PSALM CHAPTER 53 - 62

PSALM 53

1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath or flute, Maschil, of David.
The fool has said in his own heart,
“No God, la ilaha” to start.
They are corrupt and they have done
Abominations under sun.
There’s none that does good, no, not one.
2 Ælohim looked down from the sky
Upon men’s offspring and to spy
If there were some of understanding
Who did seek Ælohim’s commanding.
3 Everyone of them has turned back,
They’re altogether filthy slack,
There is not one under the sun
Who does good, no, not even one.
4 Who work iniquity, have they
No knowledge? Who eat up like prey
My people as they eat their bread,
They’ve not called upon God as led.
5 Without cause they are in great fear,
For Ælohim has scattered near
And far the bones of him that came
Against you, You have put to shame
Such ones, because then Ælohim
Despised them as well as their scheme.
6 What shall make from the fortress come
Israel’s salvation? When Ælohim
Returns captivity to drum
His people, Jacob then shall gleam
With joy and Israel be gladsome.

The crowd pretending to follow Paul in
Avowing that all men are caught in sin
By quoting the Psalm when they cannot win,
By classing themselves with the ones the prophet
Says are iniquitous and ones You scoff at,
Place themselves outside the group that he sees
You call “My people” in Your truth and ease.
Such people think that by the death of Christ
Iniquity’s forgiven, death sufficed.
But there’s no saving of that crowd at all,
But only of Your people in the stall.
Beloved, if I have choice at all to make,
I move away from pseudo-Pauline wake,
And join Your people scattered by the rake.

Identifying fools by the great text
Of David is something that leaves perplexed.
They are the ones who say there is no God,
And sin outright in pride upon the sod.
It may refer to Muslims in the pod,
Who start with la ilaha under rod,
Or it may be such Christians that deny
That there is one God by the thing they try
In making three of one upon the sly.
Denying Your law both of them seem vexed.
I turn to You, Beloved, as though one hexed
And take no name but Yours upon my head,
No crown but Yours, no nourishment when fed,
No drink but well of Kauthar where I’m led.

PSALM 54

1 To the chief musician upon
Neginoth, a maschil and psalm
Of David when the Ziphim came
And said to Saul as if to blame,
“With us does David hide for shame?”
Save me, Ælohim, by Your name,
And judge me by Your strength the same.
2 Ælohim, hear my prayer, and give
Ear to my mouth’s words, I may live.
3 For strangers do rise against me,
And violent men seek my free
Soul, they have not set Ælohim
Before them waking or in dream.
4 See, God’s my helper, and my Lord
With them I keep my soul from sword.
5 He’ll recompense my foes with woe,
And cut them off in Your truth’s glow.
6 I’ll freely sacrifice to You,
I’ll praise Your name indeed, O YHWH,
For that is a good thing to do.
7 For He’s saved me from all my woe,
My eye has seen it on my foe.

I have not fled the foe as David did
When he went into Ziph and there he hid.
He may have trusted men or may have not.
We humans are constrained to stay in plot
Of land in space and time, we cannot go
At speed of light to find another show.
So David may have been in that town with
A mind not to believe the traitor’s myth.
You saved him from the secret plot and sent
Him back into the wilderness and spent.
Beloved, I too live outside the town’s pale,
Though no one seeks my life to whip my tail,
And breathe the fragrance of the wilderness,
And leave the happy world to strive and guess.

PSALM 55

1 To the chief musician upon
Neginoth, a maschil and psalm
Of David. Give ear to my prayer,
O Ælohim, and hide nowhere
From my supplication in air.
2 Attend to me and hear me too,
I mourn in my complaint and do
Make noisy moaning, 3 for the cue
Of enemy to me, and for
The wicked one’s oppressing sore,
For they accuse me of such sin,
Angrily hating me. 4 Within
My heart is pain, and terrors black
Of death have fallen on my back.
5 A fear and shaking come on me,
And horror has overwhelmed me.

