Chapter XXXIII

Hadil is a poetic term for dove. And in Arabic mythology it is the name of a particular dove, which died of thirst in the days of Noah, and is bemoaned until this day.

"Ababil," a flock of birds, who scourged with flint-stones which they carried in their beaks, one of the ancient Arab tribes, noted for its idolatry and evil practices.

XXXVIII, XCIII and XCIV

I quote again from Omar, Fitzgerald's version, quatrain 44:

"Why, if the Soul can fling the dust aside,
And naked on the air of Heaven ride,
Were't not a shame--were't not a shame for him
In this clay carcass crippled to abide?"

And from Heron-Allen's, quatrain 145:

"O Soul, if thou canst purify thyself from the dust of the clay,
Thou, naked spirit, canst soar in the heav'ns,
The Empyrian is thy sphere--let it be thy shame
That thou comest and art a dweller within the confines of earth."