_Lebid Ben Rabiat Alamary_.

[1] The author of this poem was a native of Yemen. He was contemporary
with Mohammed and was already celebrated as a poet when the prophet
began to promulgate his doctrines. Lebid embraced Islamism and was
one of the most aggressive helpers in its establishment. He fixed
his abode in the city of Cufa, where he died at a very advanced age.
This elegy, as is evident, was written previous to Lebid's conversion
to Islamism. Its subject is one that must be ever interesting to
the feeling mind--the return of a person after a long absence to
the place of his birth--in fact it is the Arabian "Deserted Village."


THE TOMB OF MANO

Friends of my heart, who share my sighs!
Go seek the turf where Mano lies,
And woo the dewy clouds of spring,
To sweep it with prolific wing.

Within that cell, beneath that heap,
Friendship and Truth and Honor sleep,
Beneficence, that used to clasp
The world within her ample grasp.

There rests entomb'd--of thought bereft--
For were one conscious atom left
New bliss, new kindness to display,
'Twould burst the grave, and seek the day.