LETTER XXXII. TO DR. JAMES JOHNSON. MY DEAR SIR, Damietta, May 26, 1827. I SEND you, according to my promise, the translation of the other poem. I have chosen rather to give it "with all its errors on its head," than, for the sake of euphony, to alter one word of the original. THE LAMJA. BY EBN EL WARDI. "MAKE no more mention of the tune and the lovesong, give us moral discourses, and away with the company of the jester. "Talk not any longer about the days of youth, the days of youth are a star for ever set. "The sweetest of thy life thou hast already passed, its season is gone by, but its sins remain. "Leave alone the beauteous woman, and mind her not, that thou mayest walk in honour, and be illustrious. "Part with all the instruments of mirth, that excite thee to wanton movements; and regard not the lascivious dancing girl. "When she comes forth, she eclipses the sun in splendour, she moves with the suppleness of the slender javelin. "If we compare her with the moon, she is yet fairer, and she surpasses that body in the beauty of her shape. "But think what term the coveted beauty of the Alme leads thee to; to a state of infirmity and dissolution. "If thou art a man, avoid wine; how can a rational being endeavour after madness! "Fear God, for that fear dwells not in the heart of man, without raising him towards heaven. "It is not the highway robber that is brave; but he who fears God is brave indeed. "Believe in the law, and trust not the man who passes the night in watching the progress of the planets! "Our minds are confounded in contemplating the power of Him who has directed us in our ways,—the great and glorious God! "Death is written as the fate of man; and how many men have been hurled from honour to disgrace, and from magnificence to misery! "Where are Canaan and Nimrod? Where are they who ruled the earth, and gave and took away its kingdoms? Where are they who were lords of the land, and builders of its palaces? "They have all perished, and nothing but the ruins of their monuments remain ! pos "Where are the masters of wisdom, the sessors of intelligence, the patrons of learning, and the former generations? God will raise all of them from the dead, and reward each according to his deeds! 66 Receive, my son, the maxims of wisdom, by which the welfare of kingdoms is secured. "Seek knowledge, and neglect it not; for all good things are far from the negligent. 66 Study the law with all thy mind, and be not drawn away from it by the search after worldly goods, or by domestic cares. "Curtail thy sleep, and increase thy knowledge he who knows the value of his object despises the pains it cost him. "Say not the possessors of science have passed away, and are forgotten; every one who has walked in the path of science has reached the goal. "Increase of knowledge is a victory over idleness; and the beauty of knowledge is rectitude of conduct. "Let the elegance of thy speech be founded on grammar; for he who knows not the properties of words is most deficient. "Far be it from me to kiss a hand, to cut off which would be better than to salute. "A hand that, if it reward me for adulation, humbles me by the meanness of its gift. Perhaps my own shame should be my suf ficient portion. "The sweetest of all words is when I say to thee, Take; the bitterest, that which holds out a hollow promise. "Of an empire large as Cæsar's, how small a portion suffices for my wants; and though I have an ocean to quench my thirst, how small a draught allays it! |