PSALM CHAPTER 127 - 142

PSALM 127

A song of pilgrimage for Solomon
1 Unless YHWH builds the house they work
In vain to build it or to shirk:
Unless YHWH keeps the city safe,
The watchman wakes up like a waif.
2 Vainly you rise early at morn,
To sit up late, to eat in scorn
The sad bread; so He gives His loved
The blessèd slumber of foxgloved.
3 See, children are a heritage
Of YHWH, sent from the womb like cage.
4 As arrows in the mighty hand,
So are children of youth in band.
5 Blessed is the man with quiver full,
They shall not be ashamed to pull,
But hold concourse with foes at gate,
Rising up early, sleeping late.

When I saw that a boy of three or less
Had joined our caravan in Mecca’s stress,
I thought it strange to take a child along,
Knowing what care such require more than song.
It was a lot of work for mom and dad,
But sometimes others helped and were not sad.
He was a cute thing playing under leaf
Of palm in Ali’s garden for our chief.
At last I smiled to see his head was shaved
Before the lines of Mina marble paved.
Beloved, let me live out eternity,
A child in Your temenos, let me see
The hills about in joyful company,
Walking around Your temple faithfully.

PSALM 128

1 A song of pilgrimage.
Blessed is everyone who fears YHWH,
Who walks in His ways as they do.
2 You’ll eat the product of your hands,
And be blessed by good things in bands.
3 Your wife be like a fruitful vine
Climbing the walls of your house fine,
Your children like olive trees round
About your table, hear the sound.
4 Behold, so shall the man be blessed,
Who fears YHWH when he is addressed.
5 YHWH shall bless you from the fortress,
And you shall see all the goodness
Of Quds as long as life address.
6 Indeed you’ll see your childrens’ bairns,
And peace on Israel like cairns.

I cast a spell and promise for safety
Of house and home, of wife and progeny
As I set out to make the pilgrimage
As commanded from sacred age to age.
The promise and the spell give comfort to
The heart unquiet in the things to do,
The tumult of departure and the weight
Of worry not to miss connections late.
Beloved, Your servant Jesus also made
A point of saying pilgrimage waylaid
Was a good time to practice trust in You
That rust would not come in with robber crew.
If pilgrimage at last lengthens my life
I acquiesce and give up all my strife.

PSALM 129

1 A song of pilgrimage.
Many times they’ve afflicted me
From my youth, may now Israel say.
2 Many times they’ve afflicted me
From my youth, yet not found a way
To gain ascendance over me.
3 The ploughmen ploughed upon my back,
They made long furrows in their track.
4 YHWH’s righteous, He has cut across
The cords of the wicked in loss.
5 Let them all be confounded and
Turned back who hate the fortress’ stand.
6 Let them be like grass on rooftops
That withers without bringing crops.
7 With such the mower makes no sheaf
To bind to his bosom’s relief.
8 Those passing do not stop to say
”Be blessing of YHWH on your way:
We bless you in YHWH’s name today.”

A bit of common life is stored among
The verses of the songs that have been sung
For generations past in pilgrimage,
In times almost forgotten in the age.
There is a blessing that the folk would say
Upon the pilgrim travellers on the day
They saw them dressed in white and on the way.
”Be blessing of YHWH on your way: we bless
You in YHWH’s name.” And I can only guess
How often the glad words were spoken round
The hills that glanced at Jordan and the ground
New sprung with green of spring or at the sound
In autumn’s festival before the rains
Came in to relieve all of summer pains.

PSALM 130

1 A Song of Pilgrimage.
Out of the depths I’ve cried to You,
O YHWH, 2 Lord, hear my voice renew!
Let Your ears be attentive to
My utterance of supplications.
3 If You, O YHWH, should mark the stations
Of man’s iniquities, O Lord,
Who then could stand before Your sword?
4 But there’s forgiveness with You, that
You may be feared where You are at.

O my Beloved! Out of the depths the soul
Cries for salvation and forgiveness. Scroll
On scroll gives law and condemnation to
The one who disobeys. But You, but You,
Beloved, return to hear the first voice of
Repentance in response to grace and love.
While justice is not separable from You,
You mark no sin for those who would be true,
Who cry to You confessing and repenting.
They find You are a just Judge, but relenting.
Why so? Why is there all forgiveness where
You stoop to earth and find the sinner there?
That You may be the One feared and alone,
Alone great God not made of flesh and bone.

