"And while there are those," the mad Arab had written, "who have dared to seek glimpses beyond the Veil, and to accept HIM as guide, they would have been more prudent had they avoided commerce with Him; for it is written in the Book of Thoth how terrific is the price of a single glimpse. Nor may those who pass ever return, for in the vastnesses transcending our world are shapes of darkness that seize and bind. The Affair that shambleth about in the night, the evil that defieth the Elder Sign, the Herd that stand watch at the secret portal each tomb is known to have, and that thrive on that which groweth out of the tenants thereof—all these Blacknesses are lesser than He who guardeth the Gateway: He who will guide the rash one beyond all the worlds into the Abyss of unnamable devourers. For He is 'Umr At-Tawil, the Most Ancient One, which the scribe rendereth as the Prolonged of Life."