The Persian Literature, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan, Volume 1Omar Khayyam
GeneralSufism
The Persian Literature, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan, Volume 1
Omar Khayyam
Persian literature -- Translations into English
After having partaken sufficiently of the refreshments placed before
him, Gushtásp inquired of his host to what tribe he belonged, and from
whom he was descended. "I am descended from Feridún," rejoined he, "and
I belong to the Kaiánian tribe. My occupation in this retired spot is,
as thou seest, the cultivation of the ground, and the customs and duties
of husbandry." Gushtásp said, "I am myself descended from Húsheng, who
was the ancestor of Feridún; we are, therefore, of the same origin." In
consequence of this connection, Gushtásp and the husbandman lived
together on the most friendly footing for a considerable time. At length
the star of his fortune began to illumine his path, and the favor of
Heaven became manifest.
It was the custom of the king of Rúm, when his daughters came of age, to
give a splendid banquet, and to invite to it all the youths of
illustrious birth in the kingdom, in order that each might select one of
them most suited to her taste, for her future husband. His daughter
Kitabún was now of age, and in conformity with the established practice,
the feast was prepared, and the youths of royal descent invited; but it
so happened that not one of them was sufficiently attractive for her
choice, and the day passed over unprofitably. She had been told in a
dream that a youth of a certain figure and aspect had arrived in the
kingdom from Irán, and that to him she was destined to be married. But
there was not one at her father's banquet who answered to the
description of the man she had seen in her dream, and in consequence she
was disappointed. On the following day the feast was resumed. She had
again dreamt of the youth to whom she was to be united. She had
presented to him a bunch of roses, and he had given her a rose-branch,
and each regarded the other with smiles of mutual satisfaction. In the
morning Kitabún issued a proclamation, inviting all the young men of
royal extraction, whether natives of the kingdom or strangers, to her
father's feast. On that day Gushtásp and the husbandman had come into
the city from the country, and hearing the proclamation the latter said:
"Let us go, for in this lottery the prize may be drawn in thy name."
They accordingly went. Kitabún's handmaid was in waiting at the door,
and kept every young man standing awhile, that her mistress might mark
him well before she allowed him to pass into the banquet. The keen eyes
of Kitabún soon saw Gushtásp, and her heart instantly acknowledged him
as her promised lord, for he was the same person she had seen in her
dream.
As near the graceful stripling drew,
She cried:--"My dream, my dream is true!
Fortune from visions of the night
Has brought him to my longing sight.
Truth has portrayed his form divine;
He lives--he lives--and he is mine!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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