PALMIRA.
O why, my lord, that cruel frown,
And look severe?
MAHOMET.
Be not alarmed; I meant
But to explore the secrets of thy heart
And try if thou were worthy to be saved:
Be confident, and rest on my protection;
On your obedience will depend your fate;
If ye expect a blessing at my hands,
Be careful to deserve it, and whate'er
The will of heaven determines touching Seid,
Be thou his guide, direct him in the paths
Of duty and religion; let him keep
His promise, and be worthy of Palmira.
PALMIRA.
O he will keep it; doubt him not, my lord,
I'll answer for his heart as for my own;
Seid adores thee, worships Mahomet
More than he loves Palmira; thou are all
To him, his friend, his father, and his king:
I'll fly, and urge him to his duty.
SCENE IV.
MAHOMET (Alone.)
MAHOMET
Well:
Spite of myself I must, it seems, be made
A confidant; the simple girl betrayed
Her guilty flame, and innocently plunged
The dagger in my heart: unhappy race!
Father and children, all my foes, all doomed
To make me wretched! But ye soon shall prove
That dreadful is my hatred—and my love.
SCENE V.
MAHOMET ,OMAR
OMAR.
At length the hour is come, to seize Palmira,
To conquer Mecca, and to punish Zopir;
His death alone can prop our feeble cause, And humble these proud citizens: brave Seid
Can best avenge thee; he has free access
To Zopir: yonder gloomy passage leads
To his abode; there the rebellious chief
His idle vows and flattering incense ours
Before his fancied deities; there Seid,
Full of the law divine by thee inspired,
Shall sacrifice the traitor to the God
Of Mahomet
MAHOMET.
He shall: that youth was born
For crimes of deepest dye: he shall be the first
My useful slave, my instrument, and then
The victim of my rage; it must be so:
My safety, my resentment, and my love,
My holy faith, and the decrees of my fate
Irrevocable, all require it of me:
But thinkest thou, Omar, he hath all the warmth
Of wild fanaticism?
OMAR.
I know he has,
And suits our purpose well; Palmira too,
Will urge him on: religion, love, resentment
Will bind his headstrong youth, and hurry him
To madness.
MAHOMET.
Hast thou bound him by an oath?
OMAR.
O yes; in all the gloomy pomp of rites
Nocturnal, oaths, and altars, we have fixed
His superstitious soul, placed in his hand
The sacred sword, and fired him with the rage
Of fierce enthusiasm—but behold him.
SCENE VI.
MAHOMET, OMAR, SEID
MAHOMET.
Child
Of heaven, decreed to execute the laws
Of an offended God, now hear by me
His sacred will: thou must avenge his cause.
SEID.
O thou, to whom my soul devoted bends
In humblest adoration, king, and prophet,
Sovereign, acknowledged by the voice of heave,
O'er prostrate nations—I am wholly thine:
But O enlighten my dark mind! O say,
How can weak man avenge his God?
MAHOMET.
Oft-times
Doth he make use of feeble hands like thine
To punish impious mortals, and assert
His power divine.
SEID.
Will he, whose perfect image
Is seen in Mahomet, thus condescend
To honor Seid?
MAHOMET.
Do as he ordains;
That is the highest honor man can boast,
Blindly to execute his great decree:
Be thankful for the choice, and strike the blow:
The angel of destruction shall assist,
The God of armies shall protect thee.
SEID.
Speak;
What tyrant must be slain? What blood must flow?
MAHOMET.
The murderer's blood whom Mahomet abhors,
Who persecutes our faith, and spurns our God,
Who slew my son; the worst of all my foes,
The cruel Zopir.
SEID.
Ha! Must Zopir fall?
MAHOMET.
And dost thou pause? Presumptuous youth! 'tis impedious
But to deliberate: far from Mahomet
Be all who for themselves shall dare to judge
Audacious: those who reason are not oft
Prone to believe; thy part is to obey.
Have it not told thee what the will of heaven
Determines? If it be decreed that Mecca,
Spite of her crimes and base idolatry,
Shall be the promised temple, the chosen seat