[2] Abd Almalec was a native of Arabia Felix.  The exact period when
     he flourished is unknown, but as this production is taken from the
     Hamasa it is most probable that he was anterior to Mohammedanism.

THE DEATH OF HIS MISTRESS[3]

  Dost thou wonder that I flew
  Charm’d to meet my Leila’s view? 
  Dost thou wonder that I hung
  Raptur’d on my Leila’s tongue? 
  If her ghost’s funereal screech
  Thro’ the earth my grave should reach,
  On that voice I lov’d so well
  My transported ghost would dwell:—­
  If in death I can descry
  Where my Leila’s relics lie,
  Saher’s dust will flee away,
  There to join his Leila’s clay.

Abu Saher Alhedily.

 [3] The sentiment contained in this production determines its
     antiquity.  It was the opinion of the Pagan Arabs that upon the
     death of any person a bird, by them called Manah, issued from his
     brain, which haunted the sepulchre of the deceased, uttering a
     lamentable scream.

ON AVARICE[4]

  How frail are riches and their joys? 
  Morn builds the heap which eve destroys;
  Yet can they have one sure delight—­
  The thought that we’ve employed them right.

  What bliss can wealth afford to me
  When life’s last solemn hour I see,
  When Mavia’s sympathizing sighs
  Will but augment my agonies?

  Can hoarded gold dispel the gloom
  That death must shed around his tomb? 
  Or cheer the ghost which hovers there,
  And fills with shrieks the desert air?

  What boots it, Mavia, in the grave,
  Whether I lov’d to waste or save? 
  The hand that millions now can grasp,
  In death no more than mine shall clasp.

  Were I ambitious to behold
  Increasing stores of treasured gold,
  Each tribe that roves the desert knows
  I might be wealthy if I chose:—­

  But other joys can gold impart,
  Far other wishes warm my heart—­
  Ne’er may I strive to swell the heap,
  Till want and woe have ceas’d to weep.

  With brow unalter’d I can see
  The hour of wealth or poverty: 
  I’ve drunk from both the cups of fate,
  Nor this could sink, nor that elate.

  With fortune blest, I ne’er was found
  To look with scorn on those around;
  Nor for the loss of paltry ore,
  Shall Hatem seem to Hatem poor.

Hatem Tai.

 [4] Hatem Tai was an Arabian chief, who lived a short time prior to
     the promulgation of Mohammedanism.  He has been so much celebrated
     through the East for his generosity that even to this day the
     greatest encomium which can be given to a generous man is to say
     that he is as liberal as Hatem.  Hatem was also a poet; but his
     talents were principally exerted in recommending his favorite
     virtue.