5 I wait for YHWH, my soul shall wait,
And in His word I hope to rate.
6 My soul waits for YHWH more than they
Who watch for the morning’s first ray.
7 Let Israel hope in YHWH, with YHWH
Is mercy, saving of the crew.
8 He’ll redeem Israel from all
His iniquities in the stall.

This is a song of pilgrimage and so
Gives hope that Your redemption is not slow
To those who make the trek to find Your place
And seek on seeking there the divine face.
Beloved, I know the way bared in Your grace.
The bulk of pilgrimage is in the wait,
Waiting for morning light, waiting for late
Buses and trains and sitting under tents
Set up for pilgrim crowds for pounds and pence.
Let me, Beloved, wait in You as I rest
My weary head in pilgrimage and test
The cool of night for sound of stirring where
The fragrance of the journey meets the air.
Redemption is a grace found everywhere.

PSALM 131

A song of pilgrimage.
YHWH, my heart is not proud, my eyes
Are not lifted up to reprise,
Neither do I search out the high
Matters beyond my gift and eye.
2 I’ve surely kept myself in peace,
Like a child from the breast’s release,
My soul’s like a weaned child on fleece.
3 Let Israel hope in YHWH from now
And for ever after to bow.

I’ve noticed how the singing of short Psalms
Idles away the hours of pilgrims, calms
The heart that looks towards the sacred site
Of Your house and its courtyards of delight.
Seven times I sing the words in repetition,
And twelve times even meet my heart’s condition.
It settles mind and weary body and
Renews the hope of travelling on the land.
Like a child satisfied to play in peace,
The Psalm repeated gives my soul release.
Beloved, I’m like a child that is content
To run outside and play, no need to vent
My worries and my hopes, the moment clears
Around the pilgrim band, banishes fears.

PSALM 132

1 A song of pilgrimage.
Remember, YHWH, David and all
His afflictions against the wall.
2 How he swore to YHWH and he vowed
To the Dread of Jacob and bowed,
3 ”Surely I will not come into
The tent of my house nor in view
Of my bed, 4 ”I’ll not give my eyes
Sleep or slumber in any guise,
5 ”Till I’ve found out a place for YHWH,
A habitation built for You,
The Dread of Jacob, faithful, true.”
6 We’ve heard of it at Ephrata,
We found it in the woodlands raw.
7 Then we shall go into His tents,
Worship where His footstool prevents.
8 Rise up, YHWH, come into Your rest,
You and the ark of Your strength best.

I’ve seen the dawn come stealing in the shroud
Of mist upon Ephrata, and allowed
My soul to rise in song before the day.
I’ve see the place Ezekiel came to pray.
I’ve touched the narrow doorposts, bent my head
To enter where they met to break their bread
And sing the anthems strange and overspread
With simple music toned with ash and grey.
Beloved, my soul harks back and it would stay
With old Emmanuel along the way
Of forest voices silent now except
In the heart of those who stayed there and kept
The vigil of the Kedar and the flame
Of Ephrata’s last faith in solemn claim.

9 Let Your priests be clothed with the right,
Your holy ones joy in Your sight.
10 For Your servant David’s sake turn
Not away the face as to spurn
Your own anointed from the light.
11 YHWH has sworn David truthfully
That He’ll not turn from it to be;
”From the fruit of your body I
Will set one on your throne to vie.
12 ”If your children will keep My pact
And my testimony to act
As I shall teach them, their sons too
Shall also sit on your throne’s view
For evermore under the sky.”
13 For YHWH has chosen the fortress,
He desired it for His address.
14 ”This is My rest for ever: here
Will I dwell, I’ve desired the cheer.
15 ”I’ll bless abundantly her part,
I’ll feed her poor with bread in cart.
16 ”I’ll also clothe her priests with fair
Salvation and her holy share
Shall shout aloud for joy in air.
17 ”There will I make David’s horn bud,
Ordained a lamp, anointed stud.
18 ”His enemies I’ll clothe with shame,
But lay on him a crown of fame.”

