Life is a sleep of threescore years,
Death bids us wake and hail the light,
And man, with all his hopes and fears,
Is but a phantom of the night.

_Aly Ben Mohammed Altahmany_.

[28] Aly Ben Mohammed was a native of that part of Arabia called Hejaz;
and was celebrated not only as a poet, but as a politician.


TO LEILA

Leila, with too successful art,
Has spread for me love's cruel snare;
And now, when she has caught my heart,
She laughs, and leaves it to despair.

Thus the poor sparrow pants for breath,
Held captive by a playful boy,
And while it drinks the draught of death,
The thoughtless child looks on with joy.

Ah! were its flutt'ring pinions free,
Soon would it bid its chains adieu,
Or did the child its suff'rings see,
He'd pity and relieve them too.