David who fled before the enemy,
And Jeremiah in the cistern wee,
The ones who would not bow, the children three,
Christ in the garden turning from the cup,
The thirsty band of Husseyn like a tup,
All cantillated in this vein to You,
Beloved, to see what You had come to do.
Some saw Your great salvation come in view,
Some died with words of faith upon their lips,
But all of them took the source in small sips
That waits in great droughts for the Sabbath day
When You shall put all things under Your sway
And justice fill the earth in awesome ray.
My prayers are done. I wait with hands on hips.

6 So I said “Oh that I had wings
Like a dove! Then I’d flee from stings
And be at rest. 7 See I would go
Into the desert where I’d stay.
8 And I’d quickly make my escape
From boisterous storm and tempest’s nape.

If I had wings like a dove I would fly
Above the watered earth and by and by
Pluck off an olive leaf beneath the sky
And bring it to the prophet where he hides
Within the ark of safety and abides.
I’d pluck an olive leaf with joyful cry.
If I had wings like a dove I would go
Down on the dripping head, I’d not be slow
To bring the light and lift of God above
Upon the Christ in signal of Your love.
Instead I creep upon the desert wave,
Flash flooding from my temporary grave,
To rise in life and breath where angel sings
Before Your face, Beloved, if I had wings.

9 Destroy, my Lord, divide their tongues,
For I’ve seen violence in rungs
And struggle in the city there.
10 Both day and night they go about
Upon the walls of it and stout,
Mischief is there too and the grief
Brought in its midst without relief.
11 It’s wickedness down to the core,
Deceit and guile depart no more
Out of her streets kept in their store.
12 For it was not an enemy
That came raving to reproach me,
Then I could have borne it, and not
One that hated me who has got
Up to greatly challenge me, then
I would have hidden in a den.
13 But it was you, my equal and
My guide and mate at my right hand.
14 We took sweet counsel each with each,
In Ælohim’s house came to teach.

The nearest human being is the one
Who causes greatest pain when life is done,
Unless one gets caught in the holocaust
Now refined since tri-racial cause is lost
And Jews have disappeared under the sun
Of European skies. (The loss is great.
The Turk has replaced them in German hate.)
But to avoid the pierced heart and the hand
It’s best to avoid churches and their band,
And even synagogues can be cold places
And mosques too where men fall down on their faces.
Beloved, I take sweet counsel now with You,
And sometimes even have to turn on cue
And flee from You to find Your smile in view.

15 Let death seize on them, let them go
Down quickly into hell below,
For wickedness is where they stay
And with them always every way.
16 Myself, I’ll cry to Ælohim
And YHWH shall save me from the dream.
17 Evening and morning and at noon
Will I pray and cry out loud soon,
And He shall hear my voice aboon.

The first prayer of the day arrives at evening
When sun has set. The soul full of believing
Returns to prostrate toward Your holy room.
Its lights are dim for all its sweet perfume.
At dawn before the sun comes up the next
Prayer of the day greets every soul unvexed
And odourless, yet pearly bright with light.
Noon wanes and all rush to the right and sight
To lay the last prayers ever comes the night.
Three times of prayer contain them all or might.
The incense of my breath sweet with Your names
Accumulates in full stops and inflames
The rising to love’s labours in the air
Until the calls of prayer sound everywhere.

18 He’s saved my soul in Islam from
The battle that’s against me come,
For there were many in my sum.
19 El God shall hear and worry them,
Even Huu that stays from old stem,
They have no change and they do not
Hold Ælohim in fear for plot.
20 Such a one has stretched out his hands
Against those who in peace commands
Were with him, and he’s broken pact.
21 His mouth’s smoother than butter sacked,
But war’s in his heart, his words soft
Like oil, yet they were swords aloft.
22 Just cast your load of care on YHWH
And He shall surely sustain you,
Nor let the righteous move from view.
23 But You, O Ælohim, shall bring
Them down into the pit of sting,
Bloody deceitful man shall not
Live out half their days in the plot,
But I shall trust in You a lot.

Islam is not a sect’s monopoly
Among the world faiths in their poverty,
But rather that peace that accords with You,
No matter what identity is true,
Or where a man may live and bow in pew.
I rush into Islam, Beloved, and find
Submission to Your will is of the kind
That frees me from the need to seek a pope
Or sect or establishment as a rope.
Beloved, You save me by Islam indeed,
When I see in Your law that I am freed
From human sacrifices and the creed
That would bend mind to myth in majesty
Of priestly hopes and scopes eternally.

