Chinese and Arabian Literature - E. Wilson - The Search For Mecca

SELECTIONS FROM ARABIAN POETRY 77
THE VALE OF BOZAA»«
The intertwining boughs for thee
Have wove, sweet dell, a verdant vest,
And thou in turn shalt give to me
A verdant couch upon thy breast.
To shield me from day's fervid glare
Thine oaks their fostering arms extend.
As anxious o'er her infant care
I've seen a watchful mother bend.
A brighter cup, a sweeter draught,
I gather from that rill of thine,
Than maddening drunkards ever quaflf'd.
Than all the treasures of the vine.
So smooth the pebbles on its shore.
That not a maid can thither stray,
But counts her strings of jewels o'er.
And thinks the pearls have slipp'd away.
Ahmed Ben Yousef Almenazy.
TO ADVERSITY"
Hail, chastening friend Adversity! 'Tis thine
The mental ore to temper and refine,
To cast in virtue's mould the yielding heart,
And honor's polish to the mind impart.
Without thy wakening touch, thy plastic aid,
I'd lain the shapeless mass that nature made
But form'd, great artist, by thy magic hand,
I gleam a sword to conquer and command.
Ahou Menbaa Carawash.
*> Ben Yousef for many years acted as " The life of this prince was checkvizir
to Abou Nasser, Sultan of Diar- ered with various adventures; he was
beker. His political talents are much perpetually engaged in contests either
praised, and he is particularly cele- with the neighboring sovereigns, or the
brated for the address he displayed princes of his own family. After many
while upon an embassy to the Greek struggles he was obliged to submit to
Emperor at Constantinople. Yousef's his brother, Abou Camel, who immepoetry
must be looked upon merely as diately ordered him to be seized, and
a jeu d'esprit suggested by the beauties conveyed to a place of security.
of the vale of Bozaa, as he passed
through it.
;