age, and graceful as that idol of women, Crishna*, such as he appears to their young imaginations, heroic, beautiful, breathing music from his very eyes, and exalting the religion of his worshippers into love. His dress was simple, yet not without some marks of costliness; and the Ladies of the Princess were not long in discovering that the cloth which encircled his high Tartarian cap, was of the most delicate kind that the shawl-goats of Tibet supply. Here and there, too, over his vest, which was confined by a flowered girdle of Kashan, hung strings of fine pearl, disposed with an air of studied negligence;

nor did the exquisite embroidery of his sandals escape the observation of these fair critics; who, however they might give way to FADLADEEN upon the unimportant topics of religion and government, had the spirit of martyrs in every thing relating to such momentous matters as jewels and embroidery.

For the purpose of relieving the pauses of recitation by music, the young Cashmerian held in his hand a kitar; such as, in old times, the Arab maids of the West used to listen to by moonlight in the gardens of the Alhambra — and, having premised, with much humility,

-

*The Indian Apollo. -"He and the three Rámas are described as youths of perfect beauty; and the princesses of Hindustan were all passionately in love with Chrishna, who continues to this hour the darling God of the Indian women." SIR W. JONES, on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India.

† See Turner's Embassy for a description of this animal," the most beautiful among the whole tribe of goats. The material for the shawls (which is carried to Cashmere) is found next the skin.

that the story he was about to relate was founded on the adventures of the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan*, who, in the year of the Hegira 163, created such alarm throughout the Eastern Empire, made an obeisance to the Princess, and thus began :

* For the real history of this Imposter whose original name was Hakem ben Haschem, and who was called Mocanna from the veil of silver gauze (or, as others say, golden) which he always wore, see D'Herbelot.

THE

VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN.*

In that delightful Province of the Sun,
The first of Persian lands he shines upon,
Where all the lovliest children of his beam,
Flow'rets and fruits, blush over every stream,t
And, fairest of all streams, the MURGA roves
Among MEROU's bright palaces and groves;-
There on that throne, to which the blind belief
Of millions raised him, sat the Prophet-Chief,
The great MOKANNA. O'er his features hung
The Veil, the Silver Veil, which he had flung
In mercy there, to hide from mortal sight
His dazzling brow, till man could bear its light.
For, far less luminous, his votaries said,

Were ev'n the gleams miraculously shed

O'er MOUSSA's § cheek||, when down the mount he trod, All glowing from the presence of his God!

*"Khorassan signifies, in the old Persian language, Province or Region of the Sun."SIR W. JONES.

+"

"The fruits of Meru are finer thon those of any other place; and one cannot see in any other city such palaces with groves, and streams, and gardens." EBN HAUKAL's Geography.

One of the royal cities of Khorassan.

§ Moses.

"Ses disciples assuroient qu'il se couvroit le visage, pour ne pas éblouir ceux qui l'approchoient par l'éclat de son visage comme Moyse.” — D'HÉR

BELOT,

On either side, with ready hearts and hands,
His chosen guard of bold Believers stands;
Young fire-eyed disputants, who deem their swords,
On points of faith, more eloquent than words;
And such their zeal, there's not a youth with brand
Uplifted there, but, at the Chief's command,
Would make his own devoted heart its sheath,
And bless the lips that doom'd so dear a death!
In hatred to the Caliph's hue of night,*
Their vesture, helms and all, is snowy white;
Their weapons various-some equipp'd for speed,
With javelins of the light Kathaian reed;†
Or bows of buffalo horn and shining quivers
Fill'd with the stems that bloom on IRAN's rivers;§
While some, for war's more terrible attacks,
Wield the huge mace and ponderous battle-axe;
And as they wave aloft in morning's beam

The milk-white plumage of their helms, they seem

* Black was the colour adopted by the Caliphs of the House of Abbas, in their garments, turbans, and standards. — “Il faut remarquer ici touchant les habits blancs des disciples de Hakem, que la couleur des habits, des coeffures et des étendarts des Khalifes Abassides étant la noire, ce chef de Rebelles ne pouvoit pas choisir une qui lui fût plus opposée." -D'HERBELOT.

t "Our dark javelins, exquisitely wrought of Khathaian reeds, slender and delicate."- Poem of Amru.

Pichula, used anciently for arrows by the Persians.

§ The Persians call this plant Gaz.

The celebrated shaft of Isfendiar, one of "Nothing can be more beautiful than

their ancient heroes, was made of it. the appearance of this plant in flower during the rains on the banks of rivers, where it is usually interwoven with a lovely twining asclepias."-SIR W. JONES, Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants.

Like a chenar-tree grove
* when winter throws
O'er all its tufted heads his feathering snows.

Between the porphyry pillars, that uphold The rich moresque-work of the roof of gold, Aloft the Haram's curtain'd galleries rise, Where through the silken net-work, glancing eyes, From time to time, like sudden gleams that glow Through autumn clouds, shine o'er the pomp below.What impious tongue, ye blushing saints, would dare To hint that aught but Heav'n hath placed you there? Or that the loves of this light world could bind, In their gross chain, your Prophet's soaring mind? No-wrongful thought!-commission'd from above To people Eden's bowers with shapes of love, (Creatures so bright, that the same lips and eyes They wear on earth will serve in Paradise,) There to recline among Heav'n's native maids, And crown the' Elect with bliss that never fades Well hath the Prophet-Chief his bidding done; every beauteous race beneath the sun, From those who kneel at BRAHMA's burning founts,t To the fresh nymphs bounding o'er YEMEN's mounts; From PERSIA'S eyes of full and fawn-like ray, To the small, half-shut glances of KATHAY;

And

The oriental plane. "The chenar is a delightful tree; its bole is of a fine white and smooth bark; and its foliage, which grows in a tuft at the summit, is of a bright green.". MORIER'S Travels.

The burning fountains of Brahma near Chittogong, esteemed as holy. Turner.

+ China.