The pilgrimage has always been a thing
Of power and man’s authority in ring.
The northern tribes commanded by the king
Avoided going up in pilgrimage
Because the king of Judah on his page
Would draw their hearts away in his homage.
The pilgrimage today is fraught with power,
The competition of sectarian hour,
The Wahabi and Shi’ite lightly touch
The kettle and look round to say as much.
The pilgrimage establishes the throne
Of David to all time, and will atone
Only the family that’s set a part,
Beloved, to be the treasure of Your heart.

PSALM 133

1 A Song of Pilgrimage. Of David.
Behold, how good, how pleasant for
Brothers to live in unity!
2 Like precious oil upon the head,
That ran down on the beard to pour
On Aaron, what a beard to see,
That dripped and spotted his skirts spread.
3 Like dew on Hermon that comes down
Upon the mountains to the town
Of the fortress, for there has YHWH
Commanded blessing, life in view.

The Levite priesthood was an institution
Of power that produced times of constitution
Ungloried by Korah and others spread
To hope for hand and influence on bread.
The call to unity is always made
In sweetness, but before the stern parade
Of competition for the crosier’s staff.
Only the burning seraphim can laugh.
Beloved, the precious oil no longer’s found,
And even the sweet recipe, I’m bound,
Is now uncertain, while the heifer’s load
Of ashes to cleanse all sacred abode
Is unknown to the people in their mode.
I praise You all priestcraft’s down on the ground.

PSALM 134

1 A Song of Pilgrimage.
Behold, bless YHWH, all servants of
YHWH, who by night stand by your love
In the house of YHWH! 2 Lift up your
Hands at the sanctuary door,
And bless YHWH. 3 YHWH who made heaven and
Earth bless you from the fortress stand!

I’ve stood in the night by Your house aglow
With all the lights around it in their show,
The place illuminated like the day,
And lifted up my hands to bless and pray.
I’ve stood in the night beside Mecca’s shore,
Because I thought the daytime would see more
In crowds around Ali’s birthplace for door.
Maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong,
I stood in any case among a throng.
Beloved, who made the heaven and the earth,
And gave the sea and sky a noble birth,
I seek You now as then in temples worth
Your making, under domes of the night sky
As I did once beneath the desert fly.

PSALM 135

1 Praise YHWH! And in your praising praise YHWH’s name too,
Praise Him indeed, all of you servants of YHWH!
2 You who stand in the house of YHWH, in the courts
Of the house of our God, 3 Praise YHWH, for reports
YHWH is good, sing praises to His name, for good,
That His name may be exalted as it should.
4 For YHWH chose Jacob for Himself, Israel
For His special treasure, so too Ishmael.
5 I know YHWH is great, our Lord above all gods.
6 Whatever YHWH please, He does upon the sods,
In heaven and earth, in seas and all deep places.
7 He causes vapours to ascend in graces
From the ends of the earth, and He makes lightnings
For the rain, He brings the wind out of His wings.

I translated the word as gods, and yet
I know there are no other gods to get
But You alone, Beloved, the only met.
You are above all those exalted here,
Above all those in glory to appear
In skies upon the mountains with their gear.
Whether with bodies of celestial down
Or human flesh and blood about the town,
All lie submitted rank before Your crown.
Beloved, those who call themselves gods await
The coming of Your rain upon their pate,
And those who call them gods for any rate
All stand in judgement on the Sabbath day
To find that truth arises in a ray.

8 He destroyed firstborn of Egypt, man and beast.
9 He sent signs and wonders among you increased,
O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, all his servants.
10 He defeated many nations and incensed
He slew mighty kings, 11 Sihon Amorites’ king,
Og king of Bashan, of Canaan every king,
12 And gave their land as a heritage, a thing
To Israel His people. 13 Your name, O YHWH,
For every generation, Your fame, O YHWH.
14 For YHWH will judge His people with just good sense,
And He will have compassion on His servants.

When You destroyed the firstborn of the land
Of Egypt You left no one on the sand
Who had the obligation there to stand
Before the family altar with a brand
To burn the daily sacrifice and bring
A prayer of hope and faith upon the spring.
Because the Pharaoh left Your word and ring
And failed to cantillate the Psalms and sing
You left the country once bereft of all
The pleasures of faith that rise in Your call.
Beloved, today the firstborn also stray,
And few call family at morn to pray,
And few at evening make their lonely way
Before the altar with family in stall.

