Within its sheath while kept, of value it may seem;
When drawn, 'tis only fit for matchwood, men will deem,
Arm not thyself with wooden sword in battle's day.
Examine well thy weapon, if thou 'd have fair play.
Shouldst find thy sword of wood, another seek forthwith;
If adamant it prove to be, then join thy kith.

The truest swords are found in th' arm'ry of the saints.
Their converse is to thee a balm for all complaints.
The wise have ever said, with uniform accord:
"Most truly wise was he, 'the Mercy of the Lord." 1

Dost buy a pomegranate? A burst fruit still elect.
The crack reveals its grains; thou seest they've no defect.
E'en so, good friend, blest be the man whose mouth reveals
The heart-thought pearls their casket, his pure soul,
conceals.

But inauspicious is the opening tulip's crack;

This patent makes to all that its heartcore is black.

The burst pomegranate is a sunny orchard's pride.

So speech of worthy men may waft thee to truth's side.
Society with saints no doubt's of great avail;

To piety it leads; "God's fear shall never fail.” 2
Thou wast a very rock, a worthless pebble stone;

By saints' communion fined, a pearl of price thou'st shone.
Then love the saints. Their love plant deeply in thy heart.
The pure of mind alone deserve a pure love's part.
Court not despair; hope ever springs in human breast.
Seek not the dark; the Sun of Light shines full confest.
The spirit ever leads to haunts of holy men;
The flesh would cast thee in the pit of sin again.
Beware! Feed thou thy soul with love from holy ground.
Make haste! Seek means of grace from one who grace

has found.

1 A grammatical variant of Qur'ān xxi. 107. Muhammed is meant.

2 An allusion to Qur'an xlix. 3; not a quotation.

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415

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Petition make! Seize hold upon the skirts of saints.
Through them thou'lt learn how God his favour grants.
The Gospel names the name of Ahmed; he the last,
As chief of prophets;-purity's bright ocean, vast,
His lineaments, his virtues, ways of matchless good;
With notice of his wars, his fasts, and eke his food.
Some Christian folks, on mention of that sacred name,
420 And this recital of his qualities and fame,

A merit to acquire, were wont to kiss the book,
To bow with reverence deep, humility in look.
That folk in all the troubles we've related now

Were safe; nor bloodshed, nor foul faction did them know.
Secured were they from scrolls, sword, captains, and Vazīr,
In name of Ahmed Mustafà they'd trust, not fear.
Descendants, numerous in race, they left behind;
Their faith in Ahmed they a tower of strength did find.
But other Christian folks to him refused to bow.
425 The blessed name of Mustafà they deemed too low.

Requital brought them punishment for this offence;
A prey they fell unmourned to that Vazīr's pretence.
Their false creed, with their tribes, was quickly brought
to end,

Through those twelve lying volumes his deceit had penn'd.
The name of Ahmed, thus, a friend is proved, of might;
Of light by day a pillar, shelt'ring cloud by night.

A castle inexpugnable, a stronghold safe,

As he himself was Trusty,2 though his foes might chafe. How fatal the disasters pictured here above,

430 The fruit of foul duplicity's pretended love.

1 In Qur'ān lxi. 6, is the assertion that Jesus, in the Gospel, foretold the advent of Muhammed by the name of Ahmed. This is generally explained as a translation of περικλιτός, misread for παράκλητος in John xiv. 26. The two words have very much the same meaning: much praised, most laudable, laudatissimus.

Muhammed is mentioned by many names, forty, fifty, sixty; some say a thousand.

2 Muhammed gained the name of Trusty, El-Emin (Al-Amin), long before he declared himself commissioned to call his countrymen to acknowledge the unity of God, the resurrection, judgment, and future life.

IV.

Another Jewish King, Persecutor of Christians.

A SECOND Jewish king, descendant of the first,
To persecute the Christians showed hate's fiercest thirst.
If information's sought about this wicked king,
That chapter of the Qur'an read: "Heaven's Girdle-Ring."
A sorry rite it was the first had introduced;
With cruel zeal this wicked rite the last abused.

