Page 189 (omitted)

SURA 18 - THE CAVE
MECCA - 110 VERSES
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

"Praise be to God, who hath sent down the Book to his servant, and hath not made it tortuous¹
But direct; that it may warn of a grievous woe from him, and announce to the faithful who do the things that are right, that a goodly reward, wherein they shall abide for ever, awaiteth them;
And that it may warn those who say, 'God hath begotten a  Son.'
No knowledge of this have either they or their fathers! A grievous saying to come out of their mouths! They speak no other than a lie!
And haply, if they believe not in this new revelation, thou wilt slay thyself, on their very footsteps, out of vexation.
Verily, we have made all that is on earth as its adornment, that we might make trial who among mankind would excel in works:
But we are surely about to reduce all that is thereon to dust! Hast thou reflected that the Inmates of THE CAVE and of Al
Rakim² were one of our wondrous signs?
When the youths betook them to the cave they said, 'O our Lord! grant us mercy from before thee, and order for us our affair aright.'
¹⁰ Then struck we upon their ears with deafness in the cave for many a year:
Then we awaked them that we might know which of the two parties could best reckon the space of their abiding.
We will relate to thee their tale with truth. They were youths who had believed in their Lord, and in guidance had we increased them;
And we had made them stout of heart, when they stood up and said, 'Our Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth: we will call on no other God than him; for in that case we had said a thing outrageous.
These our people have taken other gods beside Him, though / Page 190 / they bring no clear proof for them; but, who more iniquitous than he who forgeth a lie of God?
So when ye shall have separated you from them and from that which they worship beside God, then betake you to the cave: Your Lord will unfold his mercy to you, and will order your affairs for you for the best.'
And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron, director.
And thou wouldst have deemed them awake,³ though they were sleeping: and we turned them to the right and to the left. And in the entry lay their dog with paws outstretched.⁴ Hadst thou come suddenly upon them, thou wouldst surely have turned thy back on them in flight, and have been filled with fear at them.
So we awaked them that they might question one another. Said one of them, 'How long have ye tarried here?' They said, 'We have tarried a day or part of a day.' They said, 'Your Lord knoweth best how long ye have tarried: Send now one of you with this your coin into the city, and let his mark who therein hath purest food, and from him let him bring you a supply: and let him be courteous, and not discover you to anyone.
For they, if they find you out, will stone you or turn you back to their faith, and in that case it will fare ill with you for ever.'
20 And thus made we their adventure known to their fellow citizens, that they might learn that the promise of God is true, and that as to 'the Hour' there is no doubt of its coming. When they disputed among themselves concerning what had befallen them, some said, 'Build a building over them; their Lord knoweth best about them.' Those who prevailed in the matter said, 'A place of worship will we surely raise over them.'
Some say, 'They were three; their dog the fourth:' others say, 'Five; their dog the sixth,' guessing at the secret: others say, 'Seven; and their dog the eighth.' SAY: My Lord best knoweth the number: none, save a few, shall know them.
Therefore be clear in thy discussions about them,⁵ and ask not any Christian concerning them.
Say not thou of a thing, 'I will surely do it to-morrow;' / Page 191 /  without, 'If God will.,⁶ And when thou hast forgotten, call thy Lord to mind; and say, 'Haply my Lord will guide me, that I may come near to the truth of this story with correctness.'
And they tarried in their cave 300 years, and 9 years over.^7"

THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN

Thomas Mann

1875 1955

MOUNTING MISGIVINGS

Page 147 Quoted in full

"other he mentally summoned up various people, the thought of whom might serve him as some sort of mental support.
 There was the good, the upright Joachim, firm as a rock-yet whose eyes in these past months had come to hold such a tragic Shadow, and who had never used to shrug his shoulders, as he did so often now. Joachim, with the "Blue Peter" in his pocket, as Frau Stohr called the receptacle. When Hans Castorp thought of her hard, crabbed face it made him shiver. Yes, there was Joa-chim - who kept constandy at Hofrat Behrens to let him get away and go down to the longed-for service in the " plain "- the " flat-land," as the healthy, normal world was called up here, with a faint yet perceptible nuance of contempt. Joachim served the cure single-mindedly, to the end that he might arrive sooner at his goal and save some of the time which "those up here " so wantonly flung away; served it unquestioningly for the sake of speedy re-covery - but also, Hans Castorp detected, for the sake of the cure'
itself, which, after all, was a service, like another; and was not duty duty, wherever performed? Joachim invatiably went upstairs after only a quarter-hour in the drawing-rooms; and this military precision of his was a crop to the civilian laxity of his cousin, who would otherwise be likely to loiter unprofitably below, with his eye on the company in the small salon. But Hans Castorp was con-vinced there was another and private reason why Joachim with-drew so early; he had known it since the time he saw his cousin's face take on the mottleled pallor, and his mouth assume the pathetic twist. He perfectly understood. For Marusja was almost always there in the evening -laughter-loving Marusja, with the little ruby on her charming hand, the handkerchief with the orange scent, and the swelling bosom, tainted within - Hans Castorp com-prehended that it. was her presence which drove Joachim away, precisely because it so strongly, so fearfully drew him toward her.
Was Joachim too "immured " - and even worse off than him-self, in that, he had five times a day to sit at the same table with Marusja and her orange-scented handkerchief? However that might be, it was clear that Joachim was preoccupied with his own troubles; the thought of him could afford his cousin no mental support. That he took refuge in daily flight was a credit to him; but that he had to flee was anything but reassuring to Hans Ca-storp, who even began to feel that Joachim's good example of faithful service of the cure and the initiation which he owed to his cousin's experience might have also their bad side.
Hans Castorp had not been up here three weeks. But it seemed longer; and the daily routine which Joachim so piously observed"

Page 147 containing seven letters in the names of characters

Page 147 Penguin edition 1979 contains 43 lines

Joachim occurs x 10

Joachim's (apostrophe 's x 1

305 + APOSTROPPHE'S

JOACHIM'S

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DAILY MIRROR

Tuesday June 8, 2004

Jonathan Cainer

VENUS MAKES A PASS

THE TRANSIT OF VENUS ACROSS THE SUN

Page 26 / 27

"IF YOU'RE reading this before noon, there is a show that is out of this world happening over your head.Venus is passing in front of the face of 

THE SUN.

A miracle of nature is causing the famous twinkling evening star to become briefly visible in broad daylight. Nothing like this has happened since 1882 - which means not a single living soul has ever witnessed it.
If you'd like to be part of history, all you have to do is to grab two bits of card and make the simple pinhole projector on the far right.
Do not, repeat not, look directly at the sun.
Don't kid yourself that you will be safe as long as you are wearing sunglasses, either. If you're foolish enough to watch through cheap tinted specs, or stupid and rich enough to use Dolce & Gabbanas - you'll go blind just the same.
After all, this is an event that will affect rich and poor alike. Yet the alignment symbolises the kind of love that'money can't buy. Deep, true, compassionate., dedicated, unconditional love.
Love is coming in waves towards the earth and, just as surely as it is going to cross economic boundaries, it is will ignore astrological distinctions. No matter your sign, you will experience an uplift in your spirits soon.
Your material circum-stances will also improve as a result of the love that you are willing to share, and the loving support from others you are humble enough to accept. You think this is a cold, harsh world?
It can be... but this transit means we're heading for a phase during which less selfish ideals predominate.
And it's going to last for the next eight years.
The next transit of Venus is on June 6, 2012, and many New Agers believe that the period between now and then marks a "gateway between worlds of positive possi-bility". The way they see it, every 121 years or so, the Earth gets a chance to become the brighter, happier place it has always had the potential to become. An eight-year "window" opens up, during which people become far more receptive to inspirational
 ideas and grow less inclined to nurse old grudges and grievances. .
 The Venus transits usually (though  not always) come in pairs, eight years apart, at the end of a 121-year cycle. Though those eight-year periods don't always coincide with peace, they do create a more mellow, forgiving climate.
The New Agers believe that the first Venus transit in the sequence (the one happening today) is the key turning in the lock, opening the door to a paradise future. The second brings the moment when people must decide whether to permanently welcome an era of higher consciousness or return to the old ways of war, greed, suspicion and hatred.
It is no coincidence, they say, that the Mayans - the pre-conquest inhabitants of what is now Southern Mexico and Guatemala - ended their astonishingly accurate calendar in 2012. It is, after all, based on the Venus cycle. According to those who still believe in the Mayan vision, 2012 will be when the Venus-god Quetzalcoatl returns to earth, to ask one last time whether its inhabitants are ready to create paradise. Or will they remain in the same hell of mutual hatred?
Of course, this is not the only interpreta-tion of the Venus transit.
Others, as you can see on this page, have their views of what it means. Most agree that it is about love-and some, too, reckon it is related to increased prosperity. But the majority, myself included choose to reserve judgment. First we need to observe the event. Then digest it. But on one point, at least, we are all already agreed. In so far as one event can ever be good news for the whole race, this is!"