Oriental Stories/Volume 1/Issue 4/Let There Be Light!
Let There Be Light!
By Adolphe de Castro
Half dreaming on the desert's edge I lay,
And saw the sun with tender touch caress
The sleeping palm to smiling wakefulness
And dow'r with golden tongues the fragrant bay.
Night spirits stole to crannied depths away
While distant mountains, clad in gloomy dress
Of seething vapors from the wilderness,
Raised flaming heads to greet triumphant day.
Low moaned the conquer'd spirit of the night
And called Simoom who, menace-breathing, slept
In fearsome vales, but quickly rose to fight
The nascent dawn; and, shrieking, crashing, leapt
On clouds of dust that whirled and, roaring, swept
The sky—but Allah said: "Let there be light!"