My double danger from Hodeirah's race, The deeper hate I feel, The stronger motive that inspired my arm! Ye frown as if my hasty fault, My ill-directed blow, Had spared the enemy; And not the Stars, that would not give, Which of the whole was he. Said ye not root and branch should be destroy'd? I heard his Children's shriek of death, A cloud that mock'd my searching eyes. A Voice came forth, and said, 'Son of Perdition, cease! Thou canst not change What in the Book of Destiny is written.'"' And ghastly, in that light was seen, Like a dead man's, by the sepulchral lamp. 13. Even Khawla, fiercest of the enchanter brood, Was undefiled and pure. Thou art mighty, O Son of Abdallah! That shall vie with the might of Eblis? That shall rival the Prince of the Morning?" 14. She said, and raised her skinny hand As in defiance to high Heaven, And stretch'd her long, lean finger forth, And spake aloud the words of power. The Spirits heard her call, And lo! before her stands Her Demon Minister. "Spirit!" the Enchantress cried, "Where lives the Boy, coeval with whose life Yon magic Fire must burn?" 15. DEMON. Mistress of the mighty Spell, Not on Ocean, not on Earth; Only eyes that view From some believing Spirit, ask and learn. 16. "Bring the dead Hodeirah here," The Demon heard her bidding, and was gone A moment pass'd, and at her feet Hodeirah's corpse was laid; His hand still held the sword he grasp'd in death, The blood not yet had clotted on his wound. 17. The Sorceress look'd, and, with a smile 18. She said, and mutter'd charms which Hell in fear And Heaven in horror heard. Soon the stiff eye-balls roll'd, The muscles with convulsive motion shook, The white lips quiver'd. Khawla saw; her soul Exulted, and she cried, "Prophet behold my power! Not even death secures 19. Hodeirah groan'd and closed his eyes, As if in the night and the blindness of death He would have hid himself. 20. "Speak to my question!" she exclaim'd, "Or in that mangled body thou shalt live Ages of torture! answer me! Where can we find the boy?" 21. "God! God!" Hodeirah cried, "Release me from this life, From this intolerable agony!" 22. "Speak!" cried the Sorceress, and she snatch'd A Viper from the floor, And with the living reptile lash'd his neck. And fix'd into his face In vain! for Allah heard Hodeirah's prayer, And Khawla on a corpse Had wreak'd her baffled rage. The fated Fire moved on, And round the Body wrapt its funeral flames, Consumed; the Sword alone, 23. Where is the Boy for whose hand it is destined? But not one letter can ye change 24. Who shall seek through Araby Hodeirah's dreaded son? They mingle the Arrows of Chance, The lot of Abdaldar is drawn. Thirteen moons must wax and wane Ere the Sorcerer quit his quest. He must visit every tribe That roam the desert wilderness, Or dwell beside perennial streams; Nor leave a solitary tent unsearch'd, Till he hath found the Boy,The dreaded Boy, whose blood alone Can quench that fated Fire. 25. A crystal ring Abdaldar wore; Ripening there it lay beneath Rock above rock, and mountain ice up-piled On mountain, till the incumbent mass assumed, So huge its bulk, the Ocean's azure hue. 26. With this he sought the inner den, Where burnt the Eternal Fire. Like waters gushing from some channell'd rock, Full through a narrow opening, from a chasm The Eternal Fire stream'd up. No eye beheld the spring Of that up-flowing Flame, Which blazed self-nurtured, and forever, there. Which must from that day in infinity Servant of Eblis, Seek the Destroyer! 29. From tribe to tribe, from town to town, From tent to tent, Abdaldar pass'd. Him every morn the all-beholding Eye Saw from his couch, unhallow'd by a prayer, Rise to the scent of blood; And every night lie down, That rankling hope within him, that by day Goaded his steps, still stinging him in sleep, And startling him with vain accomplishment From visions still the same. Many a time his wary hand To many a youth applied the Ring; And still the imprison'd Fire Within its crystal socket lay compress'd, 30. At length to the cords of a tent, Herself as shapely, there a Damsel stood; With one hand clinging to its trunk, Cast with the other down the cluster'd dates. 31. The Magician approach'd the Tree; He lean'd on his staff, like a way-faring man, And the sweat of his travel was seen on his brow. He ask'd for food, and lo! The Damsel proffers him her lap of dates; And the Stripling descends, and runs to the tent, And brings him forth water, the draught of delight. 