PSALM 56

1 To the chief musician upon
The Silent Dove Distant from Dawn,
Michtam of David when the wrath
Of Philistines took him in Gath.
Have mercy, Ælohim, on me,
For man would swallow me, and he
Fights daily and oppresses me.
2 My enemies would come daily
To swallow up, for they’re many
That come to battle against me,
O You most High eternally.
3 The day I fear, I’ll trust in Thee.
4 In Ælohim I’ll praise His word,
In Ælohim I undeterred
Put my trust, I’ll not be afraid,
What can flesh do to my blockade?
5 Each day they wrest my words, all their
Thoughts for me bring their evil share.
6 They gather themselves in one place,
They hide themselves, they mark my trace,
When they wait for my soul’s disgrace.

Some wrest my words on purpose, others sink
Beneath the verbiage failing to make link,
Yet there are some who get it right first time,
Despite the twists of rhythmic lines in rhyme.
But none have been so busy wresting words
As those who feast on Your Scriptures like birds.
Beloved, save me from such sins that appear
Not only in the docket as sincere
But wrench Your loving heart with pain to see
How many would scorch You and then run free.
If one or two hide looking for my trace
And hoping to make me a stumbling place,
The thousands of religious leaders here
Run You through with their sermons and their gear.

7 Shall they escape by strategy
Of evil? In wrath thrown down the
Evil people, O Ælohim.
8 You count the places where I dream,
You save my tears in Your closed flask,
Are they not in Your book, I ask?
9 When I recite the psalm, my foes
Shall turn back, what to me it shows
Is that Ælohim’s on His toes.
10 In Ælohim I’ll praise His word,
In YHWH indeed I’ll praise His word.
11 In Ælohim I’ve put my trust,
I’ll not be afraid of what must
Man try to do to me with dust.
12 The vows of Your praise are on me,
O Ælohim, and I shall be
Here to render praises to Thee.
13 For You have saved my soul from death,
My feet from falling, that with breath
I may walk before Ælohim,
In light of living in His stream.

I walk before You, my Beloved, and see
The autumn hand upon the fern and tree
That mark the path up hill and down for me
As four times in the day I seek the free
Air of the woods alone, in company
Of bird and beast, of angel on the wing,
Of You invisibly who stop to sing.
I walk before You, my Beloved, and hear
The footfall of the frost come to appear
Before the dawn, and where his steps severe
Mark in dark lines the fallen leaf and sheer
I make my way past turns and then I steer
My own steps back towards my yellow house,
Homely and bright, and safe from squirrel and mouse.

PSALM 57

1 To the chief Musician, the tune
Do Not Destroy, michtam to croon
Of David, when he fled from Saul
In the cave. Oh be merciful
To me, O Ælohim, and be
Merciful to me for my soul
Trusts You, indeed, I make my goal
The shadow of Your wings to flee
Until is past calamity.
2 I’ll cry to Ælohim most high,
To Ælohim who works for me.
3 And he will send down from the sky
Salvation from reproach on me
By him that would swallow me up.
Ælohim shall send out His cup
Of mercy and truth constantly.
4 My soul is in the lions’ den,
I lie among them kindled then
With fire, even the sons of men,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows, and
Their tongue is a sharp sword in hand.
5 Be You exalted, Ælohim,
Above the heavens, and let beam
Your glory above all the earth.
6 They have prepared a trap in mirth
For my steps, my soul is bowed down,
They’ve dug a pit for me, and yet,
They themselves fell into the net.
7 My heart’s steadfast, O Ælohim,
My heart’s steadfast and I esteem
My song and praise to You supreme.
8 Awake, my glory, and awake
Psaltery and harp, I will awake
The dawn. 9 I will praise You, O Lord,
Among the people, I will sing
To You among the nations’ ring.
10 For Your mercy’s great to the sky,
Your truth up to the clouds on high.
11 Then be exalted, Ælohim,
Above the heavens, and let gleam
Your glory above all the earth.

