He tarried not,-he past The threshold, over which was no return. A yellow light, as when the autumnal Sun, Or if the sun-beams, day by day, Cast its dark outline there; To feel the flowing wind! He should breathe in the open gales of heaven! eye; But not on these, the depths so terrible, The wonderous wings, fix'd Thalaba his For there, upon the brink, With fiery fetters fasten'd to the rock, A man, a living man, tormented lay, The young Othatha; in the arms of love, He who had lingered out the auspicious hour, Forgetful of his call. In shuddering pity, Thalaba exclaim'd, « Servant of God, can I not succour thee?» He groan'd, and answered, « Son of Man, I sinn'd, and am tormented; I endure In patience and in hope. The hour that shall destroy the Race of Hell, That hour shall set me free.>>> XV. << Is it not come?» quoth Thalaba, «Yea! by this omen!»-and with fearless hand He grasp'd the burning fetters, «< in the name Of God!»-and from the rock Rooted the rivets, and adown the gulph Hurl'd them. The rush of flames roar'd up, For they had kindled in their fall The deadly vapours of the pit profound, And Thalaba bent on, and look'd below. But vainly he explor'd The deep abyss of flame, Illum'd the world beneath. And dimmer now it fades, and now is quench'd, XVII. Then Thalaba pronounced the name of God, And leapt into the car. Down, down, it sunk,-down, down He neither breathes nor sees; His eyes are clos'd for giddiness, His breath is sinking with the fall. The air that yields beneath the car, Inflates the wings above. Down-down-a mighty depthWas then the Simorg, with the Powers of ill, Associate to destroy? And was that lovely Mariner A fiend as false as fair? XVIII. He stands and totters giddily, Float dizzy on his sight; Collected soon, he gazes for the way. There was a distant light that led his search; The torch a broader blaze, The unprun'd taper flares a longer flame, No eye could penetrate That unendurable excess of light. XIX. It veil'd no friendly form, thought Thalaba; And wisely did he deem, For, at the threshold of the rocky door, Fit warden of the sorcery gate, He scented the approach of human food, · And lifted still at times a rapid glance; Till the due distance gain'd, With head abas'd, he laid The arrow in its rest. With steady effort, and knit forehead then, Full on the painful light, He fix'd his aching eye, and loos'd the bow. XX. An anguish-yell ensued ; And sure, no human voice had scope or power For that prodigious shriek, Whose pealing echoes thundered up the rock. But Thalaba leapt onward to the doors And while the Afreet warden of the way Was writhing with his death-pangs, over him Sprung and smote the stony doors, And bade them, in the name of God, give way! XXI. The dying Fiend, beneath him, at that name And the rocks shuddered, and the rocky doors But Thalaba, with numbing force, Smites his rais'd arm, and rushes by; For now he sees the fire, amid whose flames, On the white ashes of Hiodeirah, lies Hodeirah's holy Sword. XXII. He rushes to the fire; Then Khawla met the youth, And leapt upon him, and, with clinging arms, Clasps him, and calls Mohareb now to aim The effectual vengeance. O fool! fool! he sees His Father's Sword, and who shall bar his way? Who stand against the fury of that arm That spurns her to the earth?She rises half, she twists around his knees,A moment-and he vainly strives To shake her from her hold; Impatient, then into her cursed breast He stamps his crushing heel, And from her body, heaving now in death, Springs forward to the Sword. The moment Thalaba had laid his hand The Living Image in the inner cave The Sorcerer brood, all, all, where'er dispersed, Perforce obey'd the summons; all... they came Compell'd by Hell and Heaven; By Hell compell'd to keep Their baptism-covenant, And, with the union of their strength, Oppose the common danger; forced by Heaven To share the common doom. XXV. Vain are all spells! the Destroyer Treads the Domdaniel floor! They crowd with human arms, and human force, To crush the single foe; Vain is all human force! He wields his Father's Sword, The vengeance of awaken'd Deity! But chief on Thalaba Mohareb prest. The language of the inspired Witch Announced one fatal blow for both, And, desperate of self-safety, yet he hop'd To serve the cause of Eblis, and uphold His empire, true in death. XXVI. Who shall withstand the Destroyer? The sorcerer throng recede, And leave him space for combat. Wretched man, To meet the Arabian's sword,.. Under the edge of that fire-hardened steel, A second stroke, and lo! the broken hilt And now he bleeds! and now he flies! And fall all fearfully Around the Giant Idol's feet, Seeking salvation from the Power they serv'd. XXVII. It was a Living Image, by the art Its stature such, and such its strength, Self-pois'd in air before him, Hung the Round Altar, rolling like the World On its diurnal axis, like the World Chequer'd with sea and shore, The work of Demon art. For where the sceptre in the Idol's hand Touch'd the Round Altar, in its answering realm Earth felt the stroke, and Ocean rose in storms, And ruining Cities, shaken from their seat, Crush'd all their habitants. His other arm was rais'd, and its spread palm Whose naked waters arch'd the sanctuary, XXVIII Fallen on the ground, around his feet The Sorcerers lay. Mohareb's quivering arms And calm in terror he beheld The approach of the Destroyer. XXIX. Sure of his stroke, and therefore in pursuit He only fearless, miserable man, <«< On me, on me,» the childless Sorcerer cried, «Let fall the weapon! I am