REVELATION CHAPTER 11 - 16

REVELATION 11

1 Then I was given a singing reed
Like measuring rod. And then indeed
The angel stood, saying “Rise and
Measure God’s temple by command,
The altar, and who worship there.
2 “But leave the outer courtyard bare,
And do not measure it, for it
Has been set to the Gentiles’ fit,
And they will tread the holy site
Underfoot forty-two months’ right.

The treading of Jerusalem in night
Is found in the days that the dome in light
Was build upon the holy temple site.
The measuring of those who worship there
Goes on with Muhammad Baqir for share
And with Ja’fer as-Sadiq who delight
In Your law, My Beloved, though nations fight
To tread the holy place under their feet.
Beloved, I come to You with what is meet,
And enter in the sacred room for treat
And see the people bowing to Your name,
And gaze at the dark red columns of fame,
One man of treading nations as though I
Had lived under Imam Ja’fer’s clear sky.

3 “And I will give power to my two
Witnesses, and they will come to
Prophesy one thousand and two
Hundred and sixty days, clothed in
Sackcloth to cover their bare skin.”

The many days here are merely the half
Of seven, as is forty-two month gaff
When every month has thirty days, it seems
Symbolic calendar contains the dreams
Of only three hundred and sixty days.
The two witnesses are also waylaid
By symbolism soon set on parade.
Beloved, let me too be a witness for
The prophesying of Your Word in store
As I cantillate Hebrew flights that soar
Above the din of pagan worship’s clown,
As I recite the Qur’an to the town
That turns its face to partying instead,
Since alcohol goes faster to the head.

4 These are the two olive trees and
The two lampstands before the hand
Of the God of all of the earth.
5 And if any person of girth
Wants to harm them, fire proceeds from
Their mouth devouring all the scum
Of their foes. And if anyone
Wants to harm them, he must be done
In by this manner. 6 These have power
To shut the sky, so that no rain
Falls in the days and in the hour
Of their prophecy, and they’ve power
Over the waters to turn them
To blood, and to strike the earth’s hem
With all plagues by their stratagem.

The Bible and Qur’an bear up the weight
Of the Four Books installed and frought with fate
Of olive trees to give the oil to burn
And two lampstands revealing what they earn.
The book unsealed stands here to witness well
In the street of Jerusalem to tell
The confirmation of the witness brought
Of Jesus who was sent to those unbought
By Roman threat and greed and failed to make
Peace with idolatry for Your One’s sake;
The confirmation of the witness told
To Abraham and Moses and the bold
David who sent back to the humble fold
Of Bethlehem to get a drink of cold.

7 When they have finished their witness,
The beast ascending from abyss
Will make war on them, overcome,
And kill them. 8 And their corpses’ sum
In the great city’s street that’s known
As the spiritual Sodom
And Egypt, where also was shown
Our Lord crucified. 9 Then those from
The peoples, tribes, and tongues, and nations
Will see their corpses in their stations
Three and a half days, and not let
Their corpses be put in graves yet.
10 And those who live on earth will joy
Over them, make merry, employ
Gifts to each other for their sake,
Because both of these prophets make
Torment for those who live on earth.

Two prophets rose after Muhammad’s time
According to this word of truth and rhyme,
And yet they do not foil the seal once set
Upon Muhammad’s words to be one met
The last prophet upon earth’s face and clime.
They are the prophets of Bible and that
Book You Yourself held out to what lamb sat
Alone worthy to unseal and to make
Known to the world the final divine stake.
Two prophets rise and still meet those who claim
To love You and rejoice upon Your name
And yet cut down the one or other or
Both to burn in the refuse of the shore
Of doubt and ridicule. Beloved, no more.

11 After three and a half days’ girth
The breath of life from God returned
To them, and they stood on their feet,
And great fear fell on those and burned
Those who saw them in their retreat.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven
Saying to them, “Come up to heaven.”
And they ascended to the sky
In a cloud while their foes stood by.

Beloved, You have received up in the sky
The books and prophets from the evil fly
That would destroy them publicly or by
The secret undermining of their truth
To teach wickedness to both old and youth.
How few retain the blessing of Your word
In every place that blessing has occurred!
I stop to sip the fresh and healing balm
Of Torah, Gospel, Qur’an and of Psalm,
And find in all Your Decalogue is meet
To resound for both law and for a treat.
Beloved, I find the dear letter is filled
With breath of life, though many times it’s killed
By priest, rabbi and mullah for the swilled.

13 In the same hour there was a great
Earthquake, and fell tenth of the state.
Seven thousand folk in the quake
Were killed, and the rest for their sake
Were frightened and gave glory to
The God of heaven as is due.

