DANIEL CHAPTER 1 - 3

THE BOOK OF DANIEL

The scholars are sure that the book
Of Daniel was writ in the nook
Of one-sixty-seven before Christ
To one-sixty-four in a trice
In answer to the challenges
Of Antioch Epiphanes,
Who ravaged city and God’s house,
Fearsome to humankind and mouse.
The theory that Antiochus
Is the little horn with a fuss
In chapter seven is as old
As Josephus’s writing bold,
Who was close enough to the game
To still bear the brunt and the shame
Of the shock. But this theory now
Relies on the assumption’s prow
That Daniel is a fiction and
Could not have written in the stand
Of the sixth century things that came
To pass later than his life’s claim.
Denial of prophetic gift
And Antiochus are in drift
Together and they do not rift.

Traditional view is the book
Was written when it claims in brook.
The problem with this view is just
That it requires prophetic thrust,
Ability, God-given or not,
To see beforetime earthly plot.
Most prophecy is so unclear
That it can be dismissed by ear,
But Daniel takes it to a notch
Above the general in crotch,
Detailed and sweeping, it remains
The target of doubt in the drains.

My own view is that prophecy,
Prediction of the future sea,
Is possible without recourse
To supernatural perforce.
Astute and careful sight of facts
May well inform of how one acts
And what governments and kings might
Do next week given what’s in sight.
Just as historian of art
Can tell two artists’ work apart,
While those who do not know the style
May miss the guess by half a mile,
So too an informed man may trust
His guess of what may hit the dust.
The future is related to
The past by cause and effect due,
Or by the structure of events.
It does not take God’s hand in tents,
Though He may well show His presence.

The critics’ attacks on the book
Have fallen one by one to look,
Until the main one that is left
Is who was Darius bereft,
The Mede. That’s hardly enough now
To damn the book with crease of brow.
It seems now Aramaic that
Garnishes the book is as fat
As what we might expect to find
In the sixth century when not blind.
The kingship of Belshazzar has
Been adequately brought to jazz.
There are no serious blocks today
To origins of early sway,
With the exception that prediction
Is too detailed for the affliction
Of doubters who wrongly think they
Must admit the divine in sway
If they admit an early date.
Let everyone choose his own mate.

Natural prediction’s limited
To events and trends in the bid
That can be linked to things observed.
The arbitrary must be swerved,
Such as names of a future king.
Daniel is able thus to sing
At a certain point what will come
To Babylon and what will hum
In Medo-Persia. He is able
To predict the next power on table,
The Grecian one. But he is not
Able to give a name to plot
Of powers to follow it. This is
An argument in favour’s fizz
For my theory of astute guessing
At the future as a confessing
Of the prophetic utterance.
Of course those who favour the dance
Under Antiochus will note
The danger of stating in quote
The names of living rulers as
Evidence against my clear jazz.
Having thrown a sop to the quaint
Views of academic and saint,
My own view is a mystic ride,
Without regard to where the tide
And when. I merely would abide.
As long as the book has in time
Been held canonical in clime,
And may be read in function of
The Decalogue, my own first love,
It is acceptable to me,
And I will read it faithfully.

Apocalyptic thought that runs
Among law-keepers on their buns,
The folk who celebrate the day
Of Sabbath in obedience’ sway,
Goes back to Mill Yard in London,
In the sixteen hundreds for fun,
Where John James preached Fifth Monarchy
Influenced by Sabbetai Zvi.
The German Baptist Sabbath-keepers
Were parallel but later reapers.
Yet Isaac Newton was a man
Who greatly influenced the scan.
William Miller American
Followed his footprints for a span.

The Millerite faiths that succeed
In numbers to which we give heed,
The Seventh-day Adventists and
Jehovah’s Witnesses in band,
Show that historicistic thought
Is seminal for modern drought.
Prediction does not disturb me
In my views that are scholarly,
Since I do not expect the way
Of science to explain the ray
Of all of earth’s reality.
Therefore perceived naïveté
In such faiths strikes me as fancy
Of bias only on a spree.

Adam Clarke was the source who stood
Informing Uriah Smith’s wood,
The one I think who keeps the stall
Of the historicist in call
Better than any other met.
Like Newton he sees beyond threat
Of all the evil in the world
The fault of Roman come uncurled
To find the Ottoman displayed
In Daniel eleven’s parade.
I would go further than those two
And see that false Islamic crew
Even more widely come to view.
One thus escapes Reformers’ bias
Raising an ugly head to try us.
I come to this conclusion by
Applying Smith’s principled try
With more consistency than he,
And so more hope of truth to see.
His principles are that the text
Is to be understood perplexed
In sequence chronological,
And all the figures in their stall
Are well identified in thrall
By territory in land’s call.
He applies this consistently
To define the Kings faithfully
Of burgeoned North and cunning South.
But he fails to keep his own mouth
On both accounts when he comes to
Daniel eleven twenty-two.

With arbitrary count he breaks
The time sequence there when he takes
Verse 23 and jumps back two
Hundred years and to misconstrue.
Retaining Smith’s two rules of thumb,
Time sequence and the land for drum,
The meaning of the figures late
Shifts away from the Papal State
To local rulers of the land
Of Palestine, that is, the band
Of Islamic establishment,
In palace or Bedouin tent.
While implications in terms of
Smith’s overall view come to shove
Are immense, it is all based on
This one small inference here drawn.

My application of some features
To Musulman state in its bleachers,
In contradistinction before
The house of Muhammad in score,
Upon whom be peace, is my own,
But hardly unique to the bone,
As other readers have researched
That line more thoroughly and perched.
Isaac Newton, of all time greatest
Of historicist thought not latest,
Is credited to have first seen
Prophetic cycles in the lean
Chapters of Daniel and John.
In fact, I think it can be drawn
That Hypolitus also thought
In terms of cycles in the plot.
But Newton also treats at least
The end of Daniel eleven’s feast
As Ottoman Turkey for beast.
And Smith agrees. To extend this
Islamic emphasis in bliss
Back over all four visions there
As well as chapter twelve in share
Is logical consistency.
It’s by comparison made free
With eight: twenty and twenty-one
The empires of Medo-Persian
And Grecia can be surimposed
On Daniel’s image head and toesed.
By the same token on the basis
Of Daniel eleven in oasis,
The feet of iron and clay, the horn
Of chapter seven and forlorn
The other horn of chapter eight
We can with sure logic equate
With the Kings of the North and South
Respectively as Sunnite mouth
After verse 30 by its date.

