Can he deserve that name, the holy prophet,

The great ambassador of heaven, sent down
To interpret its high will?

⁠Deluded mortals!

How blind ye are, to follow this proud madman,
This happy robber, whom my justice spared,
And raise him from the scaffold to a throne!

My lord, I shudder at your imprecations;

Though I am bound by honor and the ties
Of gratitude to love thee for thy bounties,
This blasphemy against my kind protector
Cancels the bond, and fills my soul with horror.
O superstition, how thy savage power
Deprives at once the best and tenderest hearts
Of their humanity!

⁠Alas! Palmira,

Spite of myself, I feel for thy misfortunes,
Pity thy weakness, and lament thy fate.

You will not grant me then——

⁠I cannot yield thee

To him who has deceived thy easy heart,
To a base tyrant; No: thou art a treasure
Too precious to be parted with, and makest
This hypocrite but more detested.