was the death-goddess, who receives the dead men in her house and
does not fetch them. They are left alone to begin the long and
gloomy journey, provided with various things.[12] "Chacun remonte
à son tour le calvaire des siècles. Chacun retrouve les peines,
chacun retrouve l'espoir désespéré et la folie des siècles.
Chacun remet ses pas dans les pas de ceux qui furent, de ceux qui
luttèrent avant lui contre la mort, nièrant la mort,--sont
morts"[13] (_quatrain_ 57). It is the same for men and trees
(_quatrain_ 59). This vision of Abu'l-Ala's is to be compared
with Milton's "men as trees walking," a kind of second sight, a
blind man's pageant. In reference to haughty folk, an Arab
proverb says that "There is not a poplar which has reached its
Lord." But on the other hand, "There are some virtues which dig
their own graves,"[14] and with regard to excessive polishing of
swords (_quatrain_ 60) we have the story of the poet Abu Tammam,
related by Ibn Khallikan. He tells us how the poet once recited
verses in the presence of some people, and how one of them was a
philosopher who said, "This man will not live long, for I have
seen in him a sharpness of wit and penetration and intelligence.
From this I know that the mind will consume the body, even as a
sword of Indian steel eats through its scabbard." Still, in
Arabia, where swords were so generally used that a priest would
strap one to his belt before he went into the pulpit, there was
no unanimous opinion as to the polishing,--which, by the way, was
done with wood. A poet boasted that his sword was often or was
rarely polished, according as he wished to emphasise the large
amount of work accomplished or the excellence of the polishing.
Imru'al-Kais says that his sword does not recall the day when it
was polished. Another poet says his sword is polished every day
and "with a fresh tooth bites off the people's heads."[15] This