SERENADE TO MY SLEEPING MISTRESS[34]
Sure Harut's[B] potent spells were breath'd
Upon that magic sword, thine eye;
For if it wounds us thus while sheath'd,
When drawn, 'tis vain its edge to fly.
How canst thou doom me, cruel fair,
Plung'd in the hell[C] of scorn to groan?
No idol e'er this heart could share,
This heart has worshipp'd thee alone.
Aly Ben Abd.
[34] This author was by birth an African; but having passed over to Spain, he was much patronized by Mohammed, Sultan of Seville. After the fall of his master, Ben Abd returned to Africa, and died at Tangier, A.H. 488.
[B] A wicked angel who is permitted to tempt mankind by teaching them magic; see the legend respecting him in the Koran.
[C] The poet here alludes to the punishments denounced in the Koran against those who worship a plurality of Gods: "their couch shall be in hell, and over them shall be coverings of fire."