| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| From “With Sa’di in the Garden.” I. Mahmud and Ayaz: A Paraphrase on Sa’Di |
| | | Sir Edwin Arnold (1832–1904) |
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| THEY mock’d the Sovereign of Ghaznin: one saith, | |
| “Ayaz hath no great beauty, by my faith! | |
| A Rose that ’s neither rosy-red nor fragrant, | |
| The Bulbul’s love for such astonisheth!” | |
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| This went to Mahmud’s ears; ill-pleas’d he sate, | 5 |
| Bow’d on himself, reflecting; then to that | |
| Replied: “My love is for his kindly nature, | |
| Not for his stature, nor his face, nor state!” | |
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| And I did hear how, in a rocky dell, | |
| Bursting a chest of gems a camel fell; | 10 |
| King Mahmud wav’d his sleeve, permitting plunder, | |
| But spurr’d his own steed onward, as they tell. | |
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| His horsemen parted from their Lord amain, | |
| Eager for pearls, and corals, and such gain: | |
| Of all those neck-exalting courtiers | 15 |
| None except Ayaz near him did remain. | |
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| The King look’d back—“How many hast thou won, | |
| Curl’d comfort of my heart?” He answer’d “None! | |
| I gallop’d up the pass in rear of thee; | |
| I quit thee for no pearls beneath the sun!” | 20 |
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| Oh, if to God thou hast propinquity, | |
| For no wealth heedless of His service be! | |
| If Lovers true of God shall ask from God | |
| Aught except God, that ’s infidelity. | |
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| If thine eyes fix on any gift of Friend, | 25 |
| Thy gain, not his, is thy desire’s end: | |
| If thy mouth gape in avarice, Heaven’s message | |
| Unto Heart’s ear by that road shall not wend. | |
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