Now that I’ve cajoled myself with the sweet hope that with respect to both the Divan itself and its accompanying notes I may yet achieve a great deal of effect, I skim through my preparatory work which lies before me, unused and unrealised, in innumerable pages. There I come upon an essay, written some twenty-five years earlier, which refers to papers and studies which are themselves much older.
My friends will recall from my biographical ventures120 that I devoted much time and attention to the First Book of Moses121 and spent many a day of my youth strolling amongst the paradises of the East. To the historical books which followed my inclination and my zeal were also applied. The four last Books of Moses demanded diligent efforts and the essay that follows contains the peculiar results. May that essay be accorded a place at this point. For since all our peregrinations through the Orient were occasioned by the Holy Scriptures, we come back to them over and over as to springs of water, supremely vivifying even if occasionally muddied, coursing in concealment in the earth only to gush forth, pure and fresh, yet again.