@3Al-Bazîr! Oh, Thou Seer! great and small Live in Thy vision, which embraceth all@1. Were it one wasted seed of water-grass, Blown by the wind, or buried in the sand, He seeth and ordaineth if it live; Were it a wild bee questing honey-buds,He seeth if she find, and how she comes On busy winglets to her hollow tree. The seeing of His eyes should not be told, Though all the reeds in all the earth were cut To writing-sticks, and all the seven seas Were seven times multiplied, flowing with ink, And seventy Angels wrote. He beholds all Which was, or is, or will be: yea, with Him Is present vision of five secret things: The Day of Judgment; and the times of rain The child hid in the womb—its quickening, And whether male or female;—what will fall To morrow (as ye know what did befall Yesterday); and where every man shall die. "Where every man shall die." Al Beidhâwi Presenteth how there sate with Solomon A prince of India, and there passed them by Azrael, Angel of Death, on shadowy plumes; With great eyes gazing earnestly, as one Who wonders, gazing. And, because the prince Sate with the king, he saw what the king saw, The Djins and Angels, and saw Azrael Fixing on him those awful searching eyes; "What name, I pray thee, wears yon messenger?" So asked he of the king; and Solomon Made answer, "It is Azrael who calls The souls of men." He seemed," whispered the prince, "To have an errand unto me;—bid now That one among thy demon ministers Waft me, upon the swiftest wing that beats, To India, for I fear him." Solomon Issued command, and a swift Djin sprang forth Bearing the prince aloft, so that he came To Coromandel, ere the fruit—which fell Out of the fig—had touched the marble floor. Thereupon Azrael said to Solomon, "I looked thus earnestly upon the man In wonder, for my Lord spake, 'Take his soul In India.' Yet behold he talked with thee Here in Judaea! Now see! he hath gone There where it was commanded he should die." Then followed Azrael. In that hour the prince Died of a hurt, sitting in India. @3With Thee, Lord, be the time and place, So that we die in Thy dear grace@1. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTEMPLATIONS by ANNE BRADSTREET DEJECTION by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES WRITTEN IN NORTHAMPTON COUNTY ASYLUM by JOHN CLARE RECESSIONAL (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A BALLAD OF LONDON (TO H.W. MASSINGHAM) by RICHARD THOMAS LE GALLIENNE A NICE CORRESPONDENT by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON REQUIEM FOR ONE SLAIN IN BATTLE by GEORGE LUNT |