The pit that they have dug to take my soul
Is simply the cathedral on the dole.
Established faiths are out to get a crowd
And take them captive where they’re not allowed.
My temple is the dome of sky above,
My temenos the angle of Your love,
My tabernacle is the living voice
Of Psalms in cantillation by the choice
Harp of my David king. So I rejoice.
Beloved, I see the hunters fallen in
Their own pit dug with malice and with sin
And covered with the crooning of false faith
And love pretended, fatal breath of wraith,
The pagan gods rising up from the bin.

PSALM 58

1 To the chief musician, to tune
Do Not Destroy, michtam to croon
Of David. Do you indeed speak
Righteously, O assembly weak,
Do you judge right, O sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart you work wickedness,
Weigh violence of your hands’ guess
Upon the earth on hill and fen.
3 The wicked all have gone astray
Even from birth, who will relay
Lies from seeing the light of day.
4 Their poison’s like poison of asp,
Like the deaf adder closes hasp
Of her ear, 5 not to hear the voice
Of charmers, charming of their choice.
6 So break their teeth, O Ælohim,
In their mouth, break out the extreme
Great teeth of the young lions, YHWH.
7 Let them melt away as the flow
Of waters running on the go,
When he bends to shoot arrows, let
Them be as cut in pieces yet.
8 As a snail melting, let them pass,
The untimely birth of the mass
Of a woman from the sun’s brass.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns,
He’ll take them away as with horns
Of whirlwind, as living as wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he
Sees the vengeance, and then shall he
Wash his feet in the wicked’s blood.
11 So that a man gone down that path
Shall say “Surely there is a cud
To reward the righteous, truly
He is a God that judges earth
Before the day has given birth.”

In California when a young man I
Was camping in the woods with classmates by
The mammoth redwood trees where on the ground
Crawl giant yellow slugs, be they renowned.
A boy poured salt on one, I saw it melt
Away like dew, curled up with what it felt.
Beloved, pour salt upon the tempter here
That would bring me in bondage with my gear
To church and synagogue, the mosquely fear,
And let the tempter melt away before
The salty truth poured out upon his sore.
I do rejoice to see the vengeance fall
Upon the teachers of false faith and call,
And flee to You alone in hearth and stall.

PSALM 59

1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith (destroy not), Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.
Save me from foes, my Ælohim,
Set me above the rising stream.
2 Save me from evil doers and
Save me from the bloody men’s hand.
3 For here they set an ambush for
My life, the strong gather by score
Against me, not because I’ve done
Any wrong or sin under sun,
O YHWH. 4 They run and set themselves
Though I have no fault on my shelves,
Wake to help me and see what’s done.
5 Then You, YHWH Ælohim of hosts,
The Ælohim of Israel’s boasts,
Rise up to punish all the folk,
Have no mercy on wicked bloke.
6 They come back at evening to bark
Like a dog round the city dark.
7 See they sound with their mouth, and swords
Are in their lips, for who in hordes
Hears what they do for their rewards?
8 But you, YHWH, laugh at them to scorn,
You’ll put down all the heathen born.

The dervish dog escapes, Beloved, to find
That other dogs surround the good and kind.
The many words of Psalmist in the bind
That call down curses on the dined and wined
Are just short-hand upon the path entwined.
Let’s not crab for semantics on the lot.
A curse may be a blessing when it’s caught.
The ones who fear the evil energy
And grapple with fair words and make a plea
That opposition creates false relief
Are simply dealing with the love of grief.
Let me curse, my Beloved, when it is well,
With tender blessing too when time to quell.
All things have their time, though the hour is brief.

9 By his might! I shall wait for You,
For Ælohim’s my defence due.
10 My Ælohim of mercy comes
To my encounter, and the sums
On my foes Ælohim makes see.
11 Do not kill them, lest it should be
My folk forget, scatter them by
Your power, and bring down from the sky,
Who are our shield, O Adonai.
12 The sin of their mouth and the words
Of there lips cast them in the turds
Of their pride, and for curse and lie
That they go speaking by and by.
13 Consume in wrath, consume so they
Are not, and let them know the way
That Ælohim holds Jacob’s sway
Unto the ends of the earth’s way.
14 And at evening let them return,
Let them bark like a dog and learn
To wander round what cities spurn.
15 Let them go up and down for meat,
Howling unfilled and without treat.
16 While I shall praise and sing Your power,
Sing loud of Your mercy the hour
Of morning, for You’ve been my shield
And refuge in troubled day’s field.
17 To You, my strength, now I shall sing,
For Ælohim’s my shield and wing,
The God of my mercy to bring.