Before the birth of the Mahdi there came
A warning earthquake in Quds in his name
To show that cataclysmic power confounds
The din of false worship where it resounds.
With seven thousand deaths attention to
The birth of the Mahdi is soon in view,
And those who would oppose his new estate
Sent to their graves and barzakh to be late
Upon the day of judgement when Your call
Shall return to memory the works of all.
Beloved, the earthquake sent upon the town
To cleanse it from false worship and renown
Of Abbasid and Umayyad still speaks
To every soul that innocently seeks.

14 The second woe is past. Indeed,
The third woe’s coming here with speed.
15 The seventh angel sounded loud:
And there were loud voices to crowd
The sky, saying “The kingdoms of
This world have become kingdoms of
Our Lord and of his Christ, and he
Shall reign on them eternally!”

The seventh angel proclaims the last birth
Of any sent by You of greater worth,
Predicting that the Mahdi would be soon
Born on the earth and so provide a boon.
With his birth all is finished and the crown
And kingdom is made up in every town,
And You have Your Christ and in great renown
Your Mahdi to join the heavenly estate
Of Enoch and Elijah and the rate
Of prophets and divine guide who await
The resurrection for Your kingdom’s date.
Beloved, I rejoice in the trumpet sound
That proclaims Your beloved upon the ground
And seek him and his will where he is found.

16 And the twenty-four elders who
Sat before God on their thrones too
Fell on their faces in prostration
Before God, 17 saying in their station:
“We give You thanks, Lord God Almighty,
Creator without one to fight You,
The One who is and who was and
Who is to come, because You stand
In Your great power and reign. 18 The nations
Were angry, and Your wrath in rations
Has come, and the time of the dead,
That they should be in judgement led,
And that You should reward the ones
Who serve You as prophets, not sons,
And the saints, and whom fear Your name,
Small and great, and destroy the same
Who destroy earth.” 19 In heaven above
The temple of God and His love
Was opened and for all to see
Appeared ark of testimony
In His temple eternally,
And there were lightnings, noises, and
Thunderings, and an earthquake, and
Great hail cast out upon the land.

I see the heavenly temple open wide
And I see there what shall for ever bide,
The ark of covenant and sealed within
The Decalogue that tells me what is sin
And what is righteousness and what is joy
To find You on the Sabbath to employ
Your healing names in recitation till
The temple of my heart begins to fill
With lightnings, noises, thunderings and yet
And earthquake and great hail on all things met.
Beloved, the message of the Mahdi still
Resounds in every place affirming all
That’s written on the tablets to recall
The golden letters engraved on the wall.

REVELATION 12

[869-876 C.E.]
1 A great sign appeared in the sky:
A woman clad in the sun’s eye,
Moon under foot, and on her head
A diadem twelve stars embed.
2 Being with child, she cried in pain
And labour to give birth in vain.

Some say the woman is the church of God.
I say there is no such thing on the sod,
But all reject at least one command set
Upon the table of stone and well met.
Some say the woman is Mary the wife
Of Joseph after she had born for strife
The holy child Jesus who came to make
Your Decalogue on tables for flesh’ sake.
But he was born eight centuries before
The rising of this vision on the shore.
Narjis alone fulfils the complement
Of signs here written and of signs down sent.
Beloved, I seek the son of Narjis still
And find him speaking to me with a thrill.

3 Another sign in heaven appeared:
Behold a great red dragon seared
With seven heads and ten horns, and
Seven crowns on his heads command.
4 His tail drew out a third of stars
From heaven and threw them down like jars
Upon the earth. The dragon stood
Before the woman when she should
Give birth to eat up her child soon
As it was born and she aswoon.

Abbasid caliphs also knew to hate
The truth and those who honour it in state,
And came always with poison but not sword
Like the Umayyads who dreaded no horde.
Satanic dragon comes down to inspire
The beastly states of earth and to admire
Their wickedness upon those sent from You.
And so the red dragon came into view
In person to devour the child anew.
The caliph could not find the hidden one,
But there was a Satan who would have done
Directly, except that You send a wave
Of salvation to keep him from the grave.
Beloved, I curse the dragon and his son.

5 She gave birth to a man child who
Should rule all nations when he grew
With rod of iron. And her child was
Caught up to God and throne from jaws.

Some say that Jesus Christ was born and then
Was caught up alive in the sight of men
And missed the cross that took another life
To end the persecution and the strife.
Some say that Jesus met his death at last
And never lived again once die was cast
For the white tunic seamless that he wore.
Some say he slept within the broken shore
Of the new tomb to waken at the song
Of the archangel and the singing throng.
It seems that no one knows what really fell
Upon Your prophet, son and servant shell,
Messiah to the final breath and bell.
But here he is caught up alive, do tell.

