AZAN (Arabic for " announcement ")  , the call or summons to public prayers proclaimed by the Muezzin (crier) from the mosque twice daily in all Mahommedan countries . In small mosques the Muezzin at Man stands at the door or at the side of the building; in large ones he takes up his position in the minaret . The call translated runs: " God is most great!" (four times), "I testify there is no God but God!" (twice), " I testify that Mahomet is the apostle of God!" (twice), " Come to prayer!" (twice), " Come to salvation!" (twice), " God is most great!" (twice), " There is no God but God!" To the morning Azan are added the words, " Prayer is better than sleep!" (twice) . The devout Moslem has to make a set response to each phrase of the Muezzin . At first these are mere repetitions of Man, but to the cry "Come to prayer!" the listener must answer, " I have no power nor strength but from God the most High and Great." To that of "Come to salvation!" the formal response is, " What God willeth will be: what He willeth not will not be." The recital of the Azan must be listened to with the utmost reverence . The passers in the streets must stand still, all those at work must cease from their labours, and those in bed must sit up . The Muezzin, who is a paid servant of the mosque, must stand with his face towards Mecca and with the points of his forefingers in his ears while reciting Man . He is specially chosen for good character, and Azan must not be recited by any one unclean, by a drunkard, by the insane, or by a woman . The summons to prayers was at first simply " Come to prayer!" Mahomet, anxious to invest the call with the dignity of a ceremony, took counsel of his followers . Some suggested the Jewish trumpet, others the Christian bell, but according to legend the matter was finally settled by a dream:—" While the matter was under discussion, Abdallah, a Khazrajite, dreamed that he met a man clad in green raiment, carrying a bell . Abdallah sought to buy it, saying that it would do well for bringing together the assemblyof the faithful . ` I will show thee a better way,' replied the stranger; ` let a crier cry aloud " God is most great, &c." ' On awaking, Abdallah went to Mahomet and told him his dream," and Azan was thereupon instituted .