. May He reward us all with mercy from the painful punishment.I command you, and myself, with what God demands for good obedience so that you may obey Him. And I prohibit you from doing evil and from disobedience as He prohibits you so that you may not disobey him. I pray for the plentiful reward of God for you and for myself, so that you may seek Him; and I ask the pardon and forgiveness of God for you and for myself and for all the faithful Mohammedans for He is gracious and forgiving.Praise be to God. I praise and exalt God with all my strength and I testify that, there is no God but God. God is one and only one. God has no partner. He knows all and has good news for you all. I testify that Mohammed is the servant of God and His apostle, and a shining light to the world. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and his people and descendants because he is our preacher and warner. To ye, Oh, people, I say, fear God, draw near to good, and depart from evil. God and all His angels bless the prophet. All ye believers bless him, too. Ye servants of God, obey the call of God, and bless him who directed you to God. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the people of Mohammed, for he directed us to paradise and to the roads that lead thereto. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the descendants of Mohammed, because he warned us of the fire and its destruction. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed because he conquered the kings of the infidels and their empires. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his followers and his successors, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abi Ubaydat, for they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his two sons, Hasan and Husein, and his two noble uncles, Hamzat and Abbas; and mayst Thou be kind to all the emigrants and all the allies and followers till the judgment day, that we may share Thy mercy with them and through them, for Thou art most merciful. We ask Thee, O God, to perpetuate the power, the victory, and the valor of those whom Thou hast chosen for the good administration and good conduct of our religious and worldly affairs, chief among whom is he who begs the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the sultan and the pilgrim, Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, the brother of the late sultan, the pilgrim Mohammed Badaru-d-Dīn the Second, both of whom made the pilgrimage to the house Al-Harāam.May God give them a place with the faithful. They are the children of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-A’lam. May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power, and his justice and kindness. And may God forgive his predecessors and his grandfathers and be good to them and give them a place in paradise. We ask Thee, O God, to be friendly with those who are friendly with him, and to antagonize them who are against him; give victory to those who aid him; reject those who reject him; vanquish those who disobey him, and be his help and helper and make him Thy sword of vengeance against the offender. O God, my God, Thou art Truth and the Lord of the Universe. O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and in the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. O God, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.First page of the Sulu Friday orationFirst page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Second page of the Sulu Friday orationSecond page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Third page of the Sulu Friday orationThird page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
The Sulu Friday Oration
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL. TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT GODThis I repeat a thousand times more than others. God is greater, far greater, than He is thought to be. I testify that there is no God but God alone. God is one, and only one. He has no partner. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that is therein. God is owner of all.I testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle, sent by Him to guide all people to the true religion, and that His religion may thereby be exalted above all others, though the unfaithful and the worshipers of many gods may reject it. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and all his descendants and bestow on them all the blessings that can be named and all the blessings that can be forgotten. I advise ye, O people, and myself, servants of God, with fear of God which is the sign of faith and God’s command to us all. Fellow-Mohammedans, the mercy of God be upon you. Friday is the chief of all days. The apostle of God said: “The day Friday is the chief of all days.” It is greater than the day of Ramadan and the day of el-Adha and the day of Ashura.Charity on Friday is preferable to all charity. Good deeds done on Friday are preferable to all good deeds, and evil done on Friday is the greatest evil that can be done. The noblest and best men have testified to its greatness over other days. It is the beauty of all days and years. It is a pilgrimage that the poor can make once every seven days. Its observance intercedes for the offender before the King of Unbounded Knowledge.It has been told of the chosen prophet that he said: “God registers the name of the person who leaves out three successive Fridays, on a tablet on which he keeps the number of liars.” The prophet said that he who leaves out three successive Fridays shall have written on his forehead when the day of judgment comes: “He has no hope of the mercy of God.” May God bless us and give us all peace.May it be that God has declared us among the successful and the faithful and enlisted us into the number of His good servants. The best of all utterances and constitutions are in the word of God, King of Unbounded Knowledge, possessor of glory and of all reverence. It is God the Highest who speaks and who is the truest of all speakers.When the Quran is read you should listen attentively so that you may obtain mercy. He said, and His saying is most precious and full of wisdom, “When you read the Quran ask God’s help against the accursed Satan.” I take refuge in God the All Hearing