قراءة كتاب Thalaba the Destroyer
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اللغة: English
الصفحة رقم: 4
“Mature in beauty, bore them.
“Here, frequent in the walks
“The marble statue stood
“Of heroes and of chiefs.
“The trees and flowers remain
“By Nature’s care perpetuate and self-sown.
“The marble statues long have lost all trace
“Of heroes and of chiefs,
“Huge shapeless stones they lie
“O’er-grown with many a flower.
“The work of pride went on....
“Often the Prophet’s voice
“Denounced impending woe....
“We mocked at the words of the Seer.
“We mocked at the wrath of the Lord.
“A long continued drought first troubled us,
“Three years no cloud had formed,
“Three years no rain had fallen.
“The wholesome herb was dry,
“The corn matured not for the food of man,
“The wells and fountains failed.
“O hard of heart, in whom the punishment
“Awoke no sense of guilt!
“Headstrong to ruin, obstinately blind,
“To Idols[8] we applied for aid;
“Sakia we invoked for rain,
“We called on Razeka for food....
“They did not hear our prayers, they could not hear!
“No cloud appeared in Heaven,
“No nightly dews came down.
“Often the Prophet’s voice
“Denounced impending woe....
“We mocked at the words of the Seer.
“We mocked at the wrath of the Lord.
“A long continued drought first troubled us,
“Three years no cloud had formed,
“Three years no rain had fallen.
“The wholesome herb was dry,
“The corn matured not for the food of man,
“The wells and fountains failed.
“O hard of heart, in whom the punishment
“Awoke no sense of guilt!
“Headstrong to ruin, obstinately blind,
“To Idols[8] we applied for aid;
“Sakia we invoked for rain,
“We called on Razeka for food....
“They did not hear our prayers, they could not hear!
“No cloud appeared in Heaven,
“No nightly dews came down.
“Then to the place of concourse,[9] messengers
“Were sent to Mecca, where the nations came,
“Round the Red Hillock, kneeling, to implore
“God in his favoured place,
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! unthinking that from all the earth
“The heart ascends to him.
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! to think the Lord
“Would hear their prayers abroad
“Who made no prayers at home!
“Were sent to Mecca, where the nations came,
“Round the Red Hillock, kneeling, to implore
“God in his favoured place,
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! unthinking that from all the earth
“The heart ascends to him.
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! to think the Lord
“Would hear their prayers abroad
“Who made no prayers at home!
“Meantime the work of pride went on,
“And still before our Idols, wood and stone,
“We bowed the impious knee.
“Turn men of Ad, and call upon the Lord,”
“The Prophet Houd exclaimed.
“Turn men of Ad and look to Heaven,
“And fly the wrath to come.
“We mocked the Prophet’s words;
“Now dost thou dream old man.
“Or art thou drunk with wine?
“Future woe and wrath to come,
“Still thy prudent voice forebodes;
“When it comes will we believe,
“Till it comes will we go on
“In the way our fathers went.
“Now are thy words from God?
“Or dost thou dream, old man,
“Or art thou drunk with wine?”
“And still before our Idols, wood and stone,
“We bowed the impious knee.
“Turn men of Ad, and call upon the Lord,”
“The Prophet Houd exclaimed.
“Turn men of Ad and look to Heaven,
“And fly the wrath to come.
“We mocked the Prophet’s words;
“Now dost thou dream old man.
“Or art thou drunk with wine?
“Future woe and wrath to come,
“Still thy prudent voice forebodes;
“When it comes will we believe,
“Till it comes will we go on
“In the way our fathers went.
“Now are thy words from God?
“Or dost thou dream, old man,
“Or art thou drunk with wine?”
“So spake the stubborn race
“The unbelieving ones,
“I too of stubborn unbelieving heart
“Heard him and heeded not.
“It chanced my father went the way of man,
“He perished in his sins.
“The funeral rites were duly paid,
“We bound a camel to his grave
“And left it there to die,
“So if the resurrection[10] came
“Together they might rise.
“I past my father’s grave,
“I heard the Camel moan.
“She was his favourite beast,
“One that carried me in infancy,
“The first that by myself I learnt to mount.
“Her limbs were lean with famine, and her eyes
“Looked ghastlily with want.
“She knew me as I past,
“She stared[11] me in the face,
“My heart was touched, had it been human else?
“I thought no eye was near, and broke her bonds,
“And drove her forth to liberty and life.
“The Prophet Houd beheld,
“He lifted up his voice,
“Blessed art thou, young man,
“Blessed art thou, O Aswad, for the deed!
“In the day of visitation,
“In the fearful hour of judgment,
“God will remember thee!”
“The unbelieving ones,
“I too of stubborn unbelieving heart
“Heard him and heeded not.
“It chanced my father went the way of man,
“He perished in his sins.
“The funeral rites were duly paid,
“We bound a camel to his grave
“And left it there to die,
“So if the resurrection[10] came
“Together they might rise.
“I past my father’s grave,
“I heard the Camel moan.
“She was his favourite beast,
“One that carried me in infancy,
“The first that by myself I learnt to mount.
“Her limbs were lean with famine, and her eyes
“Looked ghastlily with want.
“She knew me as I past,
“She stared[11] me in the face,
“My heart was touched, had it been human else?
“I thought no eye was near, and broke her bonds,
“And drove her forth to liberty and life.
“The Prophet Houd beheld,
“He lifted up his voice,
“Blessed art thou, young man,
“Blessed art thou, O Aswad, for the deed!
“In the day of visitation,
“In the fearful hour of judgment,
“God will remember thee!”
“The day of visitation was at hand,
“The fearful hour of judgment hastened on.
“Lo Shedad’s mighty pile complete,
“The palace of his pride.
“Would ye behold its wonders, enter in!
“I have no heart to visit it!
“Time hath not harmed the eternal monument,
“Time is not here, nor days, nor months, nor years,
“An everlasting now of misery!...
“Ye must have heard their fame,
“Or likely ye have seen
“The mighty Pyramids,
“For sure those mighty piles shall overlive
“The feeble generations of mankind.
“What tho’ unmoved they bore[12] the deluge weight,
“Survivors of the ruined world?
“What tho’ their founder filled with miracles
“And wealth miraculous their ample vaults?
“Compared with yonder fabric, and they shrink
“The baby wonders of a woman’s
“The fearful hour of judgment hastened on.
“Lo Shedad’s mighty pile complete,
“The palace of his pride.
“Would ye behold its wonders, enter in!
“I have no heart to visit it!
“Time hath not harmed the eternal monument,
“Time is not here, nor days, nor months, nor years,
“An everlasting now of misery!...
“Ye must have heard their fame,
“Or likely ye have seen
“The mighty Pyramids,
“For sure those mighty piles shall overlive
“The feeble generations of mankind.
“What tho’ unmoved they bore[12] the deluge weight,
“Survivors of the ruined world?
“What tho’ their founder filled with miracles
“And wealth miraculous their ample vaults?
“Compared with yonder fabric, and they shrink
“The baby wonders of a woman’s