A literary history of Persia

DOWN TO A.D. 1000 463Then comes Abu 1- Hasan 'All b. Muhammad al-Ghazzali al-Lukarl^ who has some very pretty verses describing a beautifulKurdish boy, and other lines in praise of Niih II b. Mansurthe Samanid Prince (A.D. 976-997), and of the wazlr Abu'l-Hasan 'Ubaydu'llah b. Ahmad al-'Utbf. Next comes Ma'ruflof Ballch, who has the following lines in praise of the Samanid'Abdu'l-Maiik I (A.D. 954-961) :"0 Colocynth and Aloes to thy foes,But to thy friends like sugar, honey-sweet tThe use of foresight no one better knows,Nor how to strike the first when blows are meet."Next follows Mansur b. 'All al-Mantiqi of Ray, one of thepanegyrists of the great Sdhib Ismail b. 'Abbad, the wazlr ofthe House of Day lam (seeto whom he alludesin the following lines :p. 453 supra)," Methinks the Moon of Heav'n is stricken sore,And nightly grievcth as it wasteth more.What late appeared a great, round, silver shieldNow like a mall-bat ' enters heaven's field.The Sahib's horse, you'd think, had galloped by,And cast one golden horse-shoe in the sky."The following verse, apartfrom the pretty hyperbole whichit contains, has a certain adventitious interest :"One hair I stole from out thy raven locksWhen thou, sweetheart, didst thy tresses comb,With anxious toil / bore it tomy house,As bears the ant the wheat-grain to its home.My father when he saw me cried amain,"these twain f'Which is my son, I pray thee, ofAccording to