Lowering as Barkaidy's face
The wintry night came in,
Cold as the music of his bass,
And lengthen'd as his chin.
Sleep from my aching eyes had fled,
And kept as far apart,
As sense from Ebn Fahdi's head,
Or virtue from his heart.
The dubious paths my footsteps balk'd,
I slipp'd along the sod,
As if on Jaber's faith I'd walk'd,
Or on his truth had trod.
At length the rising King of day
Burst on the gloomy wood,
Like Carawash's eye, whose ray
Dispenses every good.
_Ebn Alramacram_.
[27] The occasion of the following composition is thus related by
Abulfeda. Carawash, Sultan of Mousel, being one wintry evening
engaged in a party of pleasure along with Barkaidy, Ebn Fahdi, Abou
Jaber, and the improvisatore poet, Ebn Alramacram, resolved to
divert himself at the expense of his companions. He therefore
ordered the poet to give a specimen of his talents, which at the
same time should convey a satire upon the three courtiers, and a
compliment to himself. Ebn Alramacram took his subject from the
stormy appearance of the night, and immediately produced these
verses.