So head of gold of Daniel two
Is the winged lion set and true
Of Daniel seven, and we know
That to be Babylon in show.
The chest of silver in the rate
Of Daniel two finds its own mate
In the bear of Daniel seven and
In ram of Daniel eight to stand.
These are the kings of Persia set
In Daniel eleven: two met.
The thighs of brass in Daniel two
Are the same kingdom to be true
As the winged leopard that flies out
Of Daniel seven, and no doubt
The he-goat of chapter eight too,
Grecia called mighty king in view
In Daniel eleven: three,
Predicting Alexander’s spree.
The legs of iron in Daniel two
Are the same kingdom spied and true
As the great beast of Daniel seven,
And to follow structures for heaven,
It must be the four horns that rate
Attention in Daniel eight.
Such are then the four winds that blow
Out of Daniel eleven four:
The Ptolemies and Seleucids
And Roman intervention’s bids.
The feet of iron and clay appear
In Daniel two and do not fear
To be a little horn at last
In Daniel seven’s horrid blast,
Another little horn to rise
In Daniel 8, three in one guise
To stand in Daniel eleven five
And after as the Kings alive
Of the North and the South to strive,
After Ptolemies and their gnomes
And Seleucids, armies of Rome’s,
And then the Sunnite regencies
Down to Ottoman tyrannies.
The stone that was cut without hands
In Daniel two a kingdom stands
Of the Messiah true and strong.
In Daniel seven come along
It’s kingdom of the Son of Man,
In Daniel eight the cleansing of
The Sanctuary set above,
And finally in Daniel twelve
Michael standing up with axe helve:
All these are one and the same here,
The guiding hope from dark and fear.


The first three kingdoms are defined
By name in Daniel two resigned
In verse thirty-eight and to spare
In chapter eight and everywhere
In verses twenty-one and two
As Babylon, and then the crew
Of Medo-Persia, Grecia too,
And so these are beyond dispute,
Unless one reverts to the toot
That Media and Persia must be
Divided into separate quais,
Assuming second-century writer
Did not know history like a blighter,
And so made the pseudepigraph
Not knowing they were joint for staff.

The disagreement only comes
After this section in the hums
Of the historicists. The late
Ones of eighteenth century for fate
Tended to find the Vatican
Throughout these ages in their span,
But Isaac Newton saw at end
Of Daniel eleven the bend
Of the Ottomans as the King
Of the North, and so Smith on wing.

I think that Rome or any power
Outside the Middle East an hour
Is questionable as a choice
Because of territory’s voice,
Despite intrusion of Crusades
Into Jerusalem for spades,
Anomaly hardly surprising
If Daniel was a man surmising.
That’s all for centuries twelve and after.
Rome is significant for laughter
Only in meddling in affairs
Of Seleucids and the bug-bears
Of Ptolemies and finally
Ruling for after century,
But not for Pontiff at the stake
Of Vatican or in his wake.
At least by century for the east
Of the empire was led to feast
By the north-south dichotomy
In itself, as theology
Went and as in connection with
Jerusalem and not a myth.
In sum that continued until
Sunnite invasion of the hill,
Which has remained in place until
The final period that comes at
Beginning of Daniel 12 flat.

While one may still be impressed by
Detailed intuition or sigh
Of divine knowledge of the man,
It is not necessary plan
To exclude one interpretation
For another as only station,
As long as it accounts for what
The prophet writes and writes in glut.
The types of stress and tension found
Between the secular or round
Pagan powers and commandment-keepers
Are just about the same for bleepers
In every time and place on earth.
The prophecy contains in berth
Configuration of oppression,
Political and psycho session,
Descent and the survival that
Ultimately ought to bespat
Governments and rulers abounding
Who impinge on the conscience sounding
Of those who uphold law of God.
Not only are the papacy
And Sunnite empires full and free
Contenders for Little Horn Prize,
So is each other power in guise
In any part of the world wise
In any age, that fosters laws
Of set religion giving claws.

The meaningful is not that such
Detail in prophecy may touch
Vicissitudes of power that set
In Palestine for centuries met.
What’s meaningful is that the case
Of sensitive approach in base
To the reality in time
In the sixth century and clime
Produced in prophecy also
A systematic faith to go.
As one’s inclined here to accept
Aesthetic judgement of adept
Art critic in regard to paint,
One might be inclined as a saint
To take the faith values that rise
From Daniel’s visions to the skies.
A man who could predict the course
Of events over the divorce
Of two millennia and more
Is worth the trouble on the score
In matters spiritual in store.

The major verdicts of the man
Are as follows and show the ban
That’s typical of those who live
Under regimes that fail to give
Glory to God of Torah’s sieve.
First is avoidance of flesh food
That is unclean by death or brood.
So Daniel one shows that the way
To eat is vegetarian hay
When kosher food is not around.
The second is participation
In secular or pagan nation
Does not include participation
In idol worship for a ration,
And Daniel two and three make clear.
When holy temple was not near,
Prayer in prostration towards the place
Three times a day is divine grace
As Daniel six, verse ten can trace.
So the faith under false regime
Contains three points as it would seem:
Avoidance of the impure and
Idolatry and daily stand
Of prayer no matter what’s at hand.


Other values too come to view:
Practice of dream-finding that’s true,
The awareness that God is due
To control earthly events too
Despite illusion of the power
Come down in empires built in tower.
Belief that God will punish sin
Underlies everything in bin,
Though perhaps not now, but in time
Of final judgement for each crime.

Beside the visions and the values,
The book contains some other dahlias:
The question of chronology.
I’ve already shown that the tree
Is broken by Smith in the verse
Twenty-three of eleven’s curse.
The implication is that all
The visionary cycles’ call
Is ordered in sequence to fall
From the time of the vision’s stake
To consummation in its wake.
But there are sequences that need
Fitting together in their speed
In chapters eight and nine and twelve.


In sequence of chapter eight and
Nine, I accept Uriah’s stand
Without comment or some correction.
After Antiochus’ rejection
As irrelevant to the book,
There is no reason now to look
For fault with the historicist
Position of Smith in the fist
Of timing of these chapters’ brook.

The time sequence of Daniel eight
Begins in verse fourteen to state:
And he told me, “Unto the length
Of two thousand three hundred’s strength
Of evenings and mornings, then shall
Be put right the holy corral.”
Two questions stay without reply
In Daniel eight without a sigh.
When does this era come to start,
And how is it reckoned in part,
As literal days or indeed
As years prophetic writ in seed?
The only stated time to start
Is in the next chapter to show
When start the seventy weeks to go.
That is the going forth at last
Of the decreed to rebuild fast
Jerusalem and God’s house row.
Accepting the day for a year
And Adventist time-line in gear
For Daniel eight and nine falls well
As follows in the running spell.

