bazaars, occasionally speaking to some solemn looking old shopkeeper or
long-bearded Mussulman, who, I hoped, might understand a little Arabic.
But not one did I find. At evening I bathed in the tank of a temple full
from the recent rains, and I lay down supperless to sleep on the steps
of the great mosque. As I lay on the hard stones I looked up to my star,
and took comfort, and slept. That night a dream came to me. I thought I
was still awake and lying on the steps, watching the wondrous ruler of
my fate. And as I looked he glided down from his starry throne with an
easy swinging motion, like a soap-bubble settling to the earth. And the
star came and poised among the branches of the palm-tree over the tank,
opalescent, unearthly, heart shaking. His face was as the face of the
prophet, whose name be blessed, and his limbs were as the limbs of the
Hameshaspenthas of old. Garments he had none, being of heavenly birth,
but he was clothed with light as with a garment, and the crest of his
silver hair was to him a crown of glory. And he spoke with the tongues
of a thousand lutes, sweet strong tones, that rose and fell on the night
air as the song of a lover beneath the lattice of his mistress, the song
of the mighty star wooing the beautiful sleeping earth. And then he
looked on me and said: 'Abdul Hafiz, be of good cheer. I am with thee
and will not forsake thee, even to the day when thou shalt pass over the
burning bridge of death. Thou shalt touch the diamond of the rivers and
the pearl of the sea, and they shall abide with thee, and great shall be
thy wealth. And the sunlight which is in the diamond shall warm thee and
comfort thy heart; and the moonlight which is in the pearl shall give
thee peace in the night-time, and thy children shall be to thee a
garland of roses in the land of the unbeliever.' And the star floated
down from the palm-branches and touched me with his hand, and breathed
upon my lips the cool breath of the outer firmament, and departed. Then
I awoke and saw him again in his place far down the horizon, and he was
alone, for the dawn was in the sky and the lesser lights were