Arabian Poetry: Shorter Pieces of Arabian Poetry: A Serenade to His Sleeping Mistress, by Ali Ben Abd Algany, of Cordova
Arabian Poetry, by W. A. Clouston, [1881]
SURE Harut's * potent spells were breathed
Upon that magic sword, thine eye;
For if it wounds us thus while sheathed,
When drawn ’tis vain its edge to fly.
How canst thou doom me, cruel fair,
Plunged in the hell † of scorn, to groan?
No idol e’er this heart could share
This heart has worshipped thee alone.
146:* A wicked angel, who is permitted to tempt mankind by teaching them magic: see the legend respecting him in Sale's Korān.
146:† The poet here alludes to the punishments denounced in the Koran against those who worship a plurality of gods: "their couch shall be in hell, and over them shall be coverings of fire." Sur. 2.