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Ne'er did the march of MAHADI display
Such pomp before;--not even when on his way
To MECCA'S Temple, when both land and sea
Were spoiled to feed the Pilgrim's luxury;[1]
When round him mid the burning sands he saw
Fruits of the North in icy freshness thaw,
And cooled his thirsty lip beneath the glow
Of MECCA'S sun with urns of Persian snow:--
Nor e'er did armament more grand than that
Pour from the kingdoms of the Caliphat.
First, in the van, the People of the Rock[2]
On their light mountain steeds of royal stock:[3]
Then chieftains of DAMASCUS proud to see
The flashing of their swords' rich marquetry;--[4]
Men from the regions near the VOLGA'S mouth
Mixt with the rude, black archers of the South;
- ↑ Mahadi, in a single pilgrimage to Mecca, expended six millions of dinars of gold.
- ↑ The inhabitants of Hejaz or Arabia Petraea, called by an Eastern writer "The People of the Rock."--Ebn Haukal.
- ↑ "Those horses, called by the Arabians Kochlani, of whom a written genealogy has been kept for 2000 years. They are said to derive their origin from King Solomon's steeds."--Niebuhr.
- ↑ "Many of the figures on the blades of their swords are wrought in gold or silver, or in marquetry with small gems."--Asiat. Misc. v. i.
