'Twas this compelled the stern decree,
That forc'd thee to those distant towers,
And left me nought but love for thee,
To cheer my solitary hours.

Yet let not Abla sink deprest,
Nor separation's pangs deplore;
We meet not--'tis to meet more blest;
We parted--'tis to part no more.

_Saif Addaulet, Sultan of Aleppe_.


CRUCIFIXION OF EBN BAKIAH[25]

Whatever thy fate, in life and death,
Thou'rt doom'd above us still to rise,
Whilst at a distance far beneath
We view thee with admiring eyes.

The gazing crowds still round thee throng,
Still to thy well-known voice repair,
As when erewhile thy hallow'd tongue
Pour'd in the Mosque the solemn prayer.

Still, generous Vizir, we survey
Thine arms extended o'er our head,
As lately, in the festive day,
When they were stretch'd thy gifts to shed.