he who stole Upon the midnight of thy Father's tent; This is the hand that pierced Hodeirah's heart, That felt thy brethren's and thy sister's blood Gush round the dagger-hilt. Let fall on me The fated sword! the vengeance-hour is come! Destroyer, do thy work!» XXX. Nor wile, nor weapon, had the desperate wretch: He spread his bosom to the stroke. « Old man, I strike thee not!» said Thalaba; «The evil thou hast done to me and mine Brought its own bitter punishment. I speak in Laila's name! and what if now XXXI. The astonish'd man stood gazing as he spake, The all-beholding Prophet's divine voice, XXXII. A deep and awful joy Seem'd to distend the heart of Thalaba; With arms in reverence crost upon his breast, Upsecking eyes suffused with transport-tears, He answered to the Voice, « Prophet of God, Holy, and good, and bountiful! One only earthly wish have I, to work Thy will, and thy protection grants me that. Look on this Sorcerer! heavy are his crimes, But infinite is mercy! if thy servant Have now found favour in the sight of God, Let him be touched with penitence, and save His soul from utter death.>> XXXIII. «The groans of penitence,» replied the Voice, «Never arise uuheard! Note 3, page 89, col. 2. He gave, he takes away! Note 4, page 9o, col. 1. And rested like a dome. La mer n'est plus qu'un cercle aux yeux des Matelots, Note 5, page 90, col. 2. Here studding azure tablatures. The magnificent Mosque at Tauris is faced with varnished bricks, of various colours, like most fine buildings in Persia, says Tavernier. One of its domes is covered with white flower-work upon a green ground; the other has a black ground, spotted with white stars. Gilding is also common upon oriental buildings. At Boghar in Bactria our old traveller Jenkinson' saw « many houses, temples, and monuments of stone, sumptuously builded and gilt.» In Pegu << they consume about their Varely or idol houses great store of leafe-gold, for that they overlay all the tops of the houses with gold, and some of them are covered with gold from the top to the foote; in covering whereof there is a great store of gold spent, for that every ten years they new overlay them with gold, from the top to the foote, so that with this vanitie they spend great aboundance of golde. For every ten years the rain doth cousume the gold from these houses.»— Cæsar Frederick, in Hakluyt. A waste of ornament and labour characterises all the works of the Orientalists. I have seen illuminated Persian manuscripts that must each have been the toil of many years, every page painted, not with representations of life and manners, but usually like the curves and lines of a turkey carpet, conveying no idea whatever, as absurd to the eye as nonsense-verses to the ear. The little of their literature that has reached us is equally worthless. Our barbarian scholars have called Ferdusi the Oriental Homer. We have a specimen of his poem; the translation is said to be bad, and certainly must be unfaithful, for it is in rhyme; but the vilest copy of a picture at least represents the subject and the composition. To make this Iliad of the East, as they have sacrilegiously styled it, a good poem, would be realizing the dreams of alchemy, and transmuting lead into gold. The Arabian Tales certainly abound with genius; they have lost their metaphorical rubbish in passing through the filter of a French translation. Note 6, page 90, col. 2. Sennamar built at Hirab, etc. The Arabians call this palace one of the wonders of The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the world. It was built for Noman-al-Aôuar, one of the name of the Lord.-Job i, 21. I have placed a scripture phrase in the mouth of a Mahommedan; but it is a saying of Job, and there can be no impropriety in making a modern Arab speak like an ancient one. Resignation is particularly inculcated by Mahommed, and of all his precepts it is that which his followers have best observed: it is even the vice of the East. It had been easy to have made Zeinab speak from the Koran, if the tame language of the Koran could be remembered by the few who have toiled through its dull tautology. I thought it better to express a feeling of religion in that language with which our religious ideas are connected. those Arabian Kings who reigned at Hirah. A single stone fastened the whole structure; the colour of the walls varied frequently in a day. Noman richly rewarded the architect Sennamar; but recollecting after wards that he might build palaces equal, or superior in beauty, for his rival kings, ordered that he should be thrown from the highest tower of the edifice.-D'Herbelot. An African colony had been settled in the north of Ireland long before the arrival of the Neimhedians. It is recorded, that Neimheidh had employed four of ' Hakluyt. their artisans to erect for him two sumptuous palaces, which were so highly finished, that, jealous lest they might construct others on the same, or perhaps a grander plan, he had them privately made away with, the day after they had completed their work.