Page:The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala.djvu/105



Hadil is a poetic term for dove. And in Arabic mythology it is the name of a particular dove, which died of thirst in the days of Noah, and is bemoaned until this day.

"Ababil," a flock of birds, who scourged with flint-stones which they carried in their beaks, one of the ancient Arab tribes, noted for its idolatry and evil practices.

I quote again from Omar, Fitzgerald's version, quatrain 44:

And from Heron-Allen's, quatrain 145:

"The walking dust was once a thing of stone," is my rendering of the line,

This line of Abu'l-Ala is much quoted by his enthusiastic admirers of the present day to prove