From mystical visions he can pass on with
ease to the great epic of Islam ; and in picturing
historical events he can, by one sweep of the
imagination, take in a vast field of action and
long periods of time.
Great is Mrs. Sarojini Naidu's admiration
for some lines that occurred in one of Sir Nizamat's
sonnets of 1908 commemorating the triumph of
Islam.
" From Persia's Magian shrines to Gothic Spain \
From Memphian deserts to Byzantium old." !
In the Miracles of Islam also we have the same
sweeping glance :
" By it the Arab righteous made
Brave, and of none but God afraid,
Child of the desert, broke proud Persia's might,
And quenched her sun when pomp and glory's shade
Was like a phantom lost in endless night.
A miracle I and soon salvation came
And Persia stood once more
Upon the roll of fame.
And Syria too, the Eastern home
Of the decaying pomp of Rome,
Beheld a miracle—the lightning glance
Of Arab swords—and like a tottering dome
Fell at the touch of the wild Bedouin's lance.
Nor Rome's dread name nor all her deeds' renown
Could stem the conquering tide
That rushed from town to town."
I admire his Arabia Revisited for its simplicity,
sincerity and vigour. It voices one of his
deepest convictions, as one of the lessons of the
Haj.