Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other PapersClouston, W. A. (William Alexander)
History
Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers
Clouston, W. A. (William Alexander)
Middle Eastern literature -- History and criticism
But soon as to the tomb he came, struck with its view, his senses fled.
Recovering, then he thus exclaimed: "O Heaven! what shall I do, or what
resource attempt, as like a lamp I waste away? Alas! that heart-enslaver
was all that in this world I prized: and now, alas! in wrath, dire Fate
with ruthless blow has snatched her from me. In my hand I held a lovely
flower; the wind came and scattered all its leaves. I chose a cypress
that in the garden graceful grew; but soon the wind of fate destroyed
it. Spring bade a blossom bloom; but Fortune would not guard the flower.
A group of lilies I preserved, pure as the thoughts that in my bosom
rose; but one unjust purloined them. I sowed, but he the harvest
reaped."
Then, resting within the tomb his head, he mourning wept, and said: "O
lovely floweret, struck by autumn's blast, and from this world departed
ere thou knewest it! A garden once in bloom, but now laid waste! O fruit
matured, but not enjoyed! To earth's mortality can such as thou be
subject, and such as thou within the darkness of the tomb repose? And
where is now that mole which seemed a grain of musk?[125] And where
those eyes soft as the gazelle's? Where those ruby lips? And where those
curling ringlets? In what bright hues is now thy form adorned? And
through the love of whom does now thy lamp consume? To whose fond eyes
are now thy charms displayed? And whom to captivate do now thy tresses
wave? Beside the margin of what stream is now that cypress seen? And in
what bower is now the banquet spread? Ah, can such as thou have felt the
pangs of death, and be reclined within this narrow cave?[126] But o'er
thy cell I mourn, as thou wast all I loved; and ere my grief shall
cease, the grave shall be my friend. Thou wast agitated like the sand of
the desert; but now thou reposest as the water of the lake. Thou, like
the moon, hast disappeared; but, though unseen, the moon is still the
same; and now, although thy form from me is hid, still in my breast
remains the loved remembrance. Though far removed beyond my aching
sight, still is thy image in my heart beheld. Thy form is now departed,
but grief eternal fills its place. On thee my soul was fixed, and never
will thy memory be forgot. Thou art gone, and from this wilderness
escaped, and now reposest in the bowers of Paradise. I, too, after some
little time will shake off these bonds, and there rejoin thee. Till
then, faithful to the love I vowed, around thy tomb my footsteps will I
bend. Until I come to thee within this narrow cell, pure be thy shroud!
May Paradise everlasting be thy mansion blest! And be thy soul received
into the mercy of thy God! And may thy spirit by his grace be vivified
to all eternity!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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