"When thou perceivest thy friend flattering thee, be persuaded that no enemy is fitter to be shunned.

"There is no good in the friendship of the man who flatters thee; he has sweetness on his tongue, but his heart revolts from thee.

"He meets thee with an oath that he is thy wellwisher; but he turns his back and whispers calumnies against thee.

"He steeps his tongue in honey; and clothes his feet with the cunning of the fox.

"Run not after the world; for that which is easily caught is a worthless capture.

"One single day of thy life place not thy trust in woman for though she swear to thee by the most sacred oath, she will still deceive thee.

"She soothes thee with words, and smiles on thee with softness; but when she is moved to anger, she is like the raging lion.

"When wealth becomes scarce in one country, and subsistence precarious, remove to another: God's earth is widely spread from east to

west.

"Good advice is given, if thou art capable of receiving it.

"What is worth a better price if sold, or more esteem if given, than prudent counsel.

"Take then this poem as a present of strung pearls; yea, of greater value; and give ear to its admonition: they are the words of a wise man, who moved along the high and crowded road of life with a constant step, and who was familiar with the great affairs of the world: that man was Ali, the cousin of Mohammed, of an exalted rank and noble station!"

Such, my dear Sir, is the beautiful production of Imam Ali; it will suffice, perhaps, to show that bards, even in Arabia, may have glimpses of Parnassus as well as of Paradise; and I am sure you will agree with me, in thinking that in the Casida

there is not only poetry and philosophy, but also religion and morality.

In my next, I will give you the short poem of Ebn el Wardi, called the Lamja, which contains, perhaps, not so much philosophy as the Casida, but still abounds in splendid passages.

I am, my dear Sir,

Yours very truly,

R. R. M.

LETTER XXXII.

TO DR. JAMES JOHNSON.

MY DEAR SIR,

Damietta, May 26, 1827.

I SEND you, according to my promise, the translation of the other poem. I have chosen rather to give it " with all its errors on its head," than, for the sake of euphony, to alter one word of the original.

THE LAMJA.

BY EBN EL WARDI.

"MAKE no more mention of the tune and the lovesong, give us moral discourses, and away with the company of the jester.

"Talk not any longer about the days of youth, the days of youth are a star for ever set.

"The sweetest of thy life thou hast already passed, its season is gone by, but its sins remain.

"Leave alone the beauteous woman, and mind! her not, that thou mayest walk in honour, and be illustrious.

"Part with all the instruments of mirth, that excite thee to wanton movements; and regard not the lascivious dancing girl.

"When she comes forth, she eclipses the sun in splendour, she moves with the suppleness of the slender javelin.

yet

"If we compare her with the moon, she is fairer, and she surpasses that body in the beauty of her shape.

"But think what term the coveted beauty of the Alme leads thee to; to a state of infirmity and dissolution.

"If thou art a man, avoid wine; how can a rational being endeavour after madness!