As Long As You Are Journeying In The Interior Of The Desert You
Have No Particular Point To Make For As Your Resting-Place.
The
endless sands yield nothing but small stunted shrubs; even these
fail after the first two or three days,
And from that time you pass
over broad plains, you pass over newly-reared hills, you pass
through valleys that the storm of the last week has dug, and the
hills and the valleys are sand, sand, sand, still sand, and only
sand, and sand and sand again. The earth is so samely that your
eyes turn towards heaven - towards heaven, I mean, in the sense of
sky. You look to the sun, for he is your task-master, and by him
you know the measure of the work that you have done, and the
measure of the work that remains for you to do. He comes when you
strike your tent in the early morning, and then, for the first hour
of the day as you move forward on your camel, he stands at your
near side and makes you know that the whole day's toil is before
you; then for a while, and a long while, you see him no more, for
you are veiled and shrouded, and dare not look upon the greatness
of his glory, but you know where he strides overhead by the touch
of his flaming sword. No words are spoken, but your Arabs moan,
your camels sigh, your skin glows, your shoulders ache, and for
sights you see the pattern and the web of the silk that veils your
eyes and the glare of the outer light.
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