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Burton, Sir Richard - THE KASÎDAH 09 3

This "I" may find a future Life,
a nobler copy of our own,
Where every riddle shall be ree'd,
where every knowledge shall be known;

Where 'twill be man's to see the whole
of what on Earth he sees in part;
Where change shall ne'er surcharge the thought;
nor hope defer'd shall hurt the heart.

The shatter'd bowl shall know repair;
the riven lute shall sound once more;
But who shall mend the clay of man,
the stolen breath to man restore?

The shiver'd clock again shall strike;
the broken reed shall pipe again:
But we, we die, and death is one,
the doom of brutes, the doom of men.

Then, if Nirwâna[1] round our life
with nothingness, 'tis haply best;
Thy toils and troubles, want and woe
at length have won their guerdon--Rest.

In Days to come, Days slow to dawn,
when Wisdom deigns to dwell with men,
These echoes of a voice long stilled
haply shall wake responsive strain:

Wend now thy way with brow serene,
fear not thy humble tale to tell:--
The whispers of the Desert-wind;
the tinkling of the camel's bell.

[1] Nirvana