Upon which, appalled at this loneliness, I
hastened to depart; and, after issuing forth at the gate of the
city, I turned to look upon the place, but it was no longer to be
seen; nothing but the silent desert extended before my eyes.
"In the neighborhood I met with an aged dervise, learned in the
traditions and secrets of the land, and related to him what had
befallen me. 'This,' said he, 'is the far-famed garden of Irem, one of
the wonders of the desert. It only appears at times to some wanderer
like thyself, gladdening him with the sight of towers and palaces
and garden walls overhung with richly-laden fruit-trees, and then
vanishes, leaving nothing but a lonely desert. And this is the story
of it. In old times, when this country was inhabited by the Addites,
King Sheddad, the son of Ad, the great grandson of Noah, founded
here a splendid city. When it was finished, and he saw its grandeur,
his heart was puffed up with pride and arrogance, and he determined to
build a royal palace, with gardens which should rival all related in
the Koran of the celestial paradise. But the curse of heaven fell upon
him for his presumption. He and his subjects were swept from the
earth, and his splendid city, and palace, and gardens, were laid under
a perpetual spell, which hides them from human sight, excepting that
they are seen at intervals, by way of keeping his sin in perpetual
remembrance.
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