Page:The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala.djvu/12



N thy fountained peristyles of Reason
 * Glows the light and flame of desert noons;

And in the cloister of thy pensive Fancy
 * Wisdom burns the spikenard of her moons.

Closed by Fate the portals of the dwelling
 * Of thy sight, the light thus inward flowed;

And on the shoulders of the crouching Darkness
 * Thou hast risen to the highest road.

I have seen thee walking with Canopus
 * Through the stellar spaces of the night;

I have heard thee asking thy Companion,
 * "Where be now my staff, and where thy light?"

Abu'l-Ala, in the heaving darkness,
 * Didst thou not the whisperings hear of me?

In thy star-lit wilderness, my Brother,
 * Didst thou not a burdened shadow see?