The word of life’s the green, the tender, juicy thorn. Material become, it’s dry, as hard as horn. And thou, poor flesh, expectant of the living word, Bitest at the word material, dreaming not of sword;— Snappest at the hard, unyielding _dictum_, with fond zest; And findest it horny, flinty, irksome to digest. 10 It has become a stone. It wounds; it draws forth blood. Then shun it, human camel. Seek it not for food. Words are most foully mixed with troubling thoughts of earth. The water’s muddy. Close the spring whence it comes forth. Until the Lord, again, shall make it clear and sweet;— Shall purify the inky stream, as He deems meet,— Shall patience add to wish,--not haste and oversight,— Wait thou contentedly. God best knows what is right. 14 THE END. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON. FOOTNOTES: [1] For the incidents and dates mentioned in this preface, see the various chapters of the Anecdotes. [2] He must have been born in about A.D. 1204 or 1205, to have been five years old when the family left Balkh. In 1226 he would, therefore, be twenty-one or twenty-two years of age. But see Anecdotes, Chap, i., No. 2, &c. [3] The “_‘Ulemā of Islām_” are _the Learned_ Doctors of Law and Divinity; their chief is the Lord Chancellor. They are ignorantly spoken of as “_priests_” and “_clergy_” by Europeans. There are no “_priests_” in Islām. The ‘Ulemā may be likened to the Jewish Rabbis. They often have followed, and do follow, all kinds of trades. [4] There is an allusion in the word ‘Arifīn (Adepts) to the name of Eflākī’s patron, the Chelebi Emīr ‘Arif (well-knowing). [5] Eastern Persia. [6] The ancient _Bactra_, sometimes called _Zariaspa_, the capital of Bactria. [7] Incorrectly written Mecca by Europeans. [8] Of Termīz (Tirmez), on the north bank of the Oxus, near to Balkh. [9] The two letters Yā and Sīn heading the thirty-sixth chapter of the Qur’ān are said to stand for the words, Yā insān, _O man!_ as Muhammed is there addressed. [10] The truly eminent author of the Mesnevī. [11] From the city of Sarakhs in Khurāsān. [12] Had Dr. Tanner, the forty days’ faster at New York, heard of these performances? [13] As related of certain Sabbath-breaking Jews, in Qur’ān ii. 61. [14] Qur’ān xviii. 8, &c. [15] The mount where the victims are slaughtered by the pilgrims. [16] The great Persian poet Khāqānī, born at Shirwān, died and was buried at Tebrīz A.H. 582 (A.D. 1186). [17] Sanā’ī, of Gazna in Afgānistān, surnamed “the Wise,” or “the Philosopher,” died and was buried at the place of his birth, A.H. 576 (A.D. 1180).