"The candidate is addressed as 'Son of the Desert,' and told by the Grand potentate: 'You have advanced through the preliminary ceremonies of the Nobility of the Mystic Shrine, as far as it is possible unobligated. Before advancing further in your course, you will be required to assume a most powerful and binding oath, inseparably uniting yourself with us, and when once taken, it can never be retracted or departed from...Are you willing to assume such an obligation?' With bound arms, while leaning upon the altar in kneeling position, the candidate repeats:
"I___________________I of my voluntary desire, uninfluenced and of free accord, do here assume without reserve, the obligation of the Nobility of the Mystic Shrine, as did the elect of the Temple of Mecca, the Moslem and the Mohammedan. I do hereby, upon this Bible and on the mysterious legend of the Koran, and its dedication to the Mohammedan faith, promise and swear and vow on the faith and honor of an upright man, come weal or woe, adversity or success, that I will never reveal any secret part or portion whatsoever of the ceremonies I have already received, that are about to be communicated to me, or that I may hereafter be instructed in, to any person in the world, except it be to a well-known member of the order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and I, knowing to an absolute certainty that he or they be truly and lawfully such, and of good standing with such nobility. That I will not be present, aid or countenance the conferring of the order of the Mystic Shrine upon any person who is not a Masonic Knight Templar or a thirty-second degree A. and A. Scottish Rite Mason in good standing .... and further, albeit I do not actively espouse the cause, still I do promise to be silent, even if neutral, and not oppose the purpose of this order.'
‘ .... and now upon this sacred book, by the sincerity of a Moslem's oath, I here register this irrevocable vow, subscribing myself bound thereto as well as binding myself by the obligation of the prerequisite to this membership, that of Knight Templar or that of a thirty-second degree A. and A. Scottish Rite Mason. In willful violation whereof may I incur the fearful penalty of having my eyeballs pierced to the center with a three-edged blade, my feet flayed and I be forced to walk the hot sands upon the sterile shores of the Red Sea until the flaming sun shall strike me with livid plague, and may Allah, the god of Arab, Moslem, and Mohammedan, the god of our fathers, support me to the entire fulfilment of the same, Amen, Amen, Amen.'"
Prepared by Hayes K. Minnick