'The
islands,' said he, 'that lie so fresh and green before thee, amid
with which the whole face of the ocean appears spotted as far as
thou canst see, are more in number than the sands on the sea-shore:
there are myriads of islands behind those which thou here
discoverest, reaching further than thine eye, or even thine
imagination can extend itself. These are the mansions of good men
after death, who, according to the degree and kinds of virtue in
which they excelled, are distributed among those several islands,
which abound with pleasures of different kinds and degrees, suitable
to the relishes and perfections of those who are settled in them:
every island is a paradise accommodated to its respective
inhabitants. Are not these, O Mirza, habitations worth contending
for? Does life appear miserable that gives thee opportunities of
earning such a reward? Is death to be feared that will convey thee
to so happy an existence? Think not man was made in vain, who has
such an Eternity reserved for him.' I gazed with inexpressible
pleasure on these happy islands. At length, said I, 'Show me now, I
beseech thee, the secrets that lie hid under those dark clouds which
cover the ocean on the other side of the rock of adamant.' The
genius making me no answer, I turned about to address myself to him
a second time, but I found that he had left me; I then turned again
to the vision which I had been so long contemplating: but instead
of the rolling tide, the arched bridge, and the happy islands, I saw
nothing but the long hollow valley of Bagdad, with oxen, sheep, and
camels grazing upon the sides of it.
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