Page:The Shaving of Shagpat (1856).djvu/324

310 of winter to that perishing foliage, that doomed crop! So doth the destined minute destroy with a flash the hoarded arrogance of ages; and the destined hand doeth what creation failed to perform; and 'tis by order, destiny, and preordainment, that the works of this world come to pass. This know I, and I witness thereto, that am of a surety ordained to the Shaving of Shagpat!"

Then he stood apart and gazed from Shagpat to the city that now began to move with the morning; elephants and coursers saddled by the gates of the King's palace were visible, and camels blocking the narrow streets, and the markets bustling. Surely though the sun illumined that city, it was as a darkness behind Shagpat singled by the beams of Aklis!