The ranging curs about the town come soon
To chase the smell of flesh and gain a boon.
Though I’m a dog beside the mosquely gate,
And lie unfilled with goods of bloody rate,
I’m satisfied with treats beyond the moon.
My mouth is filled with praises of Your name,
I howl Huu on the silences and flame
Of night beneath the stars in rapid game.
Beloved, the morning comes upon my song
And I find that You have not been too long
In Your return upon the daily wheel.
I rise up sniffing and snap at Your heel,
And in a moment rise upon the wing
Of hope, though canine for the service sting.

PSALM 60

1 To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he fought with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and attacked Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.
Ælohim, You have cast us off,
You’ve scattered us as if to scoff,
So turn to us again. 2 You’ve made
The earth tremble, its balustrade
Torn down, now heal its breaches bare,
Because it’s shaking everywhere.
3 You’ve shown hard matters to Your folk,
You’ve made us drink wine gone for broke.
4 You’ve given a flag to those who fear
You, to be flown where truth appear,
5 That Your beloved may be saved, save
With Your right hand and hear Your slave.
6 Ælohim speaks in holiness,
I shall rejoice, I shall divide
Shechem and mete out side by side
The valley of Succoth to hide.

Salvation for the Psalmist seems to be
The gathering of his folk where they flee
Into the promised land and there rejoice,
Dividing Shechem once again with voice
Of vengeance for the way Dinah’s been treated
After the circumcised have been defeated.
The martyrdom in white has touched my brow
For three hundred years running anyhow,
So I can understand the scattered gain
That is salvation in King David’s reign.
Beloved, a nomad pilgrim on the earth,
I too look for salvation and safe berth
As I come in the chamber of my heart
To bow to You alone and without art.

7 Gilead’s mine, Manasseh too,
Ephraim also’s my strength to do,
Judah’s my lawgiver in crew.
8 Moab’s my washpot, on Edom
I’ll throw my shoe, Philistia, come
Triumph because of what I do.
9 Who will bring me in the city
Of Strength? And who then will lead me
Into Edom? 10 Will not You, God,
Who once cast us out on the sod?
And Ælohim who did not go
Out before our armies in show?
11 Give us help from our trouble, vain
Is the help of a man for gain.
12 By Ælohim we’ll do greatly,
For He’ll tread down our enemy.

Gilead’s mine, and so is Manasseh,
And Ephraim too, so You come to say.
Beloved, I understand the trial here,
How sometimes Simeon wants to appear,
And Joseph takes the name beneath his wing
When Ephraim would stand and try to sing
And Manasseh claim to be son and king.
It’s hard to fit all who would represent
You, my Beloved, in just twelve lines’ descent,
But Ishmael’s fair example seems to mean
That all and ever after on the scene
Must meet the public gaze in groups of twelve,
And others remain extras and to shelve.
I count the twelve and rejoice with a bean.

PSALM 61

1 To the chief Musician upon Neginah (a stringed instrument), A Psalm of David.
Hear my cry, Ælohim, attend
My prayer. 2 I cry from the earth’s end
To You, when my heart’s overwhelmed,
Lead me to the rock higher realmed
Than I. 3 For You’re shelter for me,
A strong tower from the enemy.
4 I shall stay in Your safety’s tent
Forever, I shall trust the vent
Of Your wings. 5 For You, Ælohim,
Have heard my vows, as it may seem
You make reward to me appear
As those who Your name come to fear.
6 You make the king’s life last as long
As generations of his song.
7 He shall forever sit before
The face of Ælohim and more
Mercy and truth save at his door.
8 So I shall sing praise to Your name
For ever, to perform the same
Daily in my vows without shame.

