[9] Yezid succeeded Mowiah in the Caliphate A.H. 60; and in most
     respects showed himself to be of a very different disposition from
     his predecessor.  He was naturally cruel, avaricious, and debauched;
     but instead of concealing his vices from the eyes of his subjects,
     he seemed to make a parade of those actions which he knew no good
     Mussulman could look upon without horror; he drank wine in public,
     he caressed his dogs, and was waited upon by his eunuchs in sight
     of the whole court.

ON FATALISM[10]

  Not always wealth, not always force
    A splendid destiny commands;
  The lordly vulture gnaws the corse
    That rots upon yon barren sands.

  Nor want, nor weakness still conspires
    To bind us to a sordid state;
  The fly that with a touch expires
    Sips honey from the royal plate.

Imam Shafay Mohammed Ben Idris.

[10] Shafay, the founder of one of the four orthodox sects into
     which the Mohammedans are divided, was a disciple of Malek Ben
     Ans, and master to Ahmed Ebn Hanbal; each of whom, like himself,
     founded a sect which is still denominated from the name of its
     author.  The fourth sect is that of Abou Hanifah.  This differs
     in tenets considerably from the three others, for whilst the
     Malekites, the Shafaites, and the Hanbalites are invariably
     bigoted to tradition in their interpretations of the Koran, the
     Hanifites consider themselves as at liberty in any difficulty to
     make use of their own reason.

TO THE CALIPH HARUN-AL-RASHID[11]

  Religion’s gems can ne’er adorn
  The flimsy robe by pleasure worn;
  Its feeble texture soon would tear,
  And give those jewels to the air.

  Thrice happy they who seek th’ abode
  Of peace and pleasure, in their God! 
  Who spurn the world, its joys despise,
  And grasp at bliss beyond the skies.

Ibrahim Ben Adham.

[11] The author of this poem was a hermit of Syria, equally celebrated
     for his talents and piety.  He was son to a prince of Khorasan, and
     born about the ninety-seventh year of the Hegira.  This poem was
     addressed to the Caliph upon his undertaking a pilgrimage to Mecca.

LINES TO HARUN AND YAHIA[12]

  Th’ affrighted sun ere while he fled,
  And hid his radiant face in night;
  A cheerless gloom the world overspread—­
  But Harun came, and all was bright.

  Again the sun shoots forth his rays,
  Nature is deck’d in beauty’s robe—­
  For mighty Harun’s sceptre sways,
  And Yahia’s arm sustains the globe.

Isaac Almousely.

[12] Isaac Almousely is considered by the Orientals as the most
     celebrated musician that ever flourished in the world.  He was born
     in Persia, but having resided almost entirely at Mousel, he is
     generally supposed to have been a native of that place.