The Phoenix 
286
I
1...I have heard that far away from here in the regions
to the east exists the noblest of lands renowned among men. This expanse
of earth is not accessible to many of the potentates across the world,
for through the might of the ordaining Lord it is far removed from evil-doers
...this noble plateau burgeons beneath the heavens,
abloom with delights...
28...That radiant land, that region, is higher
by twelve fathoms--so in their wisdom sages knowledgeable from their studies
inform us in their writings--than any of the mountains which rear aloft,
luminous beneath the constellations, here with us.
33...trees stand ever green as God commanded them.
Winter and summer alike, the wood is festooned with leaves; never a leaf
will wither under the sky nor fire ever to the fullness of time cause them
harm, before the transformation comes upon the world.
When of old water’s torrent, the flood, covered
the whole world, the earth’s ambit, then this noble plateau, in every way
unmarred, stood secured against the rough waves...
287
50 There in that land is no loathsome foe, not weeping
nor anguish, no sign of woe, not senility nor disease nor painful death
nor losing of life, no onset of the abhorrent, neither sin nor strife nor
wounding anguish, neither poverty’s struggle or want of wealth, not sorrow
not sleep nor grievous illness, not wintry squalls not the flurry of tempests
and stormy weather beneath the heavens, nor does harsh frost oppress anyone
with its freezing icicles. Neither hail nor rime is there, falling to the
earth, nor wind blown cloud, nor does the water there, agitated by the
breeze, fall downwards, but there wonderfully ornamental streams and wells
spout forth in lovely spring. Delightful waters from out of the midst of
the wood irrigate the earth, which every month gush cold as the sea from
the turf of the ground and at these seasons percolate the woe grove in
spate. It is the Prince’s bidding that twelve times the delightfulness
of fluent streams should ripple throughout that glorious land. The groves
are festooned with leaves, with beautiful fruits. There the wood’s adornments,
sanctified though below the heavens, never fade, nor do the blossoms, the
beauty of the trees, fall brown to the ground, but here on those trees,
perpetually, like a work of art, the laden branches continue green on the
grassy plain, and the fruit fresh through all time, and that most dazzling
of groves pleasantly bedecked by the powers of holy God. Never does that
wood come to be marred in its appearance; the sanctified perfume there
lingers throughout that land of delight. Never to the fullness of time
will this be changed before the wise God who shaped it in the first place
brings to an end his ancient work.
288
He [the phoenix] is accustomed to observe the sun’s
course and to address himself towards God’s candle, the brilliant gem,
and eagerly to watch for when the noblest of stars comes up over the billowy
sea, gleaming from the east, the ancient work of the Father ornately glinting,
god’s radiant token...
120
…so lovely is the bird’s articulation, so inspired
his heart, ecstatically jubilant, he modulates his singing more wondrously,
with clear voice, than ever a son of man heard below the heavens since
the exalted King, Creator of glory, founded the world, the heaven and the
earth. The harmony of the song is sweeter and more beautiful than all musical
instruments and more delightsome than every melody. Not trumpets, nor horns,
nor the sound of the harp, nor the voice of any man on earth, nor the strain
of the organ’s melody nor the wings of the swan, nor any of the joys which
the Lord created for men’s mirth in this mournful world may match that
effusion...
289
145-6 …twelve times by day and by night, he marks
the hours.
148 …seeks out a spacious realm in earth, a dwelling and a domain where no people live.