Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said
“What writest thou?”—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still, and said “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.
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This here is a poem I adopted from a friend, the poet Dr. Ekwuazi. Amazing. May our names be written when the angel brings that list. Amen.
It is a long time since I heard this poem, but I recognised it immediately.
It is lovely and I am delighted to read it here and become re-acquainted with it.
Thank you for sharing.
May I link this on my blog?
Pat, sorry I didn’t get back earlier. Sure, you can!
Thanks for the comment. This poem really speaks to me. Amazing how some of these words connect us all, yea?
Come to think of it, I haven’t really seen your poetry.
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one of my favourite poems for years
I would say ‘Welcome to the club’ but noting as it is now, I would only say ‘Well, we belong to like favs.’ It really is an inspiring poem… Would keep loving it…