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Arabian Poetry, by W. A. Clouston, [1881], at sacred-texts.com


p. 108

ON FATALISM.

BY THE IMAM SHAFAY MOHAMMED BEN IDRIS.

NOT always wealth, not always force,
  A splendid destiny commands;
The lordly vulture gnaws the corse
  That rots upon yon barren sands.

Nor want nor weakness still conspires
  To bind us to a sordid state;
The fly, that with a touch expires,
  Sips honey from the royal plate.


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