and All Knowing from the accursed Satan. Oh, ye who have believed, when you hear the call for prayers on Friday go ye to hear God’s word. Leave your business, for you have a greater good and benefit in this. May God bless the great Quran for us, and may he benefit us through its texts and the wise mention of His name. May He reward us all with mercy from the painful punishment.I command you, and myself, with what God demands for good obedience so that you may obey Him. And I prohibit you from doing evil and from disobedience as He prohibits you so that you may not disobey him. I pray for the plentiful reward of God for you and for myself, so that you may seek Him; and I ask the pardon and forgiveness of God for you and for myself and for all the faithful Mohammedans for He is gracious and forgiving.Praise be to God. I praise and exalt God with all my strength and I testify that, there is no God but God. God is one and only one. God has no partner. He knows all and has good news for you all. I testify that Mohammed is the servant of God and His apostle, and a shining light to the world. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and his people and descendants because he is our preacher and warner. To ye, Oh, people, I say, fear God, draw near to good, and depart from evil. God and all His angels bless the prophet. All ye believers bless him, too. Ye servants of God, obey the call of God, and bless him who directed you to God. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the people of Mohammed, for he directed us to paradise and to the roads that lead thereto. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the descendants of Mohammed, because he warned us of the fire and its destruction. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed because he conquered the kings of the infidels and their empires. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his followers and his successors, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abi Ubaydat, for they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his two sons, Hasan and Husein, and his two noble uncles, Hamzat and Abbas; and mayst Thou be kind to all the emigrants and all the allies and followers till the judgment day, that we may share Thy mercy with them and through them, for Thou art most merciful. We ask Thee, O God, to perpetuate the power, the victory, and the valor of those whom Thou hast chosen for the good administration and good conduct of our religious and worldly affairs, chief among whom is he who begs the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the sultan and the pilgrim, Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, the brother of the late sultan, the pilgrim Mohammed Badaru-d-Dīn the Second, both of whom made the pilgrimage to the house Al-Harāam.May God give them a place with the faithful. They are the children of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-A’lam. May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power, and his justice and kindness. And may God forgive his predecessors and his grandfathers and be good to them and give them a place in paradise. We ask Thee, O God, to be friendly with those who are friendly with him, and to antagonize them who are against him; give victory to those who aid him; reject those who reject him; vanquish those who disobey him, and be his help and helper and make him Thy sword of vengeance against the offender. O God, my God, Thou art Truth and the Lord of the Universe. O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and in the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. O God, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.First page of the Sulu Friday orationFirst page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Second page of the Sulu Friday orationSecond page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)Third page of the Sulu Friday orationThird page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL. TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD BUT GOD
This I repeat a thousand times more than others. God is greater, far greater, than He is thought to be. I testify that there is no God but God alone. God is one, and only one. He has no partner. God is the owner of the heavens and the earth and all that is therein. God is owner of all.
I testify that Mohammed is His servant and His apostle, sent by Him to guide all people to the true religion, and that His religion may thereby be exalted above all others, though the unfaithful and the worshipers of many gods may reject it. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and all his descendants and bestow on them all the blessings that can be named and all the blessings that can be forgotten. I advise ye, O people, and myself, servants of God, with fear of God which is the sign of faith and God’s command to us all. Fellow-Mohammedans, the mercy of God be upon you. Friday is the chief of all days. The apostle of God said: “The day Friday is the chief of all days.” It is greater than the day of Ramadan and the day of el-Adha and the day of Ashura.
Charity on Friday is preferable to all charity. Good deeds done on Friday are preferable to all good deeds, and evil done on Friday is the greatest evil that can be done. The noblest and best men have testified to its greatness over other days. It is the beauty of all days and years. It is a pilgrimage that the poor can make once every seven days. Its observance intercedes for the offender before the King of Unbounded Knowledge.
It has been told of the chosen prophet that he said: “God registers the name of the person who leaves out three successive Fridays, on a tablet on which he keeps the number of liars.” The prophet said that he who leaves out three successive Fridays shall have written on his forehead when the day of judgment comes: “He has no hope of the mercy of God.” May God bless us and give us all peace.
May it be that God has declared us among the successful and the faithful and enlisted us into the number of His good servants. The best of all utterances and constitutions are in the word of God, King of Unbounded Knowledge, possessor of glory and of all reverence. It is God the Highest who speaks and who is the truest of all speakers.
