. The poems of Edwin Arnold .. . died, Stayed by this unseen touch. Thereat amazed Our Lord Muhamnied turned, arose, and gazed; And saw — alone of those within the shrine — A splendid Presence, with large eyes divine Beaming, and golden pinions folded down, Their speed still tokened by the fluttered gown. Gabriel he knew, the spirit who doth stand Chief of the Sons of Heavn, at Gods right hand: Gabriel! why stayest thou me! the Prophet said, Since at this hour the Fdtihah should be read. But the bright Presence, smiling, pointed where Ali toward the outer gate drew near, Upon the threshold sha
. The poems of Edwin Arnold .. . died, Stayed by this unseen touch. Thereat amazed Our Lord Muhamnied turned, arose, and gazed; And saw — alone of those within the shrine — A splendid Presence, with large eyes divine Beaming, and golden pinions folded down, Their speed still tokened by the fluttered gown. Gabriel he knew, the spirit who doth stand Chief of the Sons of Heavn, at Gods right hand: Gabriel! why stayest thou me! the Prophet said, Since at this hour the Fdtihah should be read. But the bright Presence, smiling, pointed where Ali toward the outer gate drew near, Upon the threshold shaking off his shoes And giving alms of entry, as men use. YeaI spake th Archangel, sacred is the sound Of morning-praise, and worth the worlds wide round, Though earth were pearl and silver; therefore I Stayed thee, Muhamnied, in the act to cry, Lest Ali, tarrying in the lane, should miss, For his good deed, its blessing and its bliss. Thereat th Archangel vanished,— and our LordRead Fdtihah forth beneath the [392] PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF GOOD COUNSELS. The Jlltopadesa is a work of high antiquity and ex-tended popularity. The prose is doubtless as old asour own era; but the intercalated verses and proverbscompose a selection from writings of an age extremelyremote. The Mahdbhdrata and the textual Veds areof those quoted; to the first of which Professor (in his admirable edition of the JVala, I860)assigns the modest date of 350 , while he claimsfor the Rig - Veda an antiquity as high as 1300 b. llitopadesa may thus be fairly styled The Fatherof all Fables;for from its numerous translations haveprobably come Esop and Pilpay, and in latter dayslleineke Fuchs. Originally compiled in Sanskrit, itwas rendered, by order of Nushirvan, in the sixth cen-tury a. d., into Persic. From the Persic it passed, a. , into the Arabic, and thence into Hebrew andGreek. In its own land it obtained as wide a circula-tion. The Emperor Akbar, impressed with
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