Year four five seven sees the start
Of the decree to build the cart
Of the city, plus seven weeks
To four oh eight when finished cheeks
Of the walls rose, plus sixty-two
Weeks to year twenty-seven’s view
Of common era when the great
Messiah got anointed state,
Plus one-half week to thirty-one
When he was cut off by the gun
Of Rome, and one-half week to add
Up to thirty-four, when the glad
Covenant consummation had,
And then the line is drawn up to
The end of two thousand in view
And three hundred years to begin
Cleansing sanctuary from sin.

Time prophecies in Daniel twelve
Are stated to begin to shelve
When the abomination of
Desolation is set to shove
Jerusalem. Here Smith relates
That the establishment in rates
Of Papacy between the years
Five oh eight and thirty-eight years
The time begins as in arrears.
Add to that twelve hundred and sixty
Years (time and times and at last mixty
The half of time) and you come to
Seventeen ninety-eight in view
With falling of the papal crew
And start of the end time in view.
To take Smith’s principle to heart,
That territory plays a part,
I would see the fulfilment stay
In Palestine and not the way
Of France or Rome, either in sway.
Furthermore Smith’s view leaves the day
Of twelve ninety as well as ray
Of thirteen thirty-five to stray
In limbo. First of all, the year
Five oh eight itself to appear
Is calculated counting back
From seventeen ninety-eight slack,
A questionable way to say
The least. This arbitrary point
Of departure makes out of joint
Smith’s view of the twelve ninety and
Thirteen thirty-five days to stand.

But if we take the desolation
In Daniel eleven in station
To refer to incursions brought
On the city when Sunnites sought
To conquer it, then we are taught
Several dates after Romans fought
In the first century in plot.
The invasion by Omar came
In six three four, the battle flame
Of Yarmuk in six three six and
The capture of the town to stand
Two years later in thirty-eight.
But then Omar did not create
Cessation of the daily nor
Set up abomination’s store.
Abdul Malik completed it
By making Jerusalem sit
As seat of the caliphate and
By building the dome of the rock
On the temple mount there to stand
In six nine one right on the clock.
All time sequences in the last
Chapter of Daniel come to blast
Off as a day for a year in
Predictions that start with the din
In six three four and end at last
In eighteen ninety-four and cast
To nineteen twenty-four and yet
Up to nineteen sixty-nine’s set.
Or then they start in ninety-one
And end in nineteen fifty-one,
And eighty-one and at the last
In twenty-twenty-six aghast.

Other important dates that came,
Such as Crusader kingdom’s fame
In ten nine nine are quite ignored
Simply because such kings adored
Did not change the state of the town,
Under which the reign settled down
With the abomination there,
After the capture of the fair.
The dates of fifty-one and more,
Eighty-one may start a new score.

The last of these dates has not come,
But annexation of the sum
Of east Jerusalem set off
Influx of Sunnite men to scoff
Into the city in that year
From Jordan and Arab lands’ fear.
Furthermore in eighty the rule
Of Israel gave out a spool
Declaring the town united
And capital of the land bid,
And implemented the next year.
Forty-five years later we trust
To see the end of vision’s burst,
An opportunity to set
The divine kingdom not yet met
Up in the town that Daniel knew
Was the seat of the divine due.
The choice remains in human view.

I would not see so far in time
That Daniel’s prophecy’s a crime
Determined on the day and year.
Rather, I see the chance in fear
To turn then, now or after and
Begin to keep the Lord’s command.

No doubt that Smith and Newton are
Far brighter lights than I in star,
And my interpretation’s set
In poverty of knowledge met.
But prophecies may sometimes be
Understood in new ways in fee,
As God appeals to human hearts
Today to make their righteous starts.
And so whether right or wrong I
Return to appeal to the sky
That all men should come to obey
The law of Daniel’s kingdom’s sway,
The divine rule restored on high.

DANIEL 1

1 In the third year of the king’s reign,
Jehoiakim king of Judah,
Nebuchadnezzar crossed the plain,
The king of Babylon and law
Came to Jerusalem, lay siege.
2 And the Lord gave the king, His liege,
Judah’s Jehoiakim in hand,
And from the house of Ælohim
Vessels he carried to the land
Of Shinar to his god’s esteem
And placed in his god’s house’s treasure.
3 The king told Ashpenaz his pleasure,
The master of his eunuchs, bring
Of Israel’s folk, sons of the king
And of the nobles, 4 young men who
Had no blemish, good-looking, true
In all wisdom, possessing fact
And quick to understand, and act
With able service in the court
Of the king, and whom with resort
They might teach Chaldee tongue and law.
5 And the king set them plethora
Of daily fare, delicacies
Royal and wine from his own ease,
And three years training after which
They might serve the king without hitch.
6 Now from among those Judah’s sons
Were Daniel, first among the ones
Who arrived there with Hananiah,
And Mishael, and Azariah.
7 To them the chief eunuch gave names:
He named Daniel Belteshazzar,
And to the others equal claims,
To Hananiah, Shadrach, and
To Mishael, Meshach as planned,
To Azariah, Abed-Nego,
Which didn’t do much for his ego.

Though I am not a son of nobleman,
At least not in recent clan history,
Nor given stipend by the king who can
Open the doors of Babylon for me,
I still find that my years pass in the dire
Regions ruled by spilt blood and kindled fire,
And like the four youths sent to far-off land,
I find the pork and wine on table stand.
A game or two attaches to my name
And titles, may You not see them for blame,
Beloved, who in the midst of fame and feast
Rejoice to find myself with You the least.
Keep me, Beloved, within the worldly court
Beneath the silks and jewels a humble sort.

8 But Daniel purposed in his heart
He’d not defile himself with part
Of the king’s delicacies, nor
With the wine which he drank, therefore
He asked the chief eunuch that he
Might not defile himself on plea.
9 Now Ælohim had brought Daniel
Into the chief’s grace and goodwill
10 The chief eunuch said to Daniel,
“I fear my lord the king, whose will
Appointed your food and drink. Why
Should he see your faces far cry
From other young men of your age?
Then you would bring my pilgrimage
Before the king to early end.”
11 So Daniel told the steward whom
The chief of eunuchs put in room
Over Daniel, Hananiah,
And Mishael, and Azariah,
12 “Please test your servants for ten days,
And let them give us lentil stew
To eat and water to drink too.
13 “Let our appearance then appraise
Compared with their appearance who
Eat from the king’s delicacies,
And as you see fit, with us do.”

Let me, Beloved, make purpose in my heart
As Daniel did to leave the worldly part
And take Your sustenance and wealth alone
Despite my veils of blood and flesh and bone.
No help is in the wine of heady power,
But water is refreshment of my hour.
No help is in the costly condiment
Of wealth and education that is sent
By worldly church and worldly government.
Let me, Beloved, make purpose firm and true
In what I say, and what I think and do
To take no sign nor other discernment
Except the better sign that comes from You.
Let me give up the borrowed and the lent.

