MAHOMET.
You should have waited for my orders; he
Who goes beyond his duty knows it not;
I am heaven's minister, and thou art mine;
Learn then of me to serve and to obey.
PALMIRA.
Forgive, my lord, a youth's impatient ardor:
Brought up together from our infant years,
The same our fortunes, and our thoughts the same:
Alas! My life has been a life of sorrow;
Long have I languished in captivity,
Far from my friends, from Seid, and from thee;
And now at last, when I beheld a ray
Of comfort shining of me, they unkindness
Blasts my fair hopes, and darkens all the scene.
MAHOMET.
Palmira, 'tis enough : I know thy virtues;
Let naught disturb thee: spite of all my cares,
Glory, and empire, and the weight of war,
I will remember thee; Palmira still
Lives in my heart, and shares it with mankind:
Seid shall join troops: thou, gentle maid,
Mayest serve they God in peace: fear naught but Zopir.
SCENE IV.
MAHOMET, OMAR,
MAHOMET.
Brave Omar, stay, for in thy faithful bosom
Will I repose the secrets of my soul:
The lingering progress of a doubtful siege
May stop our rapid course; we must not give
These weak deluded mortals too much time
To pry into our actions; prejudice
Rules o'er the vulgar with despotic sway.
Thou knowest there is a tale which I have spread
And they believe, that universal empire
Awaits the prophet, who to Mecca's walls
Shall lead his conquering bands, and bring her peace.
'Tis mine to mark the errors of mankind,
And to avail me of them; but whilst thus
I try each art to soothe this fickle people
What thinks my friend of Seid and Palmira?
OMAR.
I think most nobly of them, that amidst
Those few staunch followers who own no God,
No faith but thine, who love thee as their father,
Their friend, and benefactor, none obey
Or serve thee with an humbler, better mind:
They are most faithful.
MAHOMET.
Omar, thou art deceived;
They are my worst foes, they love each other.
OMAR.
And can you blame their tenderness?
MAHOMET.
My friend,
I'll tell thee all my weakness.
OMAR.
How my Lord!
MAHOMET.
Thou knowest the reigning passion of my soul;
Whilst proud ambition and the cares of empire
Weighed heavy on me, Mahomet's hard life
Has been a conflict with opposing Nature,
Whom I have vanquished by austerity,
And self denial; have banished from me
That baleful poison which unnerves mankind,
Which only serves to fire them into madness,
And brutal follies; on the burning sand
Or desert rocks I brave the inclement sky,
And bear the seasons' rough vicissitude:
Love is my only solace, the dear object
O fall my toils, the idol I adore,
The god of Mahomet, the powerful rival
Of my ambition: know, midst all my queens,
Palmira reigns sole mistress of my heart:
Think then what pangs of jealousy thy friend
Must feel when she expressed her fatal passion
For Seid.
OMAR.
But thou art revenged.
MAHOMET.
Judge thou
If soon I ought not to take vengeance on them;
That thou mayest hate my rival more, I'll tell thee
Who Seid and Palmira are—the children
Of him whom I abhor, my deadliest foe.
OMAR.
Ha! Zopir!
MAHOMET.
Is their father: fifteen years
Are past since brave Hercides to my care
Gave up their infant years; they know not yet
Or who or what they are; I brought them up
Together; I indulged their lawless passion.,
And added fuel to the guilty flame.
Methinks it is as if the hand of heaven
Had meant in them to center every crime.
But I must— Ha! Their father comes this way,
His eyes are full of bitterness and wrath
Against me—now be vigilant, my Omar,
Hercides must be careful to possess
This most important pass; return, and tell me
Whether 'tis most expedient to declare
Against him, or retreat: away.
SCENE V.
ZOPIR, MAHOMET,
ZOPIR.
Hard fate!
Unhappy Zopir! Thus compelled to meet
My worst of foes, the foe of all mankind!
Since 'tis the will of heaven that Mahomet
And Zopir should at length untie, approach
Without a blush, and fearless tell thy tale.
I blush for thee alone, whose baneful arts
Have drawn thy country to the brink of ruin;
Who in the bosom of fair peace wouldst wage
Intestine war, loosen the sacred bonds
Of friendship, and destroy our happiness;
Beneath the veil of proffered terms thou meanest