The Infant Witness

His hand on Yusuf the sergeant laid,
And straight to the prison his way he made.
The heart of the captive with woe was rent,
And the eye of complaint on the sky he bent :
“ Thou who knowest all hearts,” he cried,
“ And every secret which men would hide ;
Who diseernest the true from the false, whose might
Save Thine only can bring this secret to light ?
Since the lamp of truth in my heart Thou hast placed,
Let me not with the charge of a lie be disgraced.
Bear witness against mine accuser, I pray,
That my truth may be clear as the light of day.”
He spoke in his sorrow ; and straight to its aim
The shaft of his prayer from his spirit came.
In the court was a dame, to Zulaikha allied.
Who was night and day by Zulaikha’s side.
With her babe on her bosom but three months old
She seemed her own soul in her arms to hold.
No line in the volume of life had it read,
And its tongue like a lily’s no word had said.
But it cried : “ Vizier, be thy judgment more slow,
And beware of the haste that will end in woe.
dSTo stain of sin upon Yusuf lies,
But he merits the grace of thy favouring eyes.”
In courteous words spake the Grand Vizier
In reply to the speech which he marvelled to hear :
“ O thou whom God teaches to speak while yet
With the milk of thy mother thy lips are wet,
Speak clearly and say who lighted the flame
That has threatened the screen of my honour and fame.”
“No informer am I,” said the babe, “to reveal
The secret another would fain conceal.
The tell-tale musk is so black in its hue,
Tor no folds will imprison the scent that steals through ;
And the screen of the petals that round her cling,
Gives a charm to the smile of the rose in Spring.
No secret I utter, no tale I tell,
But I give thee a hint which will serve thee well.
Go hence to Yusuf ; examine and note,
As he lies in the prison, the rent in his coat.
If the rent in the front of the garment appear,
The skirt of Zulaikha from soil is clear.
There is then no light in the charge he brings,
And the stain of a lie to his story clings.
But if rent be the back of the garment, he
From charge of falsehood and slander is free.
Then faithless Zulaikha has turned aside
From the path of truth and has basely lied.”
The Grand Vizier to the prison went,
And summoned Yusuf, to view the rent.
He saw that the garment was torn behind ;
And he cried to that woman of evil mind :
“ Thou hast forged a lie, and thine art has sent
The innocent boy to imprisonment.
What hast thou gained by thy crafty toils
Since the shame of thy deed on thyself recoils ?
Thou hast left the straight path and hast sullied thy name,
By wooing thy slave to a deed of shame,
From the path of honour thy feet have strayed,
And on him the guilt of thy sin thou hast laid.
The arts and wiles of a woman rend
The heart of a man, and they never will end.
Those who are noble they bring to naught,
And the wisest hearts in their toils are caught.
O that men from the plague of their arts were free !
O that treacherous woman might cease to be !
Begone : on thy knees in repentance fall,
And pray for forgiveness, thy face to the wall.
Let the tears of contrition thy penitence grace,
And the blot from thy volume of life efface.
And, Yusuf, set on thy lips a seal :
This tale of dishonour to nope reveal.
Enough that thy speech — for thy words were wise —
Has shown thee guiltless and opened mine eyes.”
He spoke ; then he turned from the prison : and food
For tale and jest was his clement mood.
Ah yes ; it is good to forgive and forget ;
But bounds e’en to mercy itself should be set.
If the man be too mild when the woman sins,
There ends good-nature, and folly begins.
Too patient a part, should thy wife offend,
Makes a rift in thine honour which naught can mend.