14 So he answered their entreaties
To test them ten days in the matter.
15 After ten days they’d faces fatter
And better than all the young men
Who ate the king’s fare, pork and hen.
16 So the steward took away their
Portion of delicacies’ fare
And the wine that they were to drink,
And gave them lentil soup, just think.

That anyone should find himself the fatter
Will not gain favour, Beloved, to Your matter
In these days and this clime where fashion says
That unisex alone finds any praise,
And men must be beardless and women hipless,
Or be cast on the beach for once and shipless.
The story lacks reality, I think,
Since now we know who eat fat-back and drink
Corn liquor get their weight from that clear brew,
While eating lentil soup’s the thing to do
For losing weight. This is my last conclusion:
This story’s miracle or else confusion.
I take, Beloved, Your miracles as mine
And wallow in their glory as divine.

17 As for these four young men, God gave
Them knowledge and skill, although slave,
In all writing and wisdom, and
Daniel understood out of hand
All visions and dreams. 18 Now at end
Of the days, at the dividend,
When the king had said they should be
Brought in, the chief of eunuchs brought
Them in before the king to see
Nebuchadnezzar had them taught.
19 Then the king interviewed them, and
Among them all in his command
None was found like Daniel, his friend
Hananiah, Mishael, and end
With Azariah, therefore they
Served before the king from that day.
20 In all matters of wisdom and
Understanding which by command
The king examined them, he found
Them ten times better all around
Than all the magicians and those
Astrologers who came to pose
In all his realm. 21 So Daniel stayed
Until King Cyrus’ first year greyed.

Four men of knowledge represent the gates
Into the city where true knowledge waits.
“God is my judge” opens both law and seeing
The mystic future to which all are fleeing.
“YHWH has been gracious” opens the first text
Of bright Qur’an in gate of love’s pretext.
“Who is like God?” expresses best of all
The gate of Your awareness, where by call
The human heart perceives all things as You
See from Your high and universal view.
The fourth gate in row is that “YHWH has helped”
As far as where the howling dervish yelped.
Beloved, I join hands with the holy four
Whose messages still dance before Your door.

DANIEL 2

1 It happened in the second year
Now of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign,
Nebuchadnezzar had dreams’ fear,
And his spirit troubled amain
So that his sleep left him awake.
2 Then the king gave for command’s sake
To call the magicians his way,
Astrologers by night and day,
The sorcerers to have their say,
And Chaldeans saying what seems
To tell the wakeful king his dreams.
They came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said to them this thing,
“I’ve had a dream, and spirit fails
To know the dream and what it hails.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke aloud
To the king in a fragrant cloud
Of Aramaic, “O king, live
Forever! Tell now positive
To your servants the dream, and we
Will give the meaning for a fee.”

Such soothsayers and psychoanalysts
As then and now pretend to clarify
The depths of human mind and dream and mists
Always demand the victim justify
The specialists’ raison d’être by stating
The problem first in terms the clever can
Twist into meaning in their re-relating.
The king is right to lay them under ban.
Beloved, I see no portents in my dream
Nor prophecy beyond the things that seem,
And yet the message of Your truth is set
Before me in each thing around me met:
Creator mirrored in the universe,
One and alone divine in prose and purse.

5 The king answered and said to them,
The Chaldeans, “Don’t haw and hem,
My decision is firm: if you
Do not make known the dream for true
To me, and its meaning, you shall
Be cut in pieces cubical,
And your houses shall be made heap
Of ash. 6 “However, if you keep
To tell the dream and its meaning,
You shall receive from me a string
Of gifts, rewards, and great honour.
Therefore tell me the dream and her
Interpretation.” 7 They answer
Again and say, “Let the king tell
His servants of the dream, and well
Shall we give its interpretation.”
8 The king answered with this citation,
“I know for certain that you would
Gain time, because you see my good
Decision. 9 “If you do not make
Known the dream to me, for your sake
Just one decree for you! For you
Have agreed to speak what’s untrue,
Lying and corrupt words to me
Till the time has changed, so be free
To tell me the dream, and I shall
Know that you can give me its sal
And meaning.” 10 The Chaldeans said
In answer to the king as led,
“There’s not a man on earth who can
Tell the king’s matter, so no man
No king, no lord, or ruler asked
Such things of any one unmasked
Magician or astrologer,
Or Chaldean or to confer.

Exploiters bow at last and then confess
That all they do is hear and smile and guess,
But truth is not the terrain of a man,
And only You know anything or can.
Exploiters bow at last to save their lives,
And if it were not so that they had hives
They would not bend and plead for information.
They would be satisfied with their paid station.
Beloved, send more kings on the earth to make
The claims the elegance shown to the stake.
Give sense to those who fear and fawn before
Physicians and psychiatrists in score
And analysts of money and of state.
Send such kings soon, and may they not be late.

11 “It is a difficult thing that
The king requests, and there’s none at
The trick to tell it to the king
Except the gods, and whose dwelling
Is not with flesh.” 12 For this reason
The king was angry under sun
And filled with fury, gave command
To destroy all those in the land
Of Babylon, and all its wise.
13 So the decree went out by spies,
And they began killing the wise,
And they sought Daniel and his friends,
To kill them all and bring their ends.

The king Nebuchadnezzar found them out,
Both psychoanalyst and Jungian
He stands against the wall, victims of doubt.
It is pretence for any ranging man
To claim to sound the depths of soul and mind.
And so the king enlightened goes to find
Interpreters of dreams to kill them all.
Kings make a better world at beck and call.
Astrologer and psychic here today,
Who follow the same charts and foolish way,
Are not worse than the sacred scientist
Who gives psychology a novel twist.
Beloved, except for killing and the pall,
I praise Nebuchadnezzar most of all.

14 Then with counsel and wisdom he,
Daniel said to Arioch, see,
The captain of the king’s guard, who
Had gone out to kill all and few
Of the wise men of Babylon,
15 He answered and said to the son,
To Arioch the king’s captain, “Why
Is the decree from king so spry?”
Then Arioch made decision known
To Daniel. 16 So Daniel when shown
Went in and asked the king to give
Him time, that he might go and live
And tell the king interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went with supplication
To his house, and made the decree
Known to Hananiah to be,
And Mishael, and Azariah,
All his companions, not pariah,
18 That they might seek mercies from God,
Allah of heaven for this sod
And secret, so that Daniel and
His friends might not perish in band
With the wise of Babylon’s land.
19 Then the secret was revealed to
Daniel in a night vision’s clue.
So Daniel blessed Allah of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said at seven,
“Blessed be the name of Allah now
And ever, for this dream in brow,
For its wisdom and might are His.
21 And He changes the time that is,
And the seasons, He removes kings
And raises up kings, He gives things
Of wisdom to the wise and knowing
To those with understanding going.
22 He reveals deep and secret things,
He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with His name to bless.
23 “I thank You and praise You, Allah
Of my ancestors held in awe,
You have lent me wisdom and might,
And have made known to me the right
Thing that we asked of You, for You
Have made known to us with this clue
The king’s demand and what to do.”

