noon
By the time the devotion was over every clock in the Seraglio had struck twelve . Ibrahim hastened to the Sultan to press him to embark as soon as possible in the ship that was waiting ready to convey him and the White Prince to Scutari ; but at the foot of the staircase , in the outer court of the Seraglio where stood the Sultan 's chargers which were to take him through the garden kiosk to the sea-shore , the way was barred by the Kizlar-Aga , who flung himself to the ground before the Sultan , and grasping his horse 's bridle began to cry with all his might : `` Trample me , oh , my master , beneath the hoofs of thy horses , yet listen to my words ! The noontide hour has passed , and the hours of the afternoon are unlucky hours for any undertaking . The true Mussulman puts his hand to nothing on which the blessing of Allah can rest when noon has gone . Trample on my dead body if thou wilt , but say not that there was nobody who would have withheld thee from the path of peril ! '' The soul of Achmed III . was full of all manner of fantastic sentiments .