The Bakhtyar nameh, or, Story of prince Bakhtyar and the ten viziers [tr. by sir W. Ouseley.]. ed. by W.A. Clouston

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Page 200 - PRAISE be to God, the Lord of all creatures, the most merciful, the king of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious ; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray...
Page 223 - I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porcupine : But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood.
Page 207 - Say, I fly for refuge unto the Lord of the daybreak, that he may deliver me from the mischief of those things which he hath created; and from the mischief of the night, when it cometh on; and from the mischief of women blowing on knots; and from the mischief of the envious, when he envieth...
Page xl - The Bakhtyar Nameh, or Story of Prince Bakhtyar and the Ten Viziers. A series of Persian Tales.
Page 150 - that prayer carries us half-way to God, fasting brings us to the door of His palace, and alms procure us admission.
Page 172 - Some exceptions, that can neither be dissembled nor eluded, render this mode of reasoning as indiscreet as it is superfluous: the kingdom of Yemen has been successively subdued by the Abyssinians, the Persians, the Sultans of...
Page 227 - Then said Saul to his servant, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man ? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God : what have we...
Page 147 - Ahaseurus takes his signet off his hand, and gives it first to Haman, and again to Mordecai : and Herodotus notices that each of the Babylonians wore a seal-ring. The Greeks and Romans had their rings curiously engraved with devices, and that cast by Polycrates into the sea was the work of an engraver whose name the historian has not thought unworthy of commemoration.
Page xvii - A poet went to the chief of a band of robbers and recited a panegyric upon him. He commanded them to strip off his clothes and turn him out of the village. The dogs, too, attacked him in the rear. He wanted to take up a stone, but the ground was frozen. Unable to do anything, he said, " What a villainous set are these, who have untied their dogs and tied up the stones." The chieftain heard this from a window, and said with a laugh, " Philosopher ! ask a boon of me.
Page 226 - It is counted uncivil to visit in this country without an offering in hand. All great men expect it as a kind of tribute due to their character and authority ; and look upon themselves as affronted, and indeed defrauded, when this compliment is omitted.

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