The introducer of a rule that tends to ill,

Draws on his head deep curses, morn and even, still.
The good decease; their bright example serves as guide;
The wicked soon decay; their name all men deride.
The children of those sinners, till the trump of doom,
Are cursed as soon as born; no lot more full of gloom.

How many springs burst forth, one salt, the other sweet;
Their savour changes, while the days and nights compete.
The good are promised their inheritance aloft,

Of waters sweet; 2 in Scripture mentioned oft and oft.3
The seeker's wish, if rightly we consider it,
A scintillation is of flame from holy writ.

1 Qur'ân, chap. lxxxv., the name of which literally means the Towers," but is also applied to the Signs of the Zodiac. These Christians were the people of Nejran in south-western Arabia; their persecutor Dhu-Nuwas, a Jew, king of Yaman, some time before Muhammed.

2 "Gardens beneath which rivers flow" is a frequently recurring expression in the Qur'an. Some have special names.

3 See Qur'an xxxv. 29: "Then we caused" thee "to inherit the Scripture."

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No flame exists apart from body whence it burns; 10 Where'er the burning body hies, the flame, too, turns. A window-light will wander all around a room; Because the rising sun to sunset tends, and gloom. That which to any constellation's stars pertains, Must move with it, rise, set, south, as its place ordains.

The man who under Venus' influence was born
Is joyous, amorous, ambitious, with greed torn.
If Mars his planet be, his temper's bellicose;
War, scandal, litigation,-these he most does choose.

But other stars there are, the planets, seven, beside; 15 And unto men from them nor good, nor ills betide. Revolving in another firmament than they,

Above the spheres that bear the orbs of night and day. Bright through the moral splendour lent them by the Lord; Not bound together quite, nor yet in disaccord. The man whose soul is influenced by one of those, Like meteors, still shall drive away the spirit's foes. His disposition feeleth not the rage of Mars; He temporises;—meekly acts in prosperous wars. His light's triumphant ;-darkness it shall never know. 20 Between two fingers holdeth he the truth, I trow.

The truth doth shed a shining light on human souls,
Received by heaven's favourites, in special ghostly strolls.
Illumined with that light, as spangles deck a bride,
They turn their souls to God, contemning all beside.
Who feels not keenly love's great soul-compelling might,
Is portionless of spangles from truth's flashing light.

All parts must ever share the nature of their whole,
As nightingale pours out unto one rose its soul.
Whatever property may qualify a thing

25 Externally, man's qualities are mind's offspring.

From purity, rich colours rise, good qualities;
Stains,―moral, or as dyes,—from gross impurities.

"God's Baptism" is the name of all that's good in man;
“The curse of God," of all that's evil in our plan.1
In which of these two seas our streamlets may subside,
They but return into the source from whence their tide.
From mountain-tops, swift torrents rushing down apace.
From men's frames, love-inspired souls, anon the race.

The counsel hear, that now, this Jewish dog did take.
Beside a fire a hideous idol he did make,
And proclamation ran: "Whoever 'd save his soul,
This idol worships; or in fire he's burnt to coal.” 2
Thus having made his hate an idol to himself,
A second idol straightway he invents, this elf.

The mother of all idols is our fleshly pride.
They're dragons; this, the egg of cockatrice's bride.
The flesh is flint and steel; our pride is but its spark.
That pride pervades the flesh as fecundation's mark.
Can moisture quench the latent spark in flint and steel?
Can man be safe while flesh and pride he lives to feel;
In flint and steel we know that fire is still alive.
No water's of avail that fire from them to drive.
With water we put out a fire when burning bright;
The spark in flint and steel is safe from water's might.

From flint and steel of flesh what burnings still ensue !
Their sparks, the blasphemies of Christian and of Jew!
If water in the jug and pitcher come to end,

On wellspring we must draw, a fresh supply to send.

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