- Great is my love! When shall my heart rejoice
- With thee, O my 'Furrah?'
- 'Furrah,'my 'true joy!'"
"Furrah" is the Arabic word for "joy," and it was the name of the young girl to whom this poem was addressed.
The Sakhara referred to, is the great rock at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, and the beautiful dome above it, "Kubbet es Sakhara," "the Dome of the Rock," is almost always mistaken by travelers for the Mosque of Omar, which is in fact a comparatively insignificant building. The Arabs speak of the sun in the feminine, and of the moon in the masculine gender. There was a stanza about the moon in the poem, but I did not note it down at the time, and I do not remember it now.
In Mr. Giammal's service there were several pleasant, good-natured Abyssinian girls. They looked very picturesque in their holiday dresses made of scarlet woolen stuff, with silver necklaces and anklets, and glass bracelets, with red tarbûshes and bright-colored muslin kerchiefs fancifully arranged on their heads.
One day there was great rejoicing among them, and cries of congratulation echoed through the house. I inquired the cause. I found that a young slave girl, who had been hired by Mr. Giammal, had just been set free. She was the property of an Arab widow lady who resided at 'Akka. This lady had just arrived at the "Bahjeh," and had given freedom to her slave, and told her that she had made a will in her favor.
The poor girl was at first quite overcome with delight and wonder, but on reflection she seemed almost to tremble at the loneliness and responsibility of her new position. She asked her mistress if she could love her always just as much as she had loved her before, and said, "I would rather keep your love than gain my freedom." The lady explained that she was growing old, and could not live long to watch over her, and it was the thought of ap-
