midnight
Men said these Christian priests were good ; that their lives were spent in prayer , in meditation , and in works of charity among the poor ; tales came to the Moor of their spiritual existence , of their fleshly renunciation ; but at these he scoffed . He refused to credit them . `` Pah ! '' he would cry , tugging at his midnight beard ; `` how can these men be aught but liars , when they live and preach a falsehood ? Their creed is impious , and they are hypocrites . They are not superior beings , they are flesh like you or me . They have our passions and our faults , but a thousand times multiplied , for they walk in darkness and dwell in hypocrisy .