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 plac'd 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;
And every beauteous race beneath the sun,
From those who kneel at BRAHMA's burning fount*,
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+;

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

† China.

And GEORGIA's bloom, and AzAB's darker smiles, And the gold ringlets of the Western Isles;

All, all are there ; —each Land its flower hath given, To form that fair young Nursery for Heaven!

But why this pageant now? this arm'd array? What triumph crowds the rich Divan to-day With turban'd heads, of every hue and race, Bowing before that veil'd and awful face, Like tulip-beds, of different shape and dyes, Bending beneath the' invisible West-wind's sighs! What new-made mystery now, for Faith to sign, And blood to seal, as genuine and divine, What dazzling mimickry of God's own power Hath the bold Prophet plann'd to grace this hour?

Not such the pageant now, though not less proud; Yon warrior youth, advancing from the crowd, With silver bow, with belt of broider'd crape, And fur-bound bonnet of Bucharian shape+,

"The name of tulip is said to be of Turkish extraction, and given to the flower on account of its resembling a turban." — Beckmann's History of Inventions.

† "The inhabitants of Bucharia wear a round cloth bonnet,

So fiercely beautiful in form and eye,
Like war's wild planet in a summer sky;

That youth to-day, a proselyte, worth hordes
Of cooler spirits and less practis'd swords,
Is come to join, all bravery and belief,

The creed and standard of the heav'n-sent Chief.

Though few his years, the West already knows Young AZIM's fame ;-beyond the' Olympian snows Ere manhood darken'd o'er his downy cheek, O'erwhelm'd in fight and captive to the Greek*, He linger'd there, till peace dissolved his chains;Oh, who could, ev'n in bondage, tread the plains Of glorious GREECE, nor feel his spirit rise Kindling within him? who, with heart and eyes, Could walk where Liberty had been, nor see The shining foot-prints of her Deity, Nor feel those god-like breathings in the air, Which mutely told her spirit had been there?

shaped much after the Polish fashion, having a large fur border. They tie their kaftans about the middle with a girdle of a kind of silk crape, several times round the body."— Ac count of Independent Tartary, in Pinkerton's Collection.

* In the war of the Caliph Mahadi against the Empress Irene, for an account of which vide Gibbon, vol. x.

Not he, that youthful warrior, no, too well
For his soul's quiet work'd the' awakening spell;
And now, returning to his own dear land,

Full of those dreams of good that, vainly grand,
Haunt the young heart,—proud views of human-kind,
Of men to Gods exalted and refin'd, -

False views, like that horizon's fair deceit,

Where earth and heav'n but seem, alas, to meet !

Soon as he heard an Arm Divine was rais'd
To right the nations, and beheld, emblaz'd
On the white flag MOKANNA's host unfurl'd,
Those words of sunshine, "Freedom to the World,"
At once his faith, his sword, his soul obey'd
The' inspiring summons; every chosen blade
That fought beneath that banner's sacred text
Seem'd doubly edg'd, for this world and the next;
And ne'er did Faith with her smooth bandage bind
Eyes more devoutly willing to be blind,

In virtue's cause; never was soul inspir'd

With livelier trust in what it most desir'd,

Than his, the' enthusiast there, who kneeling, pale With pious awe, before that Silver Veil,

Believes the form, to which he bends his knee,

Some pure, redeeming angel, sent to free

This fetter'd world from every bond and stain,
And bring its primal glories back again !

Low as young Azıм knelt, that motley crowd Of all earth's nations sunk the knee and bow'd, With shouts of " ALLA!" echoing long and loud; While high in air, above the Prophet's head, Hundreds of banners, to the sunbeam spread, Wav'd, like the wings of the white birds that fan The flying throne of star-taught SOLIMAN.* Then thus he spoke :

frame

66

Stranger, though new the

66 Thy soul inhabits now, I've track'd its flame

*This wonderful Throne was called The Star of the Genii. For a full description of it, see the Fragment, translated by Captain Franklin, from a Persian MS. entitled "The History of Jerusalem," Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 235. - When Soliman travelled, the eastern writers say, " He had a carpet of green silk on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient for all his forces to stand upon, the men placing themselves on his right hand, and the spirits on his left; and that when all were in order, the wind, at his command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were upon it, wherever he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a kind of canopy to shade them from the sun." Sale's Koran, vol. ii. p. 214. note.