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entreat me.” And this was distressful to him and concern waxed upon him, so that he recited the following verses:
If, in his own land, midst his folk, abjection and despite Afflict a man, then exile sure were better for the wight.
So get thee gone, then, from a house wherein thou art abased And let not severance from friends lie heavy on thy spright.
Crude amber[1] in its native land unheeded goes, but, when It comes abroad, upon the necks to raise it men delight.
Kohl[2] in its native country, too, is but a kind of stone; Cast out and thrown upon the ways, it lies unvalued quite;
But, when from home it fares, forthright all glory it attains And ’twixt the eyelid and the eye incontinent ’tis dight.
Then he could brook this no longer; so he went forth from the dominions of the Commander of the Faithful, under pretence of visiting certain of his kinsmen, and took with him servant nor companion, neither acquainted any with his intent, but betook himself to the road and fared on into the desert and the sandwastes, knowing not whither he went. After awhile, he
- ↑ The usual meaning of the Arab word anber (pronounced amber) is ambergris, i.e. the morbid secretion of the sperm-whale; but the context appears to point to amber, i.e. the fossil resin used for necklaces, etc.; unless, indeed, the allusion of the second hemistich is to ambergris, as worn, for the sake of the perfume, in amulets or pomanders (Fr. pomme d’ambre) slung about the neck.
- ↑ i.e. galena or sulphuret of lead, of which, reduced to powder, alone or in combination with other ingredients, the well-known cosmetic or eye-powder called kohl consists.