The secrets of the human soul and yet
The politics that move the world to bet
Are all found in Your mercy and Your word
That moves the praying soul, leaves not unstirred.
By blessing the name of the Ælohim
I penetrate the veils of things that seem
And find the secret of the kingly dream.
I lay hold on that wisdom and that might
That makes the dervish retire from the sight
Of those who wield the sceptre, and alone
I thank You, my Beloved, not made of stone,
That You set up the kingdoms on the throne
And bring them down together to the night.
I quietly look on the woeful sight.

24 So Daniel went to Arioch,
Whom the king had appointed stock
To kill the wise of Babylon.
He went and said to him at dawn,
“Don’t kill the wise of Babylon,
Take me before the king, and I
Will tell the king and not belie.”
25 Then Arioch quickly brought in
Daniel before the king within,
And said to him, “I’ve found a man
Of Judah’s captives, one who can
Make known the meaning to the king.”
26 The king answered and said this thing
To Daniel, named Belteshazzar,
“Are you able to be a star
To make known to me the dream which
I have seen, and its meaning’s pitch?”
27 Daniel answered before the king,
And said, “The secret which the king
Has demanded, the wise men, and
Astrologers, magicians planned,
And the soothsayers cannot tell
Before the king. 28 “But there’s One well,
Allah who is in heaven to dwell,
Who can reveal each secret spell,
He has made known to you the King
Nebuchadnezzar what shall bring
The latter days. Your dream, and your
Visions of your head on the score
Of your bed, were these: 29 “As for you,
O king, thoughts came to you while you
Were on your bed, about what would
Come to pass after these things should,
And He who reveals secrets made
Known to you what will be displayed.
30 “But as for me, this secret’s not
Been given to me because I’ve got
More wisdom than anyone living,
But for our sakes who have been giving
Interpretation to the king,
And that you may know everything
Of the thoughts in your heart that spring.

Rare thing it is that seeing, knowing men
Should be brought to the palace once again.
Rare thing it is a king seeks Your divine
Word and the secret of the slightly wine.
The king is far beyond nobility
Of any ruler since Rome sought to be.
The best a ruler in these days can do
Is seek astrologer, magician’s view.
Beloved, the statesmanship the world once knew
Has gone the way of all flesh like the dew.
The visions on their beds are vain things too,
Not the great themes Nebuchadnezzar drew.
Daniel himself is humble in his mind
That he bears no secrets to humankind.

31 “You, O king, were watching, indeed,
A great image! Great to exceed
This great image, whose splendour was
Excellent, stood before your cause,
And its form was awesome indeed.
32 “This image’s head was fine gold,
Its chest and arms of silver cold,
Its belly and thighs bronze made bold,
33 “Its legs of iron, its feet in part
Of iron and part of clay in art.
34 “You watched while a stone was cut out
Without hands, and which struck about
The image on its feet of hard
Iron and clay, shattered to shard.
35 “The iron, the clay, the bronze, and yet
The silver, and the gold were met
And crushed together, and became
Like chaff from summer threshing frame,
The wind bore them away so that
No trace was found where they had sat.
The stone that struck the image came
To be a great mountain, its name
Filled the whole earth with its great fame.
36 “This is the dream, now we shall tell
Its meaning to the king and well.
37 “You, O king, are a king of kings.
For Allah of heaven and all things
Has given you a kingdom, power,
Strength, and glory, 38 “and for an hour
Wherever the children of men
Live, or the beasts of field again
And the birds of the heaven, He
Has given them into your hand,
And made you ruler in the land
Over them all: this head of gold
Is you. 39 “But after you are told
Shall rise another kingdom less
In power to yours, and then a guess,
A third kingdom of bronze appears,
Which shall rule on all earth with tears.
40 “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong
As iron, as iron breaks all before
In pieces, shatters every store,
And like iron that crushes, that king
Will break in pieces everything
And crush all others in the wing.

Four kingdoms of the ancient world appear
Before Nebuchadnezzar’s eyes in fear:
The golden kingdom Babylon meets fate
Degeneration in the Persian state,
When Mede and Persian take the silver throne.
A king of bronze, Alexander alone
Followed the Persian idol, till he met
Disintegration at his generals’ threat.
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and kings
Of north and south are waiting in the wings.
Your kingdom, my Beloved, is mountain set
From stone that crushes all into the fret.
The world of history has found reflection
In the prophetic sentence’s election.

41 “Whereas you saw the feet and toes,
Partly of potter’s clay that rose
And partly of iron, that king shall
Divided be, yet decimal
The strength of iron shall be in it,
Just as you saw the iron fit
And mix with clay. 42 “And as the toes
Of the feet were partly as grows
Of iron and partly of the clay,
So the kingdom in part shall sway
In strength and partly fragile be.
43 “As you saw iron mixedly
With clay, they will mingle with seed
Of men, but they will not succeed
Adhering to each other’s way,
Just as iron does not mix with clay.

Divided was the land left by the great
Alexander indeed to meet its fate
In four reduced to two, though iron legs,
Depending once on Rome and its tent-pegs,
Divided north and south, the city store
Of Alexandria and iron legs before
And Damascus the ancient where awaits
The northern king of far and scattered states.
Beloved, the pleasant land, the favoured land
Comes always down beneath an iron hand,
And yet the seat of Your throne that’s not seen
By human eye arises bright and keen
Within the heart that turns in faith to You,
In faith indeed, because You have no view.

44 “And in the days of these kings will
Allah of heaven set up His hill,
Kingdom never to be destroyed,
The kingdom shall not be deployed
Unto another people void,
It shall break in pieces, consume
All these kingdoms, and bring their doom
To stand forever in their room.
45 “Inasmuch as you saw that stone
Was cut out of mountain alone
Without hands, and that it broke up
In pieces iron, the bronze, the cup
Of clay, the silver, and the gold
The great Allah now here has told
The king what will come to pass soon.
The dream is certain, and its boon
Interpretation sure as noon.”

In the days of the kings of iron and clay
Shall You, Beloved, set up eternal sway.
Indeed I’ve seen the echoes of that realm
Where reigns a thousand years one at the helm
Invisible behind each church and state.
I hear the ripples of both love and hate,
And know that one invisible retains
The levers and the steering and the reins.
Beloved, the Master of the Age may be
Hidden from sight, and yet he faithfully
Appeared in the days of those fabled kings.
The hope of truth and justice still appears
Behind the tabled watches of the years
With peace the perfume of its beating wings.