15 The idols of the nations, silver and gold,
Are work of men’s hands with souls to idols sold.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak, eyes but don’t see,
17 With ears not hearing, in mouths no breath can be.
18 Those who make them are like them, and all who trust
Their lives and hopes to idols made of the dust.
19 Bless YHWH, Israel’s house! House of Aaron, Bless YHWH!
20 Bless YHWH, O house of Levi! You who fear YHWH,
Bless YHWH! 21 Blessed be YHWH out of His fortress, who
Dwells in Jerusalem! Praise YHWH! Praise YHWH! YHWH!

Beloved, who set the bounds where live all men,
See how their competitions rise again!
From age to age the greedy come to slay
The poor west of Euphrates on the way.
But human greed’s root’s in idolatry.
To love a god of self or self’s own place
May seem an utter freedom graciously,
But such must always rise to grind the face
Of those who take their living from that grace.
So Ali to Husseyn despite their heart
Compassion for the poor, take their first part
To speak for You, Beloved, Your unity,
And praise Your oneness above even sound
Of bomb and battle on the level ground.

PSALM 136

1 Oh, give thanks to YHWH, for He indeed is good!
His mercy endures forever as it should.
2 Oh, give thanks to the God of exalted ones!
His mercy endures forever under suns.
3 Indeed, give thanks to the Lord of lords above!
His mercy endures in everlasting love.
4 To Him who alone does indeed great wonders,
For His mercy’s always for human blunders,
5 To Him who by wisdom has made the heavens,
For His mercy’s always in spite of leavens,
6 To Him who laid out the earth above waters,
For His mercy’s always to sons and daughters,
7 To Him who has made above the earth great lights,
For His mercy endures always in delights,

Your wonders and Your mercy are things taught,
And not to be found for their being sought.
Some men can walk upon the fields and see
Only the miracle of famed city
To be built on the borrow and the lee.
Ungrateful? No, merely blind to the path
Of mole and birch, caught up in plans and math.
Your wonders and Your mercy have their wrath.
Beloved, I stop to praise the golden hue
Of day that marks the borders of my view;
I stop in track to clear my mind with joy
Before the daywork that my hands employ;
I lop the branches from they gate and find
Thanksgiving for the banquet where I’ve dined.

8 The sun to rule by day slave of its Maker,
For His mercy’s always on sand and breaker,
9 The moon and stars He sets up to rule by night,
For His mercy is forever, never slight.
10 To Him who struck Egyptians in their firstborn,
For His mercy endures forever in scorn,
11 And once brought out Israel from among them,
For His mercy’s forever though He stung them,
12 And with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,
For His mercy is forever without harm,
13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
For His mercy endures forever, He’s YHWH,
14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His mercy endures forever and fit,
15 But overthrew Pharaoh’s army in Red Sea,
For His mercy’s forever, eternally,
16 To Him who led His people through wilderness,
For His mercy endures forever to bless,
17 To Him who has indeed struck down His great kings,
For His mercy endures always in His wings,
18 And slew famed kings because of their cruelty,
For His mercy’s forever, eternally,
19 And also Sihon king of the Amorites,
For His mercy endures forever for rights,
20 And Og king of Bashan, another He slew,
For His mercy endures forever and new,
21 And gave their land as a heritage to them,
For His mercy endures forever a gem,
22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
For His mercy endures forever unspent.
23 Who remembered us in our lowly estate,
For His mercy endures forever and late,
24 And rescued us indeed from our enemies,
For His mercy endures ever, never flees,
25 Who gives indeed His nourishment to all flesh,
For His mercy endures forever and fresh.
26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven and earth!
For His mercy endures forever in worth.

Beloved, Your mercy truly walks the earth
In tons of sun, in breaking seas in girth,
In cascades of verdure in spring and summer,
In continents of ice and snow on bummer,
And yet despite Your merciful judgement
On Og and Sihon whose craven deaths meant
Life to hundreds and thousands, there remain
Usurpers and tyrants upon the plain.
Though Ali Zaynul Abideen may sing
Of Your gracious mercy to him and ring,
His father and brothers bowed to the thirst
And arrow flung upon them by the worst.
Beloved, forgive me that I fail to see
Your mercy without contrast by degree.

