TRANSLATION Second letter, written by Ahmad ibn al-Hajj 'Umar, commander of Timbuktu [sic], to the Sultan of Morocco, Mawlay al-Hasan, the 14 Qa'da 1310 / 31 May 1893. Preamble. The reason for our writing is that the shaykh, our father, delegated us with his powers and the direction of affairs. We accepted this mission and assumed the carrying out of a heavy responsibility. The infidels [the Bamana and others] had returned to their former state of impiety after conversion; violating their commitments they had taken back their liberty. They [the French] came first to us in 1280 (1863-4) of the Infra to ask for peace. We allowed ourselves to be fooled by them. Here is the letter which the commander, Ahmad al-Kabir, your servant, wrote to the French in Ndar. After the bismillah and praise to God, [he wrote]: "From Ahmad al-Kabir al-Madani (may the Exalted God bring him help) to the leader of Senegal. May God grant his blessing to those who follow the good path. "After that. I and your envoy, we have reached an agreement about peace and the following conditions. You will prevent no one from coming into our country, from any direction, whether from Futa or elsewhere, and whoever wishes to prevent [anyone] from coming to us, you will forbid it. Anything that we wish in your country, whatever the price, the small or large size, you will [allow us to] buy it. We will collect the tenth on all that you sell, and we will oppose unjust actions of any of your people in our country. Whoever has suffered a loss will not be able to reclaim it from you or us, and for the losses which we cause, you will support our case in your country. You may establish yourselves to conduct commerce wherever you will, you will have complete freedom of circulation. If you accept these conditions, very well: send us someone to complete the treaty. Otherwise, stay where you are. "Greetings to those who follow the right path." Written in the second ten day period of Dhu'l-Qa'da 1282 (March-April 1866) of the hijra. [8] Then the chief of Senegal responded to us by a letter written by the very learned al-Hajj Bu El Mogdad, that he accepted our conditions and would observe all of them. This situation lasted 12 years. Then they began to show bad faith and ceased to honor the conventions. They joined forces with bad elements among the believers and took the side of infidel blacks, because they violated the conditions of the treaty one after the other and delayed the execution of them from one year to the next. Each time we were on our guard against their deceitful ways and countered the plots of these devils of the human species. Once they had started on the path of deception, they declared war against us and began to prepare openly for it. We wanted to resist them, and to rise up to march against them, but [9] alas, destiny rose up against us. All of the country, with its inhabitants, turned towards them at the call of a certain number of wicked persons among the believers, and they all joined forces to revolt against God. We fought them with the few faithful who remained with us, but these were too few to struggle against the unbelievers, and of course one cannot avoid the determination of the Master of the two worlds. By their treachery and their villainy, they took the following [territories]: 1, Futa, 2, Karta, 3, Segu, 4 Bundu, 5, Tenbagh, 6 Han 7, Bark and 8, Baghna. And now, O lieutenant of God on earth, successor to the Prophet for his people, descendant of the chief of the prophets, make haste, make haste! Your friends have been abandoned, your country [10] is ruined and your subjects are dispersed. Death, captivity and pillage, that is the end which awaits them. The enemy has destroyed mosques, burned Qur'ans, thrown our scientific books into the desert, and has transformed our places of prayer into churches -- the church bell has replaced the muezzin. He has kidnapped the daughters of the shaykh and has forced his sons into his service. The children of Muslims have been divided among the chiefs of the army which has taken the whole country (which requires a month to cross). See then what you must do, because we belong to you, we are yours, we have only you, and it is with you alone that we have relations, because we are descendants of Shaykh al-Tijani who swore loyalty to your venerable ancestor. The enemies of your God and the competitors of your ancestors have [11] taken your country. Make them leave and cover them with humiliation, these repugnant people, and make them pay the jizya, because they force humiliation [upon us] without a moment's hesitation. Do not listen to their lying words and do not lend an ear to their false arguments, nor their vain insinuations, because the French are the most perfidious of God's creatures, and the most deceitful and villainous of races. We have already written numerous letters since this event, and we are still waiting in vain for any response. We write this letter at dawn on Friday, the 14th of Dhu'l-Qa'da 1310 of the hijra of the best of Messengers, Muhammad (may God the Most High accord him the most [12] abundant prayers and the most pure blessing) (31 May 1893).