I Thought
Men Could Not Be Barbarians, Or Even A Jealous Or Vindictive Race, Who
Were Charmed With Such Simple Melody Of Sounds, And With Sentiments So
Pure And True To Nature.
The Arab youth sang:
-
Oh, there's none but the One God!
I'll journey over the Desert far
To seek my love the fairest of maidens;
The camels moan loudly to carry me thither,
Gainly are they, and fleeter than the swift-legged ostrich.
Oh, there's none but the One God!
What though the Desert wind slay me;
What of it? death is from God.
And woe to me! I cannot repine.
But I'll away to the abode of my love,
I'll embrace her with all my strength,
I'll bear her back thence, and rest her on my couch.
Oh, there's none but the One God!
So sang in plaintive accents the youth, until the last ray of the sun
lingered on the minarets' tops, when, by the louder and authoritative
voice of the Muezin calling the Faithful to prayers, this crowd of the
worshippers of song and vocal harmony was dispersed to meet again, and
forthwith chant a more solemn strain. The poor lad of the streets and
highways went into the mosque along with his motley group of admirers;
and all blended their voices and devotion together in prayer and
adoration, lowly and in profound prostration, before the Great Allah!
It is my intention, in the course of the present narrative, to give a
brief account of the principal towns and cities of North Africa; and I
cannot do better than begin with Tangier.
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