When the Quran is read you should listen attentively so that you may obtain mercy. He said, and His saying is most precious and full of wisdom, “When you read the Quran ask God’s help against the accursed Satan.” I take refuge in God the All Hearing and All Knowing from the accursed Satan. Oh, ye who have believed, when you hear the call for prayers on Friday go ye to hear God’s word. Leave your business, for you have a greater good and benefit in this. May God bless the great Quran for us, and may he benefit us through its texts and the wise mention of His name. May He reward us all with mercy from the painful punishment.
I command you, and myself, with what God demands for good obedience so that you may obey Him. And I prohibit you from doing evil and from disobedience as He prohibits you so that you may not disobey him. I pray for the plentiful reward of God for you and for myself, so that you may seek Him; and I ask the pardon and forgiveness of God for you and for myself and for all the faithful Mohammedans for He is gracious and forgiving.
Praise be to God. I praise and exalt God with all my strength and I testify that, there is no God but God. God is one and only one. God has no partner. He knows all and has good news for you all. I testify that Mohammed is the servant of God and His apostle, and a shining light to the world. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and his people and descendants because he is our preacher and warner. To ye, Oh, people, I say, fear God, draw near to good, and depart from evil. God and all His angels bless the prophet. All ye believers bless him, too. Ye servants of God, obey the call of God, and bless him who directed you to God. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the people of Mohammed, for he directed us to paradise and to the roads that lead thereto. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed and the descendants of Mohammed, because he warned us of the fire and its destruction. We ask Thee, O God, to bless Mohammed because he conquered the kings of the infidels and their empires. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his followers and his successors, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman, Ali, Abi Ubaydat, for they are the princes of the faithful and the best of all people. We ask Thee, O God, to forgive his two sons, Hasan and Husein, and his two noble uncles, Hamzat and Abbas; and mayst Thou be kind to all the emigrants and all the allies and followers till the judgment day, that we may share Thy mercy with them and through them, for Thou art most merciful. We ask Thee, O God, to perpetuate the power, the victory, and the valor of those whom Thou hast chosen for the good administration and good conduct of our religious and worldly affairs, chief among whom is he who begs the intercession of the faithful prophet, our master, the sultan and the pilgrim, Mohammed Jamālu-l-Kirām, the brother of the late sultan, the pilgrim Mohammed Badaru-d-Dīn the Second, both of whom made the pilgrimage to the house Al-Harāam.May God give them a place with the faithful. They are the children of the late Sultan Mohammed Jamālu-l-A’lam. May God perpetuate his kingdom and his power, and his justice and kindness. And may God forgive his predecessors and his grandfathers and be good to them and give them a place in paradise. We ask Thee, O God, to be friendly with those who are friendly with him, and to antagonize them who are against him; give victory to those who aid him; reject those who reject him; vanquish those who disobey him, and be his help and helper and make him Thy sword of vengeance against the offender. O God, my God, Thou art Truth and the Lord of the Universe. O God, set right our leaders and our nation, our judges, our rulers, our learned men, our lawgivers, our wise men, and our old men. Aid them in righteousness, and guide us. O God, destroy the enemies of our religion and unite the hearts of the faithful. Free the captives and pay the debts of the debtors. Relieve the distressed and forgive the living and the dead. God grant peace and safety to us and to the pilgrims and to the travelers on land and on sea who are of the people of Mohammed, for Thou art the Most Powerful, the best Master and the best Helper.
O God, drive away famine and distress, and disease and iniquity, and oppression, and all calamities, and all evils outward and secret that may exist in our country especially and in the countries of the Mohammedans in general, for Thou hast power over everything. Our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in the faith, and cast away from our hearts all jealousies and ill feeling toward the faithful. O God, our Lord, Thou art kind and gracious and generous and compassionate and able to forgive.
First page of the Sulu Friday orationFirst page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
First page of the Sulu Friday oration
Photo by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
Second page of the Sulu Friday orationSecond page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
Second page of the Sulu Friday oration
Photo by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
Third page of the Sulu Friday orationThird page of the Sulu Friday orationPhoto by Martin. (About one-half original size.)
Third page of the Sulu Friday oration
Photo by Martin. (About one-half original size.)