-O'Halloran's History of Ireland. Note 7, page 91, col. 1. The paradise of Irem, etc. reigned in the province of Hegiaz. They explained to him the occasion of their journey, and demanded leave to proceed and perform their devotions at the Red Hillock, that they might procure rain. Mortadh, who was the wisest of this company, and who had been converted by the Prophet Houd, often remonstrated with his associates, that it was useless to take this journey for the purpose of praying at this chosen spot, unless they had previously adopted the truths which the Prophet preached, and seriously repented of their unbelief. For how, said he, can you hope that God will shed upon us the abundant showers of his mercy, if we refuse to hear the voice of him, whom he hath sent to instruct us ? The tribe of Ad were descended from Ad, the son of Aus or Uz, the son of Irem, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, who, after the confusion of tongues, settled in Al-Ahkaf, or the winding sands in the province of Ha dramaut, where his posterity greatly multiplied. Their first King was Shedad, the son of Ad, of whom the eastKail, who was one of the most obstinate in error, and ern writers deliver many fabulous things, particularly consequently of the Prophet's worst enemies, hearing that he finished the magnificent city his father had be- the discourses of his colleague, requested King Moàwigun; wherein he built a fine palace, adorned with deli- | yah to detain Mortadh prisoner, whilst he and the recious gardens, to embellish which he spared neither mainder of his companions proceeded to make their cost nor labour, proposing thereby to create in his sub-prayers upon the Hillock. Moâwiyah consented, and, jects a superstitious veneration of himself as a God. This detaining Mortadh captive, permitted the others to purgarden or paradise was called the Garden of Irem, and issue their journey, and accomplish their vow. mentioned in the Koran, and often alluded to by the Oriental writers. The city, they tell us, is still standing in the deserts of Aden, being preserved by Providence as a monument of divine justice, though it be invisible, unless very rarely, when God permits it to be seen: a favour one Colabah pretended to have received in the reign of the Khalif Moawiyah, who sending for him to know the truth of the matter, Colabah related his whole adventure: that, as he was seeking a camel he had lost, he found himself on a sudden at the gates of this city, and entering it, saw not one inhabitant; at which being terrified, he stayed no longer than to take with him some fine stones, which he showed the Khalif.-Sale. The descendants of Ad in process of time falling from the worship of the true God into idolatry, God sent the prophet Houd (who is generally agreed to be Heber) to preach the unity of his essence, and reclaim them. Houd preached for many years to this people without effect, till God at last was weary of waiting for their repentance. The first punishment which he inflicted was a famine of three years' continuance, during all which time the heavens were closed upon them. This, with the evils which it caused, destroyed a great part of this people, who were then the richest and most powerful of all in Arabia. The Adites seeing themselves reduced to this extremity, and receiving no succour from their false gods, resolved to make a pilgrimage to a place in the province of Hegiaz, where at present Mecca is situated. There was then a hillock of red sand there, around which a great concourse of different people might always be seen; and all these nations, the faithful as well as the unfaithful, believed that by visiting this spot with devotion, they should obtain from God whatever they petitioned for, respecting the wants and necessities of life. The Adites having then resolved to undertake this religious journey, chose seventy men, at whose head they appointed Mortadh and Kail, the two most considerable personages of the country, to perform this duty in the name of the whole nation, and by this means procure rain from leaven, without which their country must be ruined. The deputies departed, and were hospitably received by Moàwiyah, who at that time Kail, now the sole chief of the deputation, having arrived at the place, prayed thus, Lord, give to the people of Ad such rains as it shall please thee. And he had scarcely finished when there appeared three clouds in the sky, one white, one red, the third black. At the same time these words were heard to proceed from Heaven, Chuse which of the three thou wilt. Kail chose the black, which he imagined the fullest, and most abundant in water, of which they were in extreme want. After having chosen, he immediately quitted the place, and took the road to his own country, congratulating himself on the happy success of his pilgrimage. As soon as Kail arrived in the valley of Magaith, a part of the territory of the Adites, he informed his countrymen of the favourable answer he had received, and of the cloud which was soon to water all their lands. The senseless people all came out of their houses to receive it; but this cloud, which was big with the divine vengeance, produced only a wind, most cold and most violent, which the Arabs call Sarsar; it continued to blow for seven days and seven nights and exterminated all the unbelievers of the country, leaving only the Prophet Houd alive, and those who had heard him and turned to the faith.-D'Herbelot. Note 8, page 91, col. 1. I have heard from a certain Cyprian botanist, that the Ebony does not produce either leaves or fruit, and that it is never seen exposed to the sun : that its roots are indeed under the earth, which the Ethiopians dig out, aud that there are men among them skilled in finding the place of its concealment.—Pausanias, translated by Taylor. Note 10, page 92, col. 1. We to our Idols still applied for aid. The Adites worshipped four Idols, Sakiah the dispenser of rain, Hafedah the protector of travellers, Razekah the giver of food, and Salemah the preserver in sickness.-D'Herbelot. |