As she pensively sat one day beneath the cypress tree, a youth of kingly mien passed that way. His eyes rested a moment upon her crimson lips, and the flowing tresses which were dark as the plume of a raven’s wing—he saw too the full form with its shapely curves and the beaming softness of the dark eyes, with their heavy lashes. Ibn Salām was the honored name of this young prince, who with his suite had sought for a moment the cooling shades of the palm-tree grove, and he it was who hastened to her father with a plea for his daughter’s hand. Dazzled by the gold and position of the suitor, the father of Lailī gave a cordial consent to the proposed union.
A FRIEND.
The chief of the domain where Majnūn wandered in his pitiful loneliness, looked with compassion upon him, for one day, while in pursuit of a bounding deer, he saw the wasted frame and wild look of the despairing lover. Dismounting from his splendid steed, Noufal, the Arab chief, came kindly to him and listened to the story so constantly told of love and suffering. With kindly words the chieftain soothed the restless spirit, and gently drawing the tortured mind away from its painful thought he offered nourishment to the sinking body. A change for the better came over him, and he took the proffered cup and drank, although he drank to Lailī’s name. Refreshed by Noufal’s kindly ministry and drawn by gentle urging, Majnūn went with his new friend to his home, and there received the best of care and hopeful cheer.
“An altered man, his mind at rest,
In customary robes he dressed;
A turban shades his forehead pale,
No more is heard the lover’s wail,
His dungeon gloom exchanged for day,
His cheeks a rosy tint display;
He revels midst the garden sweets,