PSALM 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat,
We wept remembering the fortress where we sat.
2 We hung our harps upon the grown willows there.
3 For there they asked us to sing our songs and share
With those who carried us away and captive,
And those who plundered us required mirth to give,
“Now sing us one of the songs of the fortress!”
4 How shall we sing YHWH’s song in a foreign dress?
5 But if I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Then let my right hand forget its stratagem!
6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue
Cling to the roof of my mouth, if I’ve not sung
In exaltation of Jerusalem’s joy
Above my life itself, above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O YHWH, against sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem, who said in sum,
“Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation!”
8 Born for destruction, daughter of Babylon,
Blessed be he who serves you as you served us then!
9 Who dashes your little ones against the den!

Beside the rivers of Babylon wept
The mother with the child whose bosom kept
No nourishment in pain of draught although
Water was in sight of the army’s show.
Beside the rivers of Babylon stayed
The seventy to meet their death waylaid,
While Husseyn showed by the way that he prayed
The path to life while braving his death’s shade.
Beside the rivers of Babylon he
Lifted an infant for the sky to see
And cried aloud to silence to be free.
Beside the rivers of Babylon bound
The arrow found its mark and to the sound
Of that child’s one last cry thrown to the ground.

PSALM 138

1 A Psalm of David.
I’ll praise You with my whole heart, before the great
I will sing praises to You in Your estate.
2 I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name for Your loving-kindness full
And truth, for You’ve set Your word above Your fame.
3 In the day when I cried out, You called my name,
And made me bold indeed with strength in my soul.
4 All kings of earth shall praise You, O YHWH, extoll
When they hear the words of Your mouth, that are true.
5 Yes, they shall sing indeed of the ways of YHWH,
For great above all is the glory of YHWH.
6 Though YHWH’s on high, yet He regards the lowly,
But the proud He knows from afar not holy.
7 Though I walk in trouble, You will revive me,
You will stretch out Your hand against enemy,
And from his anger Your right hand will save me.
8 YHWH will perfect what concerns me, Your mercy,
O YHWH, endures forever, do not forsake
The works of Your hands and the poor souls You make.

Prayer of the dying Husseyn still gives praise
To You, Beloved, because he sees Your ways
Pure and right with justice beyond the veils
That cloud the view of lesser men with tales.
Beyond death he sees but the resurrection,
Beyond defeat the glorious insurrection
Of faith against the warfare of the small
Of soul who cling to empty power’s thrall.
Saved from wrath does not mean he saves his head,
Though that too someday will be raised from dead,
But that his eye dying’s on the perfection
Your oneness walking, sighing on selection
Of beauties varied, splintered on the world:
Who walks in trouble finds that flag unfurled.

PSALM 139

1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
O YHWH, You have searched me, you have known me too.
2 You know my sitting and my rising up, YHWH,
You understand afar off my thought to do.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways in town.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, behold,
O YHWH, but that You know it wholly from old.
5 You have indeed hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me, and what is more,
6 Such knowledge is far too wonderful for me,
It is too high, I cannot attain it’s store.

The Psalmist wonders that You know all things,
The round of human life in daily rings,
I think the petty ground and summonings
That are the plot of commoners and kings
Do not today seem so remarkable.
Computers keep the data to the full.
If You are wonderful because You are
A great computer on a distant star,
Then I have better things and on a par
In reveling instead that leaves on trees
Around me, though each known to Your own breeze,
And each uniquely captured by Your sight,
Still make a canopy for my delight,
No matter whether unique or in flight.

7 Where can I go away now from Your spirits?
Or where can I flee from where Your presence sits?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there,
If I make my bed in hell, lo, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning to flee,
And live in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Then even in that place Your hand shall lead me,
Your right hand shall not desist from holding me.
11 If I say, “Surely darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light all about me,
12 Indeed, darkness itself shall not hide from You,
Night shines as day, darkness is like light to You.

