I. 13
“My name was Aswad then..
“Alas! alas! how strange
“The sound so long unheard!
“Of noble race I came,
“One of the wealthy of the earth my sire.
“An hundred horses in my father’s stalls
“Stood ready for his will;
“Numerous his robes of silk,
“The number of his camels was not known.
“These were my heritance,
“O God! thy gifts were these;
“But better had it been for Aswad’s soul
“Had he ask’d alms on earth,
“And begg’d the crumbs which from his table fell,
“So he had known thy word.
“Alas! alas! how strange
“The sound so long unheard!
“Of noble race I came,
“One of the wealthy of the earth my sire.
“An hundred horses in my father’s stalls
“Stood ready for his will;
“Numerous his robes of silk,
“The number of his camels was not known.
“These were my heritance,
“O God! thy gifts were these;
“But better had it been for Aswad’s soul
“Had he ask’d alms on earth,
“And begg’d the crumbs which from his table fell,
“So he had known thy word.
“Boy, who hast reach’d my solitude,
“Fear the Lord in the days of thy youth!
“My knee was never taught
“To bend before my God;
“My voice was never taught
“To shape one holy prayer.
“We worshipp’d Idols, wood and stone,
“Fear the Lord in the days of thy youth!
“My knee was never taught
“To bend before my God;
“My voice was never taught
“To shape one holy prayer.
“We worshipp’d Idols, wood and stone,
