which I have translated word
for word as follows:

On the fifth day of the moon, which according to the custom of my
forefathers I always kept holy, after having washed myself, and offered
up my morning devotions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdat, in order
to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer. As I was here
airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into profound
contemplation on the vanity of human life; and passing from one thought
to another, surely, said I, man is but a shadow and life a dream. Whilst
I was thus musing, I cast my eyes towards the summit of a rock that was
not far from me, where I discovered one in the habit of a shepherd, with
a musical instrument in his hand. As I looked upon him he applied it to
his lips, and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceeding
sweet, and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inexpressibly
melodious, and altogether different from anything I had ever heard. They
put me in mind of those heavenly airs that are played to the departed
souls of good men upon their first arrival in paradise to wear out the
impressions of their last agonies, and qualify them for the pleasures of
that happy place. My heart melted away in secret raptures.

I had been often told that the rock before me was the haunt of a genius;
and that several had been entertained with music who had passed by it,
but never heard that the musician had before made himself visible. When
he had raised my thoughts by those transporting airs which he played, to
taste the pleasure of his conversation, as I looked upon him like one
astonished, he beckoned to me, and by the waving of his hand directed me
to approach the place where he sat. I drew near with that reverence
which is due to a superior nature: and as my heart was entirely subdued
by the captivating strains I had heard, I fell down at his feet and
wept. The genius smiled upon me with a look of compassion and affability
that familiarized him to my imagination, and at once dispelled all the
fears and apprehensions with which I approached him. He lifted me from
the ground, and taking me by the hand, Mirzah, said he, I have heard
thee in thy soliloquies: follow me.

He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and placed me on the
top of it. Cast thy eyes eastward, said he, and tell me what thou seest.
I see, said I, a huge valley and a prodigious tide of water rolling
through it. The valley that thou seest, said he,