GhazzaWs Alchemy of Happiness. 



139 



may be in a foreign country, and we have no hope of any 

 advantage from him or of any token of his generosity to 

 ourselves, yet still from necessity we will love him, and 

 whenever his name is mentioned we will invoke blessings 

 upon him and praise him. It is thus with Hatem Tai 

 whose name, though he was an infidel, is upon every 

 tongue, because he was a generous and benevolent man, and 

 all hearts are irresistibly led to love him. . . . 



We see then that the love we bear to persons endowed 

 with the virtuous qualities of man, is not bestowed by us 

 for the sake of any fancied advantage from them or any 

 hope of gain, but that on the contrary it is because the spirits 

 of men are created in correspondence with the character 

 of God, and when we see a trace or mark of a quality or 

 affection of a kind like our own, we cannot help being at- 

 tracted towards it, and must necessarily love it. 



In this view of the subject, seeker of the truth, and 

 friend who longs for the bright vision, when you consider 

 what an impulse we have to admire and to love man who 

 is encompassed with so many defects, and whose qualities 

 are subject to decay, — be candid and reflect, that all the 

 attributes of God are perfect, that all his titles are glorious, 

 and that all his works are made in infinite wisdom, and 

 how then can there be a man of such animal affections and 

 propensities as not to love him with all his heart and soul ! 

 And how can a person having the appearance of a man, 

 be such a stone, as not to be willing to make a sacrifice of 

 his head and even of his soul, impelled by his absorbing 

 affection for Him ? 



Separation from thee, would quickly destroy me, 



Separation from one's friends is fatal. 



If thou shouldst separate from me still would I 



Be occupied with thee, ever active Friend, 



Who art the object of my desires and my researches j 



For thou wilt not turn away from him who loves thee. 



