* * * * *
"COULD WE WITH INK," ETC.
(Vol. viii., pp. 127. 180. 422.)
I think that your well-read correspondent J. W. THOMAS will agree with me
that the _bona fide_ authorship of the beautiful lines alluded to must be
ascertained, not by a single expression, but by the whole of the charming
poem. The striking expression of Mohammed, quoted by J. W. THOMAS, is quite
common amongst the Easterns even at the present day. I remember, when at
Malta, in March, 1848, whilst walking in company of the most accomplished
Arabian of the day, the conversation turned upon a certain individual who
had since acquired a most unenviable notoriety in the annals of British
jurisprudence, my companion abruptly turned upon me, whilst at the shore of
the Mediterranean, and said, in his fascinating Arabic, "Behold this great
sea! were all its water turned into ink, it would be insufficient to
describe the villany of the individual you speak of."
Rabbi Mayir ben Isaac's poem corresponds not merely in a single expression,
but in every one. The Chaldee hymn has the ink and ocean, parchment and
heavens, stalks and quills, mankind and scribes, &c. Pray do me the favour
to insert the original lines. I assure you that they are well worthy of a
place in "N. & Q." Here they are:
[Hebrew: GBWRAN `ALMIYN LEIYH WLA' SIPEIQ PRIYSHWTA':]
[Hebrew: GWIYL 'ILW RQIY`EIY QNY KAL CHWRSHATA':]
[Hebrew: DYWO 'ILW YAMEIY WKAL MEIY KNIYSHWTA':]
[Hebrew: DAYREIY 'AR`A' SAPREIY WRASHMEIY RASHWATA':]