y eyes towards the summit of a rock that was not far
from me, where I discovered one in the habit of a shepherd, with a
musical instrument in his hand. As I looked upon him he applied it to
his lips, and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceeding
sweet, and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inexpressibly
melodious, and altogether different from anything I had ever heard. They
put me in mind of those heavenly airs that are played to the departed
souls of good men upon their first arrival in Paradise, to wear out the
impressions of their last agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of
that happy place. My heart melted away in secret raptures.

"I had been often told that the rock before me was the haunt of a genius,
and that several had been entertained with music who had passed by it,
but never heard that the musician had before made himself visible. When
he had raised my thoughts by those transporting airs which he played, to
taste the pleasures of his conversation, as I looked upon him like one
astonished, he beckoned to me, and, by the waving of his hand, directed
me to approach the place where he sat. I drew near with that reverence
which is due to a superior nature; and, as my heart was entirely subdued
by the captivating strains I had heard, I fell down at his feet and wept.
The genius smiled upon me with a look of compassion and affability that
familiarised him to my imagination, and at once dispelled all the fears
and apprehensions with which I approached him. He lifted me from the
ground, and, taking me by the hand, 'Mirza,' said he, 'I have heard thee
in thy soliloquies; follow me.'

"He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and placing me on
the top of it, 'Cast thy eyes eastward,' said he, 'and tell me what thou
seest.' 'I see,' said I, 'a huge valley, and a prodigious tide of water
rolling through it.' 'The valley that thou seest,' said he, 'is the Vale
of Misery, and the tide of water that thou seest is part of the great
tide of Eternity.' 'What is the reason,' said I, 'that the tide I see
rises out of a thick mist at one end, and again loses itself in a thick
mist at the other?' 'What thou seest,' said he, 'is that portion of
Eternity which is called Time, measured out by the sun, and reaching from
the beginning of the world to its consummation. Examine now,' said he,
'this sea that is bounded with darkness at both ends, and tell me what
thou discoverest in it.'