32. Anon the Master of the tent, The Father of the family, Came forth, a man in years, of aspect mild. 33. They brought the Traveller rice, When never yet the sullying Sun Nor the warm zephyr touch'd and tainted it. The Devil, whom Mahommed names Eblis, from his despair, was once one of those angels who are nearest to God's presence, called Azazil; and fell (according to the doctrine of the Koran) for refusing to pay homage to Adam at the command of God. - Sale. God created the body of Adam of Salzal, that is, of dry but unbaked clay; and left it forty nights, or, according to others, forty years, lying without a soul; and the Devil came to it, and kicked it, and it sounded. And God breathed into it a soul with his breath, sending it in at the eyes; and he himself saw his nose still dead clay, and the soul running through him, till it reached his feet, when he stood upright.— Maracci. In the Nuremburg Chronicle is a print of the creation of Adam; the body is half made, growing out of a heap of clay under the Creator's hands. A still more absurd print represents Eve half way out of his side. knowledge me. El Hassan tells us, that no sooner had the blessed Angel closed the said crystal, but so terrible and astonishing a voice issued out thereof, and it cast so unusual and glorious a light, that, with the surprise of so great and unexpected a mystery, the Angel remained fixed and immovable; and although he had a most ardent desire to be let into the secret arcana of that wonderful prodigy, yet all his innate courage and heavenly magnanimity were not sufficient to furnish him with assurance, or power, to make the inquiry. All being now completed, and put in order, God said to his Angels, "Which of you will descend to the Earth, and bring me up a handful thereof?" When immediately such infinite numbers of celestial spirits departed, that the universal surface was covered with them; where, consulting among themselves, they unanimously confirmed their loathing and abhorrence to touch it, saying, How dare we be so presumptuous as to expose, before the throne of the Lord, so glorious and sovereign as ours is, a thing so filthy, and of a form and composition so vile and despicable! and in effect, they all returned, fully determined not to meddle with it. After these went others, and then more; but not one of them, either first or last, dared to defile the purity of their hands with it. Upon which Azarael, an Angel of an extraordinary stature, flew down, and, from the four corners of the Earth, brought up a handful of it which God had commanded. From the south and the north, from the west and from the east, took he it; of all which four different qualities, human bodies are composed. The Almighty, perceiving in what manner Azarael had signalized himself in this affair, beyond the rest of the Angels, and taking particular notice of his goodly form and stature, said to him, "O Azaracl, it is my pleasure to constitute thee to be Death itself; thou shalt be him who separateth the souls from the bodies of those creatures I am about to make; thou henceforth shalt be called Azarael Malec el Mout, or Azarael, the Angel of Death." Then God caused the Earth, which Azarael had brought, to be washed and purified in the fountains of Heaven; and El Hassan tells us, that it became so resplendently clear, that it cast a more shining and beautiful light than the Sun in its utmost glory. Gabriel was then commanded to convey this lovely, though as yet inanimate, lump of clay, throughout the Heavens, the Earth, the Centres, and the Seas; to the intent, and with a positive injunction, that whatsoever had life might behold it, and pay honor and reverence thereunto. When the Angels saw all these incomprehensible mysteries, and that so beautiful an image, they said, "Lord! if it will be pleasing in thy sight, we will, in thy most high and mighty name, prostrate ourselves before it : " To which voluntary proposal, God replied; I am content you pay adoration to it; and I command you so to do: when instantly they all bowed, inclining their shining celestial countenances at his feet; only Eblis detained himself, obstinately refusing; proudly and arrogantly valuing himself upon his heavenly composition. To whom God sternly said, "Prostrate thyself to The fullest Mahommedan Genesis is to be found in Rabadan Adam." He made a show of so doing, but remained only the Morisco's Poem. God, designing to make known to his whole choir of Angels, high and low, his scheme concerning the Creation, called the Archangel Gabriel, and delivering to him a pen and paper, commanded him to draw out an instrument of fealty and homage; in which, as God had dictated to his Secretary Gabriel, were specified the pleasures and delights he