Every gem,[36]
So sages say, has virtue; but the science
Of difficult attainment, some grow pale
Conscious of poison,[37] or with sudden shade
Of darkness, warn the wearer; same preserve
From spells, or blunt the hostile weapon’s[38] edge.
Some open rocks and mountains, and lay bare
Their buried treasures; others make the sight
Strong to perceive the presence of all Beings
Thro’ whose pure substance the unaided eye
Passes, like empty air ... and in yon stone
I deem some such misterious quality.
THALABA.
My father, I will wear it.
MOATH.
Thalaba!
THALABA.
In God’s name, and the Prophet’s! be its power
Good, let it serve the righteous: if for evil,
God and my trust in him shall hallow it.
So Thalaba drew on
The written ring of gold.
Then in the hollow grave
They laid Abdaldar’s corpse,
And levelled over him the desert dust.
The Sun arose, ascending from beneath
The horizon’s circling line.
As Thalaba to his ablutions went,
Lo! the grave open, and the corpse exposed!
It was not that the winds of night
Had swept away the sands that covered it,
For heavy with the undried dew
The desert dust was dark and close around;
And the night air had been so moveless calm,
It had not from the grove
Shaken a ripe date down.
Amazed to hear the tale
Forth from the tent came Moath and his child.
Awhile the thoughtful man surveyed the corpse
Silent with downward eyes,
Then turning spake to Thalaba and said,
“I have heard that there are places by the abode
“Of holy men, so holily possessed,
“That if a corpse be buried there, the ground
“With a convulsive effort shakes it out,[39]
“Impatient of pollution. Have the feet
“Of Prophet or Apostle blest this place?
“Ishmael, or Houd, or Saleh, or than all,
“Mohammed, holier name? or is the man
“So foul with magic and all blasphemy,
“That Earth[40] like Heaven rejects him? it is best
“Forsake the station. Let us strike our tent.
“The place is tainted ... and behold
“The Vulture[41] hovers yonder, and his scream
“Chides us that we still we scare him from his banquet.
“So let the accursed one
“Find fitting sepulchre.”