'
OMAR was struck dumb with astonishment; and HAMET, who was impatient to
be longer mistaken, related all the circumstances of his transformation,
and reminded him of some particulars which could be known only to
themselves: 'Canst thou not yet believe,' said he, 'that I am HAMET?
when thou hast this day seen me banished from my kingdom; when thou hast
now met me a fugitive returning from the desert; and when I learnt from
thee, since the sun was risen which is not yet set, that more than
mortal powers were combined against me.' 'I now believe,' said OMAR,
'that thou, indeed, art HAMET.' 'Stay me not then,' said HAMET; 'but
come with me to revenge.' 'Beware,' said OMAR, 'lest thou endanger the
loss of more than empire and ALMEIDA.' 'If not to revenge,' said HAMET,'
I may at least be permitted to punish.' 'Thy mind,' says OMAR, 'is now
in such a state, that to punish the crimes by which thou hast been
wronged, will dip thee in the guilt of blood. Why else are we forbidden
to take vengeance for ourselves? and why is it reserved as the
prerogative of the Most High? In Him, and in Him alone, it is goodness
guided by wisdom: He approves the means, only as necessary to the end;
He wounds only to heal, and destroys only to save; He has complacence,
not in the evil, but in the good only which it is appointed to produce.
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