ordained to his creatures in this world; the term of years he would allot them; and how, and in what exercises, their time in this life was to be employed. This being done, Gabriel said, Lord, what more must I write? The pen resisteth, and refuseth to be guided forwards! God then took the deed, and, before he folded it, signed it with his sacred hand, and affixed thereunto his royal signet, as an indication of his incontestable and irrevocable promise and covenant. Then Gabriel was commanded to convey what he had written throughout the hosts of Angels; with orders that they all, without exception, should fall down and worship the same: and it was so abundantly replenished with glory, that the angelical potentates universally reverenced and paid homage thereunto. Gabriel, returning, said, O Lord! I have obeyed thy commands; what else am I to do? God replied, Close up the writing in this crystal; for this is the inviolable covenant of the fealty the mortals I will hereafter create shall pay unto me, and by the which they shall ac upon his knees, and then rose up, before he had performed what God had commanded him. When the Angels beheld his insolence and disobedience, they a second time prostrated themselves, to complete what the haughty and presumptuous Angel had left undone. From hence it is, that in all our prayers, at each inclination of the body, we make two prostrations, one immediately after the other. God being highly incensed against the rebellious Eblis, said unto him, "Why didst thou not reverence this statue which I have made, as the other Angels all have done?" To which Eblis replied, "I will never lessen or disparage my grandeur so much, as to humble myself to a piece of clay; I, who am an immortal Seraphim, of so apparently a greater excellency than that; 1, whom thou didst create out of the celestial fire, what an indignity would it be to my splendor, to pay homage to a thing composed of so vile a metal!" The irritated Monarch, with a voice of thunder, then pronounced against him this direful anathema and malediction: Begone, enemy; depart, Rebel, from my abode! Thou no longer shalt continue in my celestial dominions. - Go, thou accursed flaming thunderbolt of fire! My curse pursue thee! My condemnation overtake thee! My torments afflict thee! And my chastisement accompany thee! Thus fell this enemy of God and mankind, both he, and all his followers and abettors, who sided or BOOK II. were partakers with him in his pride and presumptuous disobedience. God now was pleased to publish and make manifest his design of animating Man, out of that beautiful and resplendent crystal; and accordingly commanded Gabriel to breathe into the body of clay, that it might become flesh and blood: But at the instant, as the immaculate Spirit was going to enter therein, it returned, and humbling itself before the Lord, said, O Merciful King! for what reason is it that thou intendest to enclose me in this loathsome prison? I, who am thy servant, thou shuttest up within mine enemy, where my purity will be defiled, and where, against my will, I shall disobey thee, without being able to resist the instigation and power of this rebellious flesh; whereby I shall become liable to suffer thy rigorous punishment, insupportable and unequal to my strength, for having perpetrated the enormities obnoxious to the frailty of human flesh: Spare me, O Lord: spare me suffer me not to taste of this bitter draught! To thee it belongs to command, and to me to supplicate thee. Thus spoke the pure and unspotted Spirit, when God, to give it some satisfaction to these complaints, and that it might contentedly resign itself to obey his commands, ordered it should be conducted near his throne, where, in innumerable and infinite parts thereof, it beheld certain letters deciphered up and down, importing, Mahomet the triumphant leader! And over all the seven heavens, on their gates, and in all their books, he saw those words stamped, exceedingly bright and resplendent. This was the blazon which all the Angels and other celestial beings carried between their beautiful eyes, and for their devices on their apparel. The Spirit, having seen all this, returned to the throne of glory, and being very desirous to understand the signification of those ciphers and characters, he asked, What name was that which shined so in every place? To which question God answered, Know, that from thee, and from that flesh, shall proceed a chieftain, a leader, who shall bear that name, and use that language; by whom, and for whose sake, I the Lord, the heavens, the earths, and the seas, shall be honored, as shall likewise all who believe in that name. The Spirit, hearing these wonders, immediately conceived so mighty a love to the body, a love not to be expressed, nor even imagined, that it longed with impatience to enter into it; which it had no sooner done, but it miraculously and artificially was influenced and distilled into every individual part and member thereof, whereby the body became animated. Rabadan. It is to be regretted, that the original of this very curious poem has not been published, and that it did not meet with a more respectable translator. How well would the erudition of Sale have been employed in elucidating it! Where art thou, Hodeirah, now?