Darkness hides no one now, technology
Sees through the darkest night on land and sea.
If ancient men who sang Your praises thought
It wonderful that You had never bought
An instrument to penetrate the glow
Of night, then today none of us is slow
To wonder that mere men can steal the show.
Those who with cruel torch seek out the way
Of terrorist who hides from poison spray
Have ways to make the darkness disappear.
You are, Beloved, no more unique, I fear.
There is no place that anyone can flee
From hand of democratic enemy.
Everywhere I look everyond can see.

13 For You formed my inward parts, from mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I’m fearfully like doom
And wonderfully made, marvellous Your works,
And my soul knows that right well and never shirks.
15 My frame was not hidden from You on that day,
When I was made in secret, skilful array,
Wrought in the lowest parts of the crumbling earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unworth.
And in Your book they all were written indeed,
The days fashioned for me, when none were in seed.
17 How precious also are Your true thoughts to me,
O Ælohim! And how great is their sum’s sea!
18 If I should count them, they would be more than sand,
When I awake, I am still beside Your hand.

The very genes that make the body go
Are now revealed in microscopic glow,
And everything the Psalmist thought You knew
Is laid bare to the scientific view.
The book of Your genetic code we break
With hope and force upon the solemn stake
That good may be done by the very means
That ancient watchers fell upon the teens
Of daughters of God to experiment
And make gigantic figures where they went.
Beloved, You know and yet remain in peace,
A silent watcher, seeing man’s increase
In good and evil on the earthly sod.
Step in once more and show that You are God.

19 Oh, that You’d slay the wicked, Allah, I deem!
Depart from me, then, you bloodthirsty regime.
20 For they indeed speak against You wickedly,
Your enemies take Your name in vain lightly.
21 Do I not hate them, O YHWH, who do hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred on my count,
I too hold them my enemies paramount.
23 Do search me, O Ælohim, and know my heart,
Now try me, and know my every anxious part,
24 And see if there’s any wicked way in me,
And lead me in Your way everlastingly.

Beloved, You who are without place, without
Whom there is no place at all in the rout,
I who am bound to tide and sleep return
To find You in the room where deserts burn.
Your thoughts before the waning flood of earth
I cannot fathom for their justly worth,
And yet I pray a curse on those who hate
Your ways, even if that unhappy state
Be in my own soul, purge the world with fire
Till there remains but that crystal desire
For You alone. Beloved, I truly hate
The bearer of the prideful, cursèd state,
The slayers of Husseyn and all his crew.
Give me more hate, Beloved, and love for You.

PSALM 140

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Deliver me now, O YHWH, from evil men,
Preserve me now, O YHWH, from violent men,
2 Who plan evil in heart, always set for war.
3 They sharpen their tongues like a serpent for score,
The poison of asps is at their lips, indeed.
4 Keep me, O YHWH, from hands of the wicked seed,
Preserve me from such violent men whose way
Is purpose to make my steps stumble astray.
5 The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords,
They’ve spread a net by wayside, set traps of boards.
6 I said to YHWH “You are my God, hear my voice,
In supplication, O YHWH, God of my choice.

A hundred years ago the civilized
Thought that peace would fall on earth from the skies,
And never should a violence again
Be perpetrated here among Your men.
Time has dispelled that quaint philosophy
And spoiled the hope of both the bond and free.
And so I pray the Psalmist’s prayer and wait
For Your salvation from the good and great.
Goodness and greatness cannot keep a man
From carrying out violence by plan.
Gandhi himself was disappointed when
The true estate of human hearts spued out.
Only the knowledge and awareness’ shout
There’s no I but You can turn us about.

7 “O YHWH the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You’ve covered my head in the battle station.
8 “Do not grant, O YHWH, the wicked one’s desires
Do not further the wicked scheme he requires,
Lest they be exalted, exalted indeed.
9 “As for the head of my surrounding ones’ breed,
Let the evil of their lips cover them all,
10 “Let burning coals fall upon them, let them fall
Into fire, deep pits, that they rise not again.
11 “Let not a slanderer be set among men
In the earth, let evil hunt the violent
Man to overthrow him wherever he went.”
12 I know that YHWH maintains the afflicted’s cause,
And justice for the poor before His right laws.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name,
The upright shall live in Your presence with fame.

