In Muslim tradition, the Mahdi will appear at the end of Time and make the whole world Muslim. Some believe the Mahdi is the missing twelfth Imam, who lives in a well and will appear as a result of chaos and war to install the new Caliphate. There are many Muslims who believe that the time of the Mahdi is near, and rejoice at the coming victory over the West. I slipped across the Turkish border just today and spoke to a Syran rebel who smiled and said things are going great, that the Mahdi would be here soon and all would be honey and rice cakes.

The Mahdi, he said, quickly turns the sky dark
With thunder and lightning and hail
That sign from above will give just us the spark
To fight and with God’s help prevail
I asked him just where now the Mahdi might be
He winked with a smile very sly
And looking around making sure none could see
He fastened his gaze on my eye
He’s here, he said softly, a bottle in hand
I fished him right out of the well
He’ll come to the rescue upon my demand
Now promise me you’ll never tell
But why, I inquired, you keep him corked up
When loosing him wins you the war
I’m open to offers, he cried, now worked up
The offers must needs be much more
Your Kerry made offers I could not refuse
McCain urged to him I must sell
They say when they have him there’s no time to lose
The Mahdi goes back in the well
He winked once again and said you in the West
Believe things a child disbelieves
This bottle of water I’m sure you have guessed
Is sacred to those one deceives