Upseeking eyes suffus'd 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." 33. "The groans of penitence," replied the Voice, "Never arise unheard! "But, for thyself, prefer the prayer; "Is open to thy will." 66 34. Prophet of God!" then answered Thalaba, "I am alone on earth, "Thou knowest the secret wishes of my heart! "Do with me as thou wilt! thy will is best." 66 35. There issued forth no Voice to answer him; But, lo! Hodeirah's Spirit comes to see His vengeance, and beside him, a pure form Of roseate light, his Angel mother hung. My Child, my dear, my glorious.. blessed.. Child, 66 My promise is perform'd..fulfil thy work!" 36. Thalaba knew that his death-hour was come, Hilt-deep he drove the Sword. The Ocean-Vault fell in, and all were crush'd. In the same moment, at the gate Of Paradise, Oneiza's Houri form Welcom❜d her Husband to eternal bliss. NOTES TO BOOK XII. A rebel Afreet lay. — P. 282. One of these evil Genii is thus described in the Bahar Danush: On his entrance, he beheld a black demon heaped on the ground like a mountain, with two large horns upon his head, and a long proboscis, fast asleep. In his head the Divine Creator had joined the likenesses of the elephant and the wild bull. His teeth grew out as the tusks of a boar, and all over his monstrous carcase hung shaggy hairs, like those of the bear. The eye of mortal-born was dimmed at his appearance, and the mind, at his horrible form and frightful figure, was confounded. He was an Afreet, created from mouth to foot by the wrath of God. His hair like a bear's, his teeth like a boar's. No one ever beheld such a monster. Crook-backed, and crabbed-faced; he might be scented at the distance of a thousand fersungs. His nostrils were like the ovens of brick-burners, and his mouth resembled the vat of a dyer. When his breath came forth, from its vehemence the dust rose up as in a whirlwind, so as to leave a chasm in the earth; and when he drew it in, chaff, sand, and pebbles, from the distance of some yards, were attracted to his nostrils. - Bahar Danush. Al-Araf in his wisdom? &c. P. 292. Araf is a place between the Paradise and the Hell of the Mahommedans; some deem it a veil of separation, some a strong wall. Others hold it to be a Purgatory, in which those believers will remain, whose good and evil works have been so equal, that they were neither virtuous enough to enter Paradise, nor guilty enough to be condemned to the fire of Hell. From whence they see the glory of the blessed, and are near enough to congratulate them; but their ardent desire to partake the same happiness becomes a great pain. At length, at the day of judgment, when all men, before they are judged, shall be cited to render homage to their Creator, those who are here confined, shall prostrate themselves before the face of the Lord, in adoration; and by this act of religion, which shall be accounted a merit, the number of their good works will exceed their evil ones, and they will enter into glory. Saadi says, that Araf appears a Hell to the happy, and a Paradise to the damned. - D'Herbelot. THE END. Printed by A. and R. Spottiswoode, Printers-Street, London. 73 |