The following[270] are the best specimens of this peculiar verse: THE PEARL. “From the cloud there descended a droplet of rain; ’Twas ashamed when it saw the expanse of the main, Saying, ‘Who may I be, where the sea has its run? If the sea has existence, I, truly, have none!’ Since in its own eyes the drop humble appeared, In its bosom, a shell with its life the drop reared; The sky brought the work with success to a close, And a famed royal pearl from the rain-drop arose. Because it was humble it excellence gained; Patiently waiting till success was obtained.” KINDNESS TO THE UNWORTHY. “I have heard that a man some home sorrow endured, For bees in his roof had their dwelling secured He asked for a big butcher’s knife from his dame— To demolish the nest of the bees was his aim. His wife said, ‘Oh, do not effect your design! For the poor bees, dispersed from their dwelling, will pine.’ The foolish man yielded and went his own way; His wife, with their stings was assaulted one day. The man from his shop to his dwelling returned, At his wife’s stupid folly, with anger he burned. The ignorant woman, from door, street and roof, Was shouting complaints, while the man gave reproof! ‘Do not make your face sour in men’s presence, oh wife! Deprive not, you said, the poor bees of their life! On behalf of the bad, why beneficence show? Forbear with the bad, and you make their sins grow.’ When the ruin of men, by flattery you note With a two-edged sword, cut the flatterer’s throat.” SILENCE THE SAFETY OF IGNORANCE. “A good natured man who in tatters was dressed, For a season in Egypt, strict silence professed. Men of wisdom, from near and from far, at the sight, Gathered round him like moths, seeking after the light. One night he communed with himself in this way; ‘Beneath the tongue’s surface the man hidden lay; If I carry my head for myself in this plan, How can people discover in me a wise man?’ He spoke, and his friends, and his foes all could see, That the greatest of blockheads in Egypt was he! His admirers dispersed and his trade lost its note; He journeyed and over a mosque’s arch he wrote: ‘Could I have myself in a looking-glass seen, Not in ignorance would I have riven my screen. So ugly, the veil from my features I drew, For I thought that my face was most charming to view.’