midnight
Then he took off his boots and his coat , blew out the lamp , and lay beside them . He was very tired after his long tramp in the hot streets , but he could not sleep . Angrily he tossed from side to side and closed his eyes tightly ; but it was no good , sleep would not come . At midnight he heard a call to prayer chanted from the minaret of a tiny mosque in the neighbourhood . The muezzin 's voice irritated him . He did not wish to pray , and he did want to sleep . He swore that it was insanity for these fools of Mohammedans to declare that prayer was better than sleep .