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell
Upon his face, prostrate a spell
Before Daniel, commanded that
They should present where Daniel sat
An offering and incense to him.
47 The king answered Daniel, said grim,
“Your Allah is Allah of gods,
The Lord of kings, breaker of pods
And a revealer of secrets,
Since you could tell where secret sets.”
48 Then the king promoted Daniel
And gave many great gifts and swell,
And he made him ruler of all
The province of Babylon’s hall,
And chief administrator over
All the wise of Babylon’s trover.
49 Also Daniel petitioned king,
He set Shadrach over a thing,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego on
Affairs of province Babylon,
But Daniel sat within the gate
Of the king, and sat there in state.

Revealing of the secret things to come
By Daniel made his future, a thing rum,
At court, and so he found a place to stand
For his friends too, nepotism is grand.
The king would offer incense to the man
As though he were a god. Such things in scan
Predict a razor walk among the men
Who shuffle in the court for power again.
A better reward might have been a place
Of safety, a small cottage with a trace
Of spring water, and amply every week
The bread and lentils that our bodies seek.
Beloved, I pity Daniel for the wise
Things You revealed to him down from the skies.

DANIEL 3

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made
An image of gold, when displayed
Its height was sixty cubits and
Its width six cubits on the land.
He set it up in Dura plain,
In Babylon’s province amain.

Before I judge the king for pride to make
An image all of gold for the mistake
Of the dream’s image with its metals base
That cut off Babylon without a trace,
Let me remember that the dream’s account
Gave the king room to change the saddle’s mount.
The magic act of turning all to gold
Is just what such a king would do once told
He should fall to another and less fair
As silver is to gold upon the air.
A wise thing the king did in affirmation
Of his eternity on earthly station.
Beloved, we men are wise in what we do,
Although our motives spoil us in the pew.

Sweet Christian reads the word along with Jew
And thinks the king of Babylon would do
Rebellion and rejection of the dream
That he had in warning from Ælohim.
But surely what he did in building craft
Of golden image was not something daft,
But was consistent with what he had learned.
He went about to fix with what he earned
The coming in catastrophe and weight.
He believed You, Beloved, and in Your great
Vision, and so he acted for the State.
He made an image magic to replace
Foul change with some stability in place,
And so gave glory to Your honoured face.

2 And King Nebuchadnezzar sent
To gather the satraps absent,
Administrators, and the rest
Of governors, and of the best
Of councillors, the treasurers,
The judges, magistrates in furs,
And all the provinces’ officials,
To assist at the grand solsticials
Of dedication for the idol
Which King Neb not tyrannicidal
Had set up. 3 So the satraps, and
Administrators of the land,
The governors, the councillors,
The treasurers, judges of course,
The magistrates, and all officials
Of all the provinces’ judicials
Gathered together dedicating
The image King Neb was instating,
And they stood there before the clone
Image, Nebuchadnezzar’s own.
4 Then a herald cried out aloud
“To you it is commanded, crowd,
And peoples, nations, and all speeches,
5 “That at the time you hear the breaches
Of horn, and flute, and harp, and lyre,
And psaltery, all sound in choir
With every kind of music heard,
You shall fall down and by my word
Worship the gold image that King
Nebuchadnezzar’s set to swing,
6 “And whoever does not fall down
And worship shall be cast by crown
Forthwith into a fiery furnace
Able in midst to kill and burn us.”

Any who should refuse to fall in faith
Before the image would be but a wraith,
The enemy of the eternal state.
Affirming the reign was the duty taught
To all the courtiers in every plot.
The purpose was not worship of a god
Of gold set as an idol on the sod,
The purpose was a magic act to make
Of none effect the ominous intake
Of the portentous dream of the poor king.
The symphony, the sounding of the ring
Was there to force the issue with a thing
Of music that should make all men fall down.
Such music’s not heard now in any town.

7 So at that time, when all the people
Heard the sound peeling from the steeple
Of horn, flute, harp, and of the lyre,
All kinds of music in a choir,
Then all the people, nations, and
Languages fell down in a band
And prostrated before the gold
Image set up by the king bold
Nebuchadnezzar his name told.

Most ancient use of the word symphony
That I know was written for all to see
How music can be used to unify
The dregs and rulers of society
And force behaviours without thought or eye,
But overwhelming commands from the sky
In echoes drawn from the symphonic heights,
Binaural tones sweeping the masses by.
Music cares naught for any human rights,
Cares naught for analytic thought, nor sights
In intuition, but straightly imposes
Emotions and motives within what chose us
To do the will of king. Beloved, let Your
Music alone batter down my heart’s door.

8 Therefore at that time certain ones
Of the Chaldeans came with guns
Forward and accused the Jews’ sons.
9 They spoke and they said unto King
Nebuchadnezzar of the thing,
“O king, forever live! 10 “And you,
O king, have made a law to do
That everyone who hears the sound
Of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and round
The psaltery, all sing in choir
With all kinds of music in fire,
Shall fall down and worship the gold
Image, 11 “and whoever’s so bold
As not to fall down and worship
Shall be cast into the midship
Of burning fiery furnace strip.
12 “There are certain Jews whom you’ve set
Over affairs of province met
In Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach,
And Abed-Nego, these men lack,
O king, their due regard for you.
They do not serve your gods on cue
Or worship the gold image you
Have set up.” 13 Then in rage and fury
Nebuchadnezzar gave in hurry
The command to bring Shadrach and
Meshach, and Abed-Nego’s band.
So they brought these men to the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke a thing
Saying to them, “Is truly so,
Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego,
That you do not serve my gods or
Worship the gold image before
Which I have set up? 15 “Now if you
Are ready when you hear the cue
Of horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery,
All sound in choir in symphony
With all kinds of music, and you
Fall down and worship idol I
Have made, then that will satisfy.
But if you do not worship, you
Shall be cast forthwith and adieu
Into the midst of fiery furnace
Which is able in flame to burn us.
And who is Allah who’ll save you
From my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach too,
Abed-Nego answered and said
To the king to whom they were led,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we’ve no
Need to answer you in this show.
17 “If that's the case, our Allah whom
We serve is able to raise doom
Delivering us from burning fire
Of furnace, and He will desire
To save us from your hand, O king.
18 “But if not, may you know a thing,
O king, that we don’t serve your gods,
Nor will we worship golden clods
Of image which you have set up,
So we’re ready to drink the cup.”

The orchestra and rock band that employed
To make the people bow and overjoyed
Meant nothing to the three who chose to stand
While all the others in that wicked land
Bowed down to save the state. Note doing so
Immediately implies idolic show,
And who supports the everlasting state
Straight off worships the idols of the great.
Beloved, I see the lack of power in will
Around me where the rock-beats come to chill
The strategy of every human heart.
I see, and I chose now to do my part
In grasping human choice above the mill:
Beloved, I choose not to worship them still.