Though Husseyn prayed this prayer and many more,
Wicked Yezid know how to make the score
Look in his favour, so the world of men
Still fawn up his rotten heart again.
Do not grant their desires and evil schemes,
But show that You are above all that seems
To bring Yezid’s disciples to the pit
And burn their putrid souls as it is fit.
The slander against righteous Ali comes
To naught, despite the beating of the drums.
The cause of right is in Your hand and still
Husseyn shall stand alive to do Your will,
And give thanks and praise to Your holy name,
While the destroyer rise to bear the blame.

PSALM 141

1 A Psalm of David. YHWH, I cry
Out to You, make haste to my sigh!
Give ear to my voice when I cry
Out to You. 2 Let my prayer be set
Before You as incense, and let
My lifting up of hands suffice
To be an evening sacrifice.

In different times and different climes You make
The requisites of prayer to You to take
One form or then another. Now I bring
No incense to Your throne, My God and King,
Nor do I slaughter day by day at eve
A sacrifice of lamb, yet You receive
My prayer and I lift up my hands and call
Allahu akbar which means above all
Who stand in power You alone are great,
And there is neither church nor fateful state
Between You and the lowly dervish heart.
I stand at evening prayer and do my part,
While You, Beloved, hear every word I say
Though silent in Your everlasting way.

3 Set a guard, O YHWH, on my mouth,
Keep watch on door both north and south
Of my lips. 4 Do not incline my
Heart to any evil thing nigh,
To practice wicked works with men
Who work iniquity, and then
Do not let me eat any of
Their fine foods offered as with love.
5 But let the righteous one strike me,
As kindness, let him rebuke me,
It shall be as excellent oil,
Let my head not refuse the spoil.
For still my prayer’s against the deeds
Of the wicked. 6 Their judges’ creeds
Are overthrown by the sides of
The cliff, and they hear my words’ love,
For they are sweet. 7 Our bones are scattered
At the mouth of the grave, (what mattered?)
As when one ploughs and breaks up earth.
8 But my eyes are upon You, YHWH
The Lord, in You I flee from dearth,
Do not leave my soul without clue.
9 Keep me from the snares they have laid
For me, and from the traps they’ve made
In their iniquity. 10 Let fall
The wicked in their own nets’ pall,
While I escape safely from all.

Let Husseyn’s army strike me down in right
If that might turn the tide of human fright.
Let all the scattered, sacred bones arise
From Karbela to glory in the skies.
Let holy dust be scattered in the sea
And let its savour then be washed to me.
The honeyed tongues of those who see for gain
To make the world one with their false refrain
Ply at my door as though to speak for good.
I flee their cunning wishes to the wood.
Keep me from the snares of the false allure
Of peace in a false faith that is not pure.
Let me cling to the bold Criterion
That Ali snatched from Husseyn’s dying dawn.

PSALM 142

1 A Contemplation of David.
A prayer when he in the cave hid.
I cry out to YHWH with my voice,
With my voice to YHWH I make choice
My supplication. 2 I pour out
My complaint before Him, I shout
Before Him my trouble. 3 When my
Spirit was overwhelmed in me,
Then You knew my path from my cry,
In the way in which sorrowfully,
I walk they have set secretly
A snare for me, a snare for me.
4 Look on my right hand now and see,
For no one acknowledges me,
Refuge has failed me, no one cares
For my soul threatened by their snares.
5 I cried out to You, O YHWH: I
Said, “You are my refuge, and my
Portion in the land of the living.
6 “Attend to my cry, in misgiving
I am brought very low, so save
Me from my persecutors’ grave,
For they are stronger than am I.
7 “Bring my soul out of prison’s sty,
That I may lift Your name on high,
The righteous then shall surround me,
For You’ll deal bountifully with me.”

The prayer of David once was answered where
He hid himself in cave and took beware
When all the land and people set aside
His right to rule, and pleased themselves in pride.
The prayer was on the lips of good Husseyn
Not in a cave but on the burning plain,
When all the land betrayed his valid claim,
Supported the usurper for his fame.
Again and once again the same case comes
Upon a world that cannot find in sums
Relief from wandering after pop stars.
The soul is covered with their searing scars.
I flee to You, Beloved, and follow him
Who walks unseen, unknown, unloved and dim.


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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