King David is the figure in my heart
That makes me turn to You, Beloved, and part
With other kings that vie for company.
I turn to You alone, no Trinity.
Your reward on the king is set and sure,
Let my heart too be cleansed and so made pure
Of every sin defiling. Let me wake
Each morning to live one day for his sake
And for the sake of my Beloved. Your face,
Beloved, is ever in the hidden place
Where I flee to enjoy the prophet’s race.
Give me a generation of his song
And I shall strive to walk and not be long
To enter in the tent with ancient throng.

PSALM 62

1 To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, a Psalm of David.
Indeed for Ælohim awaits
My soul, from Him open the gates
Of my salvation from these fates.

The gates, the lovely gates, lead to the town
Of Holiness, Jerusalem and crown,
Into the faith where dear Muhammad waits,
And by the path of all the holy gates.
Muhammad is the city, says the rune,
And Ali is the gate, goes on the tune.
But every faith both natural in boon
Or predicated on the high-blown noon
Of special revelation, at the core
Accepts no one but You, Beloved, no more.
Beloved I enter in the gate of pearl
And walk the street of gold and see unfurl
The tree of life with twelve fruits and in leaf
And leave outside the gate sorrow and grief.

2 He only is my rock and my
Salvation, my defence and I
Shall not be greatly moved awry.

The beautiful, the Hasan, led the way
Of acquiescence before kings astray,
Not out of fear and cowardice nor yet
For lack of trust that You could come and set
All things to rights, nor even lack of hope.
No, Hasan clung to all of these for rope,
But in his verdicts called Your guidance true:
He acquiesced in fact only to You.
You were his rock and his salvation too,
You were his defence, he was unmoved then.
Hasan gives an example to all men.
I take the guidance, my Beloved, and make
You only my rock for salvation’s sake,
Only You my defence, unmoved I wake.

3 How long will you imagine vain
Mischief against a man? Be slain
All of you like a bowing wall
And as a fence about to fall.

The dearest, my Hussein, calls out again
“How long will you take vanity for men?”
He sees the columns raising the dry dust,
He sees the frightful coming, but his trust
Is in You, my Beloved, till very death,
And He proclaims Your name with the last breath.
He could have taken this verse as his spell,
He could have shaken down a flowing well,
He could have smitten all the enemies
Down like a wall and bowing to their knees.
Instead he turned from idol vanity,
He met the sacrifice, and came to be
The banner of oppressed till light of day
At last illuminate the divine sway.

4 They only consult to cast down
From his high place, they do not frown
At lies, although with mouth they bless,
Inside they curse and do not guess.

The well of Kauthar that transmitted drops
Of blessing from Ali to his sons stops
To gather sweetness where Ali again
Called Zaynel Abideen among earth’s men
Bows down in supplication and in word
Of beauty to thank for all that occurred.
Would that his innocence and that which stirred
His heart from Hussein’s sacrifice were heard
Throughout the world, and every heart made pure,
And every hand and foot strong to endure.
Ah, my Beloved, some even say his name
And yet are filled with hypocritic blame.
They do not frown at lies, they come to reign.
Beloved, I feel the Imam’s joy and pain.

5 My soul, wait only upon God,
For my hope’s from His hand and rod.

“Whoever thinks that there is change
In You, Beloved, is in the range
Of unbelief!” said Muhammad
The son of Ali Hussein had.
That is the reason why in truth
A man goes not astray in youth
Nor in old age who only waits
On You, Beloved, upon hope’s gates.
Beloved, I take the teaching brought
By the dear hand that split the sought
And showed the kernel and the nut
Of righteousness that had been shut.
Beloved, I wait for You alone
And plant my hope before Your throne.

6 He alone is my rock and my
Salvation, my defence, and I
Shall not be moved under the sky.

Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq once proclaimed
That he would make men know their faith enflamed
So well that none should need to ask another
For verdicts on how to deal with his brother.
Since that time there has been no need to ask
For information in the faith to bask,
But those who ask, ask as asking in blame
To multiply unnecessary fame.
Beloved, I see since Ja’far in his due
That all knowledge of faith has come in view,
And what is not known after him is just
The glimmering of fool’s gold in the dust
To tempt the mind to doubt and hesitate
Instead of rushing through the open gate.