19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full
Of fury, and his face gave pull
In changed expression towards the men
Shadrach, Meshach, and then again
Abed-Nego. He spoke and said
That they should heat the furnace fed
Seven times more than it was wont.
20 And he commanded with a taunt
Certain mighty men of valour
Who were in his army to floor
Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego,
And cast them in the fire to go
Into the burning fiery kiln.
21 Then these men were bound in their frill
Coats, their trousers, their turbans, and
Their other clothes, and cast in hand
Into the middle of the fire
Burning in the furnace with ire.
22 Therefore, because the king’s command
Was urgent, and the furnace band
Exceeding hot, the flame of fire
Killed those men who took up in quire
Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego.

See the four gates of music when it comes
To support power and greed, the hope in sums
To live eternally and spread one’s power
Beyond the living of the single hour.
The first is falling prostrate at the sound,
The second is cunning complaint that round
About there stand a few who choose to be
Instead of submitting to the flow’s spree.
The third is rage of ruler dancing well
To the beats of the drummers come from hell.
The fourth is destruction in the great blaze
That rock music heats in its fatal craze.
Beloved, I choose to hear Your voice alone
In slender melodies where Psalms atone.

23 And these three men, who were called so,
Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego,
Fell down still bound into the fire
Burning in the furnace with ire.

AZARIAH

1 And they walked about in the flames,
Singing hymns of praise to the names
Of Ælohim and blessing YHWH.
2 Then Azariah stood to do
Offering this prayer, in the fire
He opened his mouth in desire
And said: 3 “Blessèd are You, O YHWH
Ælohim of our fathers, You
Are worthy of praise, and Your name
Is gloried for ever the same.

As I enter fire-gate in search of You,
Beloved, who are closer than heart vein, shrew
Me that I search when You are nearer than
The places of my searching journeyman.
The cool flames burn about me in desire
To find what is not lost in hidden fire
Or in the dark caves of my heart and sense.
I bow myself to the obedience
Of knowing the Unknowable and True,
Reciting the praise of Your names wherein
You live and have Your being for Your kin.
You live upon a moving tongue and moist
Amidst the raging fires snapping and voiced,
Accept, Beloved, the praises that I hoist.

4 For You are just in all that You
Have done to us, and all your works
Are true and your ways right, and lurks
In all your judgments only truth.
5 You have executed, forsooth
True judgments in all You have brought
Upon us and Jerusalem,
The holy city and the gem
Of our fathers and what they sought,
For in truth and justice You’ve brought
All this upon us for our sins.
6 For we in sin and lawlessness
Departed from You, and address
In all this disobedient
Against the commandments You’ve sent.
7 We’ve not observed them or done them,
As You’ve commanded us in hem
That it might go well with us here.
8 So all that You have brought on us,
And all that You have done to us,
You have done in true judgement’s muss.
9 You have given us in the hands
Of lawless enemies in bands,
Most hateful rebels, and unto
An unjust king, the worst in view
In all the world. 10 And now we stay
With mouths shut and in shame’s disgrace
Fallen on Your worshippers’ race.
11 For your name’s sake do not give us
Up altogether, disastrous,
And do not break your covenant,
12 And do not take your mercy’s cant
From us, for sake of Abraham
Your beloved and for sake of lamb
Isaac Your servant and Israel
Your holy one, 13 to whom You spell
The promise to make their spawn great
As many as stars in the sky,
And as the sand on the shore by
The sea. 14 O Lord, we've become few,
Less than any nation in crew,
And are brought low this day in all
The world because of sins in thrall.
15 And at this time there is no prince,
Or prophet, or leader to wince,
No burnt offering, or sacrifice,
Or oblation, or incense, and
No place to make an offering stand
Before You or to find mercy.
16 Yet with a contrite heart to see,
A humble spirit may we be
Accepted, as though it were by
Burnt offerings of rams and bulls nigh,
And with tens of thousands of fat lambs,
17 Such may our sacrifice of hams
Be in Your eyes today, and may
We wholly follow you today,
For there will be no shame for those
Who trust in You. 18 And now we chose
With all our heart to follow You,
We fear you and seek You too.
19 Do not put us to shame, but deal
With us so in Your mercy’s weal,
And in abundant grace to feel.
20 Save us by Your miracles’ power,
And give Your name glory in hour,
O YHWH! Let all who do harm to
Your servants be put to shame’s view,
21 Let them be disgraced and deprived
Of all power and its strength derived,
And let their rule be broken down.
22 And let them know that You are YHWH,
The only Ælohim and true,
Glorious over all the earth.”
23 Now the king’s servants who had thrown
Them in did not cease on their own
To feed the furnace fires with such
Naphtha, and pitch, and tow, and brush.
24 And the flame streamed out above it
To forty-nine cubits arm-lengths to sit,
25 And it broke through and burned those fit
Of the Chaldeans whom it caught
About the furnace in the lot.
26 But YHWH’s angel came down into
The furnace to be with the crew
Of Azariah and his friends,
And drove the fiery flame in bends
Out of the furnace, 27 and made it
Like damp wind to whistle a bit,
So that the fire did not touch them
At all or hurt or trouble them.
28 Then the three of them, with one voice,
Praised, glorified and blessed by choice
Ælohim in the furnace, saying:
29 “Blessed are You, YHWH, to whom we’re praying,
And our ancestors’ Ælohim,
And to be praised with high esteem
For ever, 30 And blessed is Your name
Of glory and of holy fame,
To be highly praised and on high
Exalted for ever and aye,
31 Blessed are You in the temple of
Your holy glory and above
To be extolled and glorified
For ever. 32 Blessed are You beside,
Who upon the cherubim ride
And look upon the deeps, to be
Exalted everlastingly.
33 Blessèd are You upon the throne
Of Your kingdom to be alone
Extolled and honoured without ceasing.
34 Blessed are You in the firmament
Of heaven and to be sung increasing
And glorified to full extent.
35 “Bless YHWH, all works of YHWH, sing praise
To Him exalted days and days.
36 Bless YHWH, you heavens, sing praise to Him.
37 Bless YHWH, you angels of YHWH, sing
Praise to Him and exalt His ring
For ever. 38 Bless YHWH, waters all
Above the sky, sing praise and call
To Him and exalt him for all.
39 Bless YHWH, all powers, sing praise to Him
And glorify Him to the rim
Of space and time. 40 Bless YHWH, sun, moon,
Praise Him and raise Him high and soon
Throughout eternity in boon.
41 Bless YHWH, stars of sky, and sing
Praise to Him and lift up His wing
For ever. 42 Bless YHWH, rain and dew,
Sing praise to Him and raise His view
For ever and for ever too.
43 Bless YHWH, all winds, sing praise to Him
And lift His glory to the dim
Reaches of eternity’s rim.
44 Bless YHWH, both fire and heat, sing praise
To Him and for ever to raise.
45 Bless YHWH, winter cold and heat
Of summer, sing praise to His seat
Exalting Him to all time meet.
46 Bless YHWH, dews and snows, sing His praise
For ever exalting His ways.
47 Bless YHWH too, both the nights and days,
Sing praise to him and highly raise
His glory to the end of days.
48 Bless YHWH, the light and darkness too,
Sing praise to him with all the crew
Of height and depth beyond time’s view.
49 Bless YHWH, ice and cold, sing His praise,
Exalt Him to the end of days.
50 Bless YHWH, frosts and snows, sing His praise,
Lift for ever His gloried stays.
51 Bless YHWH, lightnings and clouds, and sing
Praise to Him with exalted wing
For ever. 52 Let the earth bless YHWH,
Let it sing praise to Him as due
And highly exalt Him in view.
53 Bless YHWH, mountains and hills, sing praise
To him and highly glory raise
To Him for ever. 54 Bless YHWH, all
Things that grow on the earth, and call
Praise to Him and above the wall
Extend His plain above time’s stall.
55 Bless YHWH, you springs, sing praise to Him
Exalt Him for ever with vim.
56 Bless YHWH, seas and rivers, sing praise
To him for ever glories raise.
57 Bless YHWH, you whales and every beast
That moves in the waters increased,
Sing praise to Him, exalt His name
Above all time and every claim.
58 Bless YHWH, all the fowl of the air,
Sing praise, exalt Him everywhere.
59 Bless YHWH, all beasts and all the cattle,
Sing praise to him, above the battle
Sound His glory for ever too.
60 Bless YHWH, you sons of men, sing praise
To Him and high above the rays
Of the sun for ever fame raise.
61 Bless YHWH, O Israel, sing praise
To Him, exalt Him days and days.
62 Bless YHWH, you priests of YHWH, and sing
Praise to Him for ever on wing.
63 Bless YHWH, you servants of YHWH, sing
Praise to Him and lift up His spring
For ever above everything.
64 Bless YHWH, spirits and souls of Those
Who are righteous in rows on rows,
Sing praise to him, highly exalt
For ever His name without fault.
65 Bless YHWH, you who are holy and
Humble in heart, sing praise in band
To Him and lift Him high to stand
For ever and on every hand.
66 Bless YHWH, both Hananiah, and
Azariah at Mishael’s hand,
Sing praise to Him in righteous band
For ever, for He’s rescued us
From Hades and saved from the fuss
Of death’s power and delivered us
From the midst of the burning muss
Of fiery furnace, from the fire
He has delivered us in choir.
67 Give thanks to YHWH, for He is good,
His mercy lasts as long as could.
68 Bless Him, all who worship YHWH, too,
The Ælohim of gods in crew,
Sing praise to him and give thanks to
Him, for His mercy ever true.”

