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 the business of state with reluctance: and resolved to relinquish the toils of government of which he could no longer enjoy the reward.

He therefore obtained permission to approach the throne of his Sovereign; and being asked what was his request, he made this reply.

"May the Lord of the World forgive the slave whom he hath honoured. If Mirza presume again to lay the bounty of Abbas at his feet. Thou hast given me the dominion of a country, fruitful as the gardens of Damascus; and of a city, glorious above all others, except that only which reflects the splendour of thy presence. But the longest life is a period scarce sufficient to prepare for death. All other business is vain and trivial, as the toils of emits in the path of the traveller, under whose feet they perish for ever: and all enjoyment is unsubstantial and evanescent, as the colours of the bow that appear in the interval of a storm. Suffer me, therefore, to prepare for the approach of eternity; let me give up my soul to meditation; let solitude and silence acquaint me with