7 In Ælohim’s salvation and
My glory, the rock of my hand,
My refuge is in God’s command.

The lion may come to the path to ask
Me of the way the lioness in task
Shall bear her young, and whether it shall be
A male or female, but in all safety
I turn to Makkah and repeat the prayer
That You, Beloved, will meet the lion’s share.
You are my great salvation and my rock,
My glory and my refuge from the stock
Of beast and fowl that fall upon such men
As trample on the lion and his den.
I ride the mule of Abul-Hasan and
Find everything submitted to Your hand,
The Sabbath of Imams brings out Your rest
And so I dine and chatter with the best.

8 Trust in Him at all times, you folk,
Pour out your heart before His stroke,
God is our refuge like an oak.

Beloved, I say no word at all about
My debt of twenty-eight dinars in rout,
But only trust in You, for at all times
Your secret is known where the goatherd climbs.
If I pour out my heart in secret prayer,
The one who does Your service is aware.
I only stop to take a meal with him,
I make no request of him bright or dim,
But take from his hand what he has to give
And humbly go my way. And so I live.
Beloved, let me pour out my heart again
In Psalms of praise to You without the men
Around me knowing what I lack or save.
With You as my refuge I can be brave.

9 Indeed low men are vanity,
And false are men of high degree,
To be laid in the balance they
Are wholly in vanity’s sway.

The vain and cunning question was allowed
Before Al-Jawad, spoken by the proud:
What of the man a pilgrim purified
Kills a beast while he’s hunting on the side?
False men of high degree will stand to share
Humiliation at the speech to bear:
Was it known or unknown, deliberate
Or by mistake, was he free or in state
Of slavery, young or old, did he know how
To hunt or was he ignorant in brow?
Was the beast winged or not, one great or small,
Did the man justify himself at all
Or was he in regret, was it at night
Of in the day, umra or hajj by right?

10 Do not trust in oppression’s way,
To become vain in stealing’s pay,
If wealth rise, turn your heart away.

Ten thousand dinars at a glance are not
Enough to deflect Al-Hadi in thought
From his prayer in prostration. So I seal
The morning light of gold and turn my heel
Toward the glitter of the mica face
Of stone that beckons me out of my place.
I do not trust the force of arms that bear
The shield of ill-gained peace upon the stair,
Nor do I give my hand to those who share
The legislator’s power upon the trace.
Beloved, I turn my heart from every grace
Of worldly way and hold fast to the cloak
And hat of wool that shows upon the stroke,
And turn with righteous ones toward Makkah’s oak.

11 Once spoke Ælohim, twice have I
Heard this, that power’s Ælohim’s die.

The power is Yours, Beloved, who came to bear
Upon Hasan the warrior for the share
That made his name great, though his humble rate
Was seen in the simplicity he ate.
The power is Yours, Beloved, though few men know
That You control the way that things must go
Until the day of judgement come to show,
And then each man will come to know his fate.
Fortuna is a goddess who is blind
And deaf and non-existent in the rind,
And only You, Beloved, can hold the sway
Of power that balances the night with day,
That leads to righteousness, away from wrong,
That turns to glory my own humble song.

12 To You, Lord, is mercy, for You
Give every man by his work’s due.

Your mercy, my Beloved, among mere men
Is that You’ve hidden some to stand again
As witness to Your oneness and behind
The scenes to guide events among the blind.
The dreams of state seem empty, no footfall
Is heard to echo on the royal hall,
And yet the unseen messenger is there
To turn the tide of terror and to dare
The hand of the oppressor in the stall.
Beloved, I search Your mercy and I wake
To sense the presence of one whose estate
Is more than royal, who takes David’s share
And though unseen remains standing and tall.

This Psalm of vanity reveals the way
The vain thing that an idol is in sway
May secretly enter into the heart
To make the righteous man unwisely start
To worship at the altar that seems right,
But leads the soul into the darkest night.
Beloved, let me trust in You only when
I would turn to the praises of mere men.
Those in the high degree seem to be good,
They seem to lead the people as they should,
But all is idol worship in the day
They use their violence in controlled way
To patch the status quo with golden ray.
I turn from town to paddle in the wood.

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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