Note 15 — THE HISTORY
Edward Forster translation
Note 15. Throughout Arabia, Turkey, and all Mahometan countries, bells are never made use of in their mosques. It is the office of men, called by the Turks Talismanni, to get up on the turrets or minarets, (and no mosque, according to Sandys, can have more than one turret, unless built by an emperor,) and call the people to prayers. His account is, “From the turrets of the mosques, the Talismanni, with elated voices (for they use no bells) do congregate the people, pronouncing the Arabic sentence, “LA ILLAH ILELLA MUHEMET RESUL ALLAH.” There is but one God and Mahomet is his prophet. Sandy’s Travels, p. 24, 1610.