-17, p. 237. These lines contain the various opinions of the Mahommedans respecting the intermediate state of the Blessed, till the Day of Judgment. Is thy soul in Zemzem-well?-17, p. 237. Hagar, being near her time, and not able any longer to endure the ill-treatment she received from Sara, resolved to run away. Abraham, coming to hear of her discontent, and fearing she might make away with the child, especially if she came to be delivered without the assistance of some other women, followed her, and found her already delivered of a son; who, dancing with his little feet upon the ground, had made way for a spring to break forth. But the water of the spring came forth in such abundance, as also with such violence, that Hagar could make no use of it to quench her thirst, which was then very great. Abraham, coming to the place, commanded the spring to glide more gently, and to suffer that water might be drawn out of it to drink; and having thereupon stayed the course of it with a little bank of sand, he took of it, to make Hagar and her child drink. The said spring is to this day called Semsem, from Abraham making use of that word to stay it. - Olearius. 31 And with the living reptile lash'd his neck. — 22, p. 238. Excepting in this line, I have avoided all resemblance to the powerful poetry of Lucan. Aspicit astantem projecti corporis umbram, * * Protinus astrictus caluit cruor, atraque fovit LUCAN. A curious instance of French taste occurs in this part of Brebeuf's translation. The re-animated corpse is made the corpse of Burrhus, of whose wife, Octavia, Sextus is enamored. Octavia hears that her husband has fallen in battle; she seeks his body, but in vain. A light at length leads her to the scene of Erichtho's incantations, and she beholds Burrhus, to all appearance, living. The witch humanely allows them time for a long conversation, which is very complimentary on the part of the husband. Brebeuf was a man of genius. The Pharsalia is as wel told in his version as it can be in the detestable French heroic couplet, which epigrammatizes every thing. He had courage enough, though a Frenchman, to admire Lucan, and yet could not translate him without introducing a love-story. They mingle the Arrows of Chance. - 24, p. 238. This was one of the superstitions of the Pagan Arabs for bidden by Mahommed. The mode of divining by arrows was seen by Pietro Della Valle at Aleppo. The Mahommedan conjurer made two persons sit down, one facing the other, and gave each of them four arrows, which they were to hold perpendicularly, the point toward the ground. After questioning them concerning the business of which they wished to be informed, he muttered his invocations; and the eight arrows, by virtue of thesa charms, altered their posture, and placed themselves point to point. Whether those on the left, or those on the right, were above the others, decided the question. The powerful gem, &c.—25, p. 238. Some imagine that the crystal is snow turned to ice, which has been hardening thirty years, and is turned to a rock by age.Mirror of Stones, by Camillus Teonardus, physician of Pisaro, dedicated to Cæsar Borgia. In the cabinet of the Prince of Monaco, among other rarities, are two pieces of crystal, each larger than both hands clinched together. In the middle of one is about a glass-full of water, and in the other is some moss, naturally enclosed there when the crystals congealed. These pieces are very curious. - Tavernier. Crystal, precious stones, every stone that has a regular figure, and even flints in small masses, and consisting of concentric coats, whether found in the perpendicular fissures of rocks, or elsewhere, are only exudations, or the concreting juices of flint in large masses; they are, therefore, new and spurious productions, the genuine stalactites of flint or of granite. - Buffon. Gem of the gem, &c.—27, p. 238. Burguillos, or Lope de Vega, makes an odd metaphor from such an illustration: |