Autobiography of Malcolm X

"The blessed-the godfearing, the humble, the charitable, those who have suffered and been
persecuted for Allah's sake or fought in religious wars for Islam-are summoned to the Garden of
Paradise.
"There, according to the teaching of Mohammed, the Prophet, they live forever by flowing
streams, reclining on silken cushions, and enjoying the company of dark-eyed maidens and wives
of perfect purity.
"The damned-the covetous, the evildoer, the follower of gods other than Allah-are sent to Eternal
Fire, where they are fed boiling water and molten brass. 'The death from which ye flee will truly
overtake you,' the Koran says. 'Then will ye be sent back to the Knower of things secret and
open, and He will tell you the truth of the things that ye did.'"
After signing the contract for this book, Malcolm X looked at me hard. "A writer is what I want, not
an interpreter." I tried to be a dispassionate chronicler. But he was the most electric personality I
have ever met, and I still can't quite conceive him dead. It still feels to me as if he has just gone
into some next chapter, to be written by historians.
New York, 1965