noon
As the dawn slipped back and counted itself with the years that are spent and the first yellow gleam appeared in the sky , Michael saw the tall figures go down on their knees and press their foreheads to the sand . It was their third prayer of the day : devout Mohammedans begin their new day at sunset ; their second prayer is at nightfall , when it is quite dark ; their third is at daybreak . Michael knew that the moment _ el isfirar _ , or the first yellow glow , appeared in the heavens , the white figures would turn to the east and perform their _ subh _ , or daybreak devotion . He knew that it would be finished before the golden globe appeared above the rim of the desert , for did not the Prophet counsel his people not to pray exactly at sunrise or sunset or at noon , because they might be confounded with the infidels who worshipped the sun ? Yet it gave him a fresh thrill each morning to watch these desert worshippers prostrate themselves in undoubting faith before their omnipotent God . In the untrodden desert , with its mingling of sky and sand , their perfect trust and faith in Allah seemed a convincing and evident belief . At such times he forgot that these same men were the children of Superstition and that one and all of them were held in the bondage of _ genii _ .