1881.] 
0. J. Lyall— Translations from the Hamdseh. 141 
Taubeh son of el-Homeyyir. 
Ah if hut Leyla once would send me a greeting 1 down 
of grace, though between us lay the dust and the flags of stone, 
My greeting of joy should spring in answer, or there should cry 
toward her an owl, ill bird that shrieks in the gloom of graves. 
They envy me that from Leyla never was mine from her: 
how slight be the cause of joy soever, how good it is ! 
Ham. jo. 576 . 
Notes. 
Metre Tawil, as in No. II. The first line in both Arabic and English 
is Mdkhrum , that is, deprived of its initial short syllable. 
Much is told of this Taubeh in the Kitab-el-Aghani (x. 67—82). He 
was a cousin of Leyla, a woman of great beauty, belonging to the family of 
el-Akhyal (hence called Leyla-l-Akhjudiyyeh), of the tribe of ‘Amir son of 
Sa‘sa‘ah. Taubeh loved her from her childhood, when they were children 
in the desert together, but her father refused to give her to him in mar¬ 
riage. He led a stormy life, and met his death in fight in the reign of 
Mo‘awiyeh, the first of the Umawi Khalifehs. Leyla long survived him, 
but never forgot him and his love for her. She also was a renowned 
poetess, and was alive at a great age in the reign of ‘Abd-el-Melik son of 
Merwan. A tale is told of her death in which these verses figure (Agh. x. 82). 
She was making a journey with her husband, when they passed by the grave 
of Taubeh. Leyla, who was travelling in a litter, cried “ By God ! I will not 
depart hence till I greet Taubeh.” Her husband endeavoured to dissuade 
her, but she would not hearken : so at last he allowed her. And she went 
up the mound on which the tomb was, and said—“ Peace be to thee, 
O Taubeh !” Then she turned her face to the people, and said—“ I never 
knew him to speak falsely until this day.” “ What meanest thou ?” 
said they : “ was it not he,” she answered, “ who said— 
‘Ah, if but Leyla once would send me a greeting down 
of grace, though between us lay the dust and the flags of stone, 
My greeting of joy should spring in answer, or there should cry 
toward her an owl,* ill bird that shrieks in the gloom of graves’ ? 
Nay, but I have greeted him, and he has not answered me as he said.” 
Now there was a she-owl crouching in the gloom by the side of the grave ; 
and when it saw the litter and the crowd of people, it was frightened, and 
flew in the face of the camel. And the camel was startled, and cast Leyla 
down li’eadlong on the ground ; and she died that hour, and was buried by 
the side of Taubeh. 
v. 1. Safaih are the flags of stone set over a grave. 
