Flash of harness in the air,
Seen a moment like the glare
Of a sword drawn from its sheath;
Thus the phantom horseman passed,
And the shadow that he cast
Leaped the cataract underneath.
Reyhan the Arab held his breath
While this vision of life and death
Passed above him. "Allahu!"
Cried he. "In all Koordistan
Lives there not so brave a man
As this Robber Kurroglou!"
HAROUN AL RASCHID
One day, Haroun Al Raschid read A book wherein the poet said:—
"Where are the kings, and where the rest Of those who once the world possessed?
"They're gone with all their pomp and show, They're gone the way that thou shalt go.
"O thou who choosest for thy share The world, and what the world calls fair,
"Take all that it can give or lend, But know that death is at the end!"
Haroun Al Raschid bowed his head: Tears fell upon the page he read.