Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1852-03-06
Hassan the Wise.

Hassan Ben Omar threw himself prostrat
upon the ground, outside of the walls of Bas
sora, and tore his hair with rage In thre
years Of riot and luxury, he had dissipated tn
wealth which he had inherited from the Goo,
Omar, his father. His houses, his VINEYARDS
his olive yards, were all gone; and now h
would be compelled to seek employmentas
camcI-driver, or beg of those who had feaste,
sumptuously upon his extravaganza.
lie cursed his unhappy fate; reproached Al
| lab; blasphemed the Prophet; charged his
friends with ingrattude, and called loudI,
upon death to release him from his misery.
His old servants approached, and triaH to
comfort him;-but he drove them away with
abuse and blows; and dashed himself again
upon the earth
Fora long time he lay, moaning and weeping
at length voice sounded in his ears
"LIsten. Hassan Ben Omar. Allah intends
thee good."-Hassan raised his head, and his
eyes rested upon venerable dervish, who was
calmly contemplating his grief
"Begone, old man." he cried, eff thou can'st
not work miracle for my relief "Listen, re-
piled the deryish, 'the prophet has sent me to
serve thee; what would'st thou have!"
"Give me my possessions again! my vine
yards; my fields and my gold'' "And what
would it avail thee" said the old man, eff
were to do this? when they were thine, thou
| had st not the wisdom to keep them; in three
years thou wouldst be as wretched as now.
But attend, Hassan Ben Omar reform thy life,
govern thy PASSIONS moderate thy desires!
hate the wine-cup labor for thy bread eat only
when thou art hungry, and sleep when thou
art weary! Do these things for one year, and
thou shalt be monarch of mighty king
dom.''
A mist darkened the eyes of Hassan; when it
be seen.
Hassan invoked the aid of Allah, and rose
from the ground with light heart He join
ed a caravan which set out for the desert the
next day. He began to rise early, and to labor
with diligence. A cup of water and few
dates formed his simple meal; and at night he
lay down by the side Of his camels, and enjoy
ed sweeter repose than he had ever known be-
fore. If his anger was excited, or if he was
tempted to give the reign to any passion, the
form of the dervish seemed to rise before him,
with a mild rebuke on his lips, and his heart
was Gained. Thus, for year, he lived frll-
gal and patient life-following to the letter the
eXhortation Of the dervish-. At the end
OF the time, he was again at the same place be-
fore the walls of Barsora. He prostrated him.
self upon the earth, and cried out snow, Allah!
fulfil thy PROMISE Suddenly he heard the
voice as before. "Hassan Ben Omar! thou hast
done well, and thy reward is with thee. Be-
hold! thy kingdom is thysey-I have taught
thee to rule it. Be wise and happy"
Hassan looked'in vain for the speaker: no one
was near-He pondered deeply upon these
things, and finally resolved to continue as he
had begun.
Thus he lived many years, gradually becom-
ing more prosperous, but firmly retaining his
frugal and industrious habits--until he became
richer than the Good Omar, his father-and all
men called him Hassan the WISE