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"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. This treaty is valid for all Christian subjects, priests, monks and nuns. It guarantees them security and protection wherever they may be. As Caliph we are bound by our duty to secure protection for ourselves and our followers and for all Christian subjects discharging their duties. Suitable protection is assured to their churches, houses and places of pilgrimage as well as to those who visit these places: the Georgians, Abyssinians, Jacobites, Nestorians and all those who recognize the Prophet Jesus. All these deserve respect, as they have been formerly honoured in a writ from the Prophet Muhammad under which he placed his seal and which emphatically commanded us to be benevolent to them and to grant them protection. Accordingly it is our duty as head of all true believers to show benevolence, and this as a sign of devotion towards him who already showed his graciousness and grace to you. Accordingly as pilgrims in all Muslim lands, by sea and on land they are exempt from the payment of all duties, taxes and of the poll-tax. When they enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and during their entire pilgrimage no manner of tax is to be levied against them... Whoever has read this treaty and acts against it or deals with them in defiance of this treaty between today and the Day of Judgment breaks the Covenant of God, and that of his well-loved Prophet..."
(156:1)
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