If thou art an ideal, thou art higher than Heaven—

Winning, captivating, enchanting men’s hearts;

A destroyer of ancient falsehood,

Fraught with turmoil, an embodiment of the Last Day. 320

We live by forming ideals,

We glow with the sunbeams of desire!

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Cf. Koran, ch. 18, vv. 64-80. Khizr represents the mystic seer whose actions are misjudged by persons of less insight.

[35] I.e. the reed was made into a flute.