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was
Astonished, and he rose as does
In haste and spoke, saying to his
Counsellors, “Did we not, that is,
Cast three men bound into the fire?”
They said answering his desire
And said to the king, “True, O king.”
25 “Look!” he answered, “I see a thing,
Four men loose, walking in the fire,
And they are not hurt, and the face
Of the fourth’s like Allah's son's trace.”

Who make the central issue of their faith
To be the Son of God instead of wraith
Ought to consider that the first time this
Term was used in the Scripture was amiss,
Invented by the king of Babylon
Is it the faith of Babylon from dawn
Of that heathenish system till the time
When sons of God from every land and clime
Shall once appear to bow before Your throne
Acknowledging that You are God alone?
Your Decalogue, the single sermon You
Spoke in the hearing of all in the pew,
And wrote with Your own finger, that is true,
And is my faith, not gods that sons atone.

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar took pace
Near the mouth of the burning sod
Of fiery furnace, spoke a go,
“Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego,
Servants of Most High Allah, show,
Come out, and come here .” Then Shadrach,
Meshach, Abed-Nego no slack
Came from the midst of the hot fire.
27 And the satraps come to inquire,
Administrators, governors,
And all of the king’s councillors
Gathered together, and they saw
These men on whose bodies the claw
Of fire had no power, and the hair
Of their head was not singed though bare,
Nor were their garments affected,
No smell of fire upon them hid.

The smell of smoke and hell-fire blows across
The sacrificial floor of slave and boss
Who sway before binaural beat and crash
Come out to slay truth with its gutful slash.
The masses are unhooked from reason’s help
To join the hellish phantoms and their whelp.
But I alone if need be stand above
The flames of devil’s incense and his love
To cantillate Your names alone that fly
In secret and in sweetness from the sky.
Beloved, the sounds that thunder and reply
To other hearts leave mine cold on the sly.
Instead I warm my soul on Scriptures sent
To be sung with tongue, mind and heart and meant.

28 Nebuchadnezzar saying then
Spoke, “Blessed be Allah of these men
Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego,
Who sent His Angel here to show
Deliverance to His servants
Who trusted in Him, and had sense
To frustrate the king’s word, and yield
Their bodies, that they have not kneeled
To serve nor worship any god
Except their own Allah by rod!
29 “Therefore I make decree that no
People, nation, or language stow
Shall speak a thing amiss to show
Against the God of Shadrach and
Meshach, and last Abed-Nego
But shall be cut in pieces, and
Their houses made an ash heap, since
There is no other god to wince
Who can deliver like this Prince.”
30 Then the king promoted upon
Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-Nego
In the province of Babylon
Because of their fantastic show.

If the great golden image was attempt
At magic to avert catastrophe
Upon the kingdom by some folk unkempt,
Then what was done there by the faithful three
Was no more or less than subversion spent
Upon the State of Babylon, and meant
That magic failed because three stood instead
Of bowing down hand, body, foot and head.
Beloved, if those three had bowed down to fate,
Obeying the great king come soon and late,
Would not fair Babylon have stood as state
Till end of time, and till the consummate?
Rightly the rulers flay the heretic,
Rightly they come, accuse and make it stick.

See, my Beloved, the first thing that the king
Decrees as soon as he is shot in wing
Acknowledging that You are One alone:
He forces men and minds that should atone
For his own errors in sceptre and throne.
The use of force, the will to kill, is found
Wherever Your commandments’ faithful sound
Is buried in the trash of stealth and state,
Is set aside for entertainment late
Upon the stage of drum and groan for fate.
Beloved, we need no kings to force Your will,
We need no force at all to foot the bill,
But only the adherence of all men
To the commands in promise from Your den.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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