O DULCIMER, wake from thy sunshiny sleep,
Arise and prepare for the battle.
Far more compliant art thou, sweet seducer,
And livelier than the lonely-one in the rosebrakes of the moon.
O dulcimer, art thou not the breeze of Samarcand?
Thou art pleasanter than Samarcand in her vallies of jonquils,
Thou inspirest fresh airiness through the dizzy dance,
Thou sprinklest the arcade on the sultriest side,
Thou beckonest the rays that intrude, thou chidest and biddest them go.
But behold! who descends from the mountains Î
Awake, golden-hair’d from thy sunshiny sleep,
Arise and prepare for the battle.
His elephant moves the earth with his horn,
Abu-Said turns the horn of his elephant.
He hath indeed two horns, elephant as he is of
Abu-Said: —
Famine breathes forth from one in the dogdays of war,
The other holds manna for the friends of Abu,
The beloved of Abu reel with its fragrance.
Arise then, arise; but with reverence.
Thro’ the dust of the valley I discover our lord;
I distinguish the trappings, green like the ocean
When the tempest hangs over the gulf of Hormuz.