When the sun is overthrown,

And when the stars fall,

And when the hills are moved,

And when the camels big with young are abandoned,

And when the wild beasts are herded together,

And when the seas rise,

And when souls are reunited,

And when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked

For what sin she was slain,

And when the pages are laid open,

And when the sky is torn away,

And when hell is lighted,

And when the Garden is brought nigh,

(Then) every soul will know what it hath made ready.

Oh, but I call to witness the planets,

The stars which rise and set,

And the close of night,

And the breath of morning

That this is in truth the word of an honoured messenger,

Mighty, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne,

(One) to be obeyed, and trustworthy;

And your comrade is not mad.

Surely he beheld Him on the clear horizon.

And he is not avid of the Unseen.

Nor is this the utterance of a devil worthy to be stoned.

Whither then go ye ?

This is naught else than a reminder unto creation,

Unto whomsoever of you willeth to walk straight.

And ye will not, unless (it be) that Allah willeth, the Lord of Creation.

The Mahdi is a figure from the hadith... a man from Muhammad's family who will come before Jesus comes... again. The Mahdi is a curiosity for some Muslims, dogma for others, and the source of religious imagination for those who dream of a world beyond Islamic orthodoxy.

Episodes will now be released twice a month rather than the four you may be used to...