Annie F. Johnston

“ And this, O Son of Shapur, is the secret of Omar’s alchemy: To gather something from every one thou passest on the highway, and from every experience fate sends thee, as Omar gathered from the heart of every rose, and out of the wide knowledge thus gained of human weaknesses and human needs, to distil in thine own heart the precious oil of Sympathy. That is the attar [Page 36] that shall win for thee a welcome wherever thou goest. And no man fills his crystal vase with it until he has first been pricked by the world’s disappointments, and bowed by its tasks. ”

“ Would it not have been better to have waited by the other fountain until some caravan passed by that would have carried him [Page 21] out of the desert solitude to the dwellings of men? What opportunity was the desert offering him greater than kings’ houses could give?”
And ever the thorns tore him more sorely, and the lonely silence of the night weighed upon him. Many a time he would have left his task had not the shadowy form of his camel, kneeling outside by the fountain, seemed to whisper to him through the starlight, “Patience, Shapur! Patience!” ”

“ Why should I, with life beating strong in my veins, and ambition like a burning simoon in my breast, be left here helpless on the sands, where I can achieve nothing and make no progress towards the City of my Desire? ”