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


p. 146

A SERENADE

TO HIS SLEEPING MISTRESS.
BY ALI BEN ABD ALGANY, OF CORDOVA.

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.


Footnotes

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.


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