TCD MS 10516 folio 3 recto
[9th July 1916] How strange is the growth of all religions when the outward symbols and the material objects of Nature become the idols of a simple veneration and divide a sect into opposing factions. The Mohamedan, as he adores the clay of Kerbela is as the Christian when he falls before the statues of his Saints. To the clay man looks for his origin, in the clay he seeks his last resting-place and in the clay from the holy cities of his fathers, he finds the objects of his veneration.
Wednesday: July (12th) 1916: Nasiriyah
For the past three days we have been busy changing camp. The one we occupied was becoming intolerable. The glare from the sands was intense; it was blinding if the sides of the tent were raised, suffocating if they were lowered. The clouds of driven dust were