Persia

ἤρξατο δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον, ὡς λέγεται, ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας τῆς ὑπὲρ Αἰγύπτου, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἐς Αἴγυπτον καὶ Λιβύην κατέβη καὶ ἐς τὴν βασιλέως γῆν τὴν πολλήν.

It began, people say, in Ethiopia, beyond Egypt. From there it spread down into Egypt and Libya and across most of the Persian Empire.

τὰ μὲν οὖν ἀμφὶ τῷ λοιμῷ ἔν τε τῇ ἄλλῃ Ῥωμαίων γῇ καὶ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ταύτῃ πη ἔσχεν. ἐπέσκηψε δὲ καὶ ἐς τὴν Περσῶν γῆν καὶ ἐς βαρβάρους τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας.

That, roughly, is how things went with the plague in the rest of the Roman land and in Byzantium. But it also struck the Persians' land, and all the other barbarians.

فمنها: اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد وسلم ونجنا بجاهه من طغيان الطاعون وسلم الطاعون روع وأمات وابتدأ خبره من الظلمات فواها له من زائر من خمس عشرة سنة دائر ما صين عنه الصين ولا منع منه حصن حصين سل هنديا في الهند واشتد على السند وقبض بكفيه وشبك على بلاد أزبك وكم قصم من ظهر فيما وراء النهر، ثم ارتفع ونجم وهجم على العجم وأوسع الخطا إلى أرض الخطا وقرم القرم ورمى الروم بجمر مضطرم وجر الجرائر إلى قبرص والجزائر ثم قهر خلقا بالقاهرة وتنبهت عينه لمصر فأذاهم بالساهرة وأسكن حركة الإسكندرية فعمل شغل الفقراء مع الحريرية.

From the essay: O God, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace. Through his favor with You, save us from the tyranny of the plague, and keep us safe. The plague brought terror and death. Its story began in the Land of Darkness. Alas for this visitor, making its rounds for fifteen years! China was not shielded from it, and the strongest fortress could not keep it out. It drew its Indian blade in India, and it pressed hard on Sind. It seized the lands of Uzbek with both hands and locked its fingers around them. How many backs it broke in Transoxiana! Then it rose up, came into view, and fell on the Persians. It stretched its stride as far as Cathay. It gnawed at the Crimea and pelted the Rum with blazing coals. It dragged its crimes to Cyprus and the islands. Then it conquered people in Cairo. Its eye woke up to Egypt, and it struck them down on the plain of the Last Day. It stilled the bustle of Alexandria, and there it did the work of the Sufi poor among the Hariri brethren.

Cette tente de pacha somptueux était meublée de fauteuils et de divans, faits avec des sacs de chameau, les uns coupés de losanges bariolés, les autres plantés de roses naïves. La Turquie, l'Arabie, la Perse, les Indes étaient là. On avait vidé les palais, dévalisé les mosquées et les bazars. L'or fauve dominait, dans l'effacement des tapis anciens, dont les teintes fanées gardaient une chaleur sombre, un fondu de fournaise éteinte, d'une belle couleur cuite de vieux maître. Et des visions d'Orient flottaient sous le luxe de cet art barbare, au milieu de l'odeur forte que les vieilles laines avaient gardée du pays de la vermine et du soleil.

This tent for a rich pasha was furnished with armchairs and divans made from camel bags. Some had brightly colored diamonds; others were sprinkled with simple roses. Turkey, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies were all there. Palaces had been emptied, mosques and bazaars plundered. Tawny gold was the main color in the faded old carpets. Their worn tints kept a dark warmth, like a furnace gone out, the fine baked color of an old master's painting. And visions of the Orient floated in the luxury of this barbaric art, amid the strong smell the old wool still kept of the land of vermin and sun.