The fact is this woman is not the great
And famous Mary, but one come too late
To share such glory on the earth and sky.
The woman’s Narjis, the date does not lie.
Jesus was born eight centuries before:
Now the Mahdi’s turn to enter the door.
He is the only famous one to fit
The prophecy in time and circumstance,
The events with cave, birth, and horse and wit.
All others circle the words in a mocking dance.
Beloved, let me live still to follow all
The words of the Mahdi and hear his call,
While others run to fetch the dragon’s mane
And pray and peregrine for greater gain.

6 The woman fled into the wild,
Into a place and undefiled
Prepared by God, that they should feed
Her there as long as she might need
It was one thousand two hundred
And sixty days that she was fed.

Beloved, let me be one of those who sought
Their refuge in the wilderness and bought
In silence and in meditation rare
The sight of You in all Your glory fair.
With Kelpius I make my humble way
Along the streams that glint with light of day,
One of the women of the desert’s call
To keep Your ten commandments though I’m small.
The Wissahickon now is overgrown
With other ways and means to meet Your throne,
But where I stand by lichen on the stone
I keep within my burning heart the dance
Of spirit through the forest gleams askance
To live within the righteous crumbling manse.

What saved the Mahdi’s mother when he fled
Into Your palaces there to be fed?
History tells little of that brave wife’s reign
And how she lived a widow without gain,
And sought her bread within the wilderness
Where secretly her son sent her address
A piece of bread, a bag of dates, a note
Telling how much he loved her as he wrote.
Few think how homeless and alone the two
Once separated became for the vile
Opposing of the commander a while
Of the faithful in title usurped till
The day of judgement reveal all Your will
And reunite mother and son for quill.

If we count day for year, prophetic time,
We see the start and end of wicked crime:
Twelve hundred sixty years passed by in grief
From the day that Mu'awiyah in brief
Began his awful reign, year six six one,
To when Transjordan slid out of the fun
Of rule and school and pool of Ottoman
In the year nineteen twenty-one when done.
Beloved, the fast was long, the empires grand
Fulfilled the running of the flood and sand,
But as the time of ending all returns,
I rush into the coming fire that burns
All needless and superfluous from me
To step at last into eternity.

7 And war broke out in heaven above:
Michael and his angels with shove
Fought with the dragon, and the beast
And his angels fought not the least,
8 But they did not prevail, nor was
A place found in heaven for their claws.
9 So the great dragon was cast out,
That serpent of old, called in rout
The Devil and Satan, the one
Who deceives the whole world begun,
He was cast to the earth along
With his angels to sing their song.
10 I heard then a loud voice to say
In heaven, “Salvation’s come to stay,
And strength and kingdom of our God,
The power of his Christ on the sod,
For our brothers’ accuser’s cast
Down, who accused them to the last
Before God day and night. 11 “And they
Overcame him by the blood’s sway
Of the Lamb and by the word of
Their martyrdom, they did not love
Their lives to the death in the way.

As described in the holy book of Job,
Satan that wily old serpent to probe
Once could enter into the heavenly scene
And the angelic council’s boisterous lien.
But now with the birth of the final man,
Awaited longest in the faithful scan,
The devil’s power is shut down at a draw
And he is fenced on earth alone with claw
Bent to the soil. No longer can he foil
The faithful with accusing rant and coil.
The martyrdom of Ali and Hussein
Grant grace and victory over the pain
That one can inflict on the earthly plain,
While heavenly kingdom opens at the toil.

12 “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you
Who live in them! But woe unto
The dwellers on the earth and sea!
For the devil’s come down to you,
With great wrath, for he knows it’s true
That he has but an hour or two.”
13 Now when the dragon saw that he
Had been cast down to the earth, he
Persecuted the woman who
Gave birth to the man child with crew.

The persecution of Narjis is known
But little among those before Your throne,
While those who write the books of history
Ignore the lady who gave wonderously
Birth to the son who should bring justice to
The world and set all men to worship You.
The dragon’s wrath is clear in all the world
Where the flag of violence is unfurled,
And pretence of faith brings the multitude
Into the unity of evil crude
Under the smile of pretence and the wealth
Of gold and oil, of marbled halls and stealth.
Beloved, I wait that hour or two to find
The coming of the Mahdi to the rind.

14 But the woman was given two wings
Of a great eagle, of all things,
That she might fly into the wild
To her place, where she unbeguiled
Is fed for a time, two times and
A half of time, from before hand
Of the serpent. 15 The serpent spewed
Water out of his mouth like stewed
After the woman, that he might
Cause her to be borne from her right
By the flood. 16 But the earth came to
The woman’s rescue, opened too
Its mouth and swallowed up the flood
Which the dragon had spewed like blood
Out of his mouth. 17 The dragon’s rage
Was kindled at the woman’s wage,
And he went out to make a war
With the rest of her offspring’s score,
Who keep God’s commandments in sum,
Having Jesus Christ’s martyrdom.

Narjis is rescued by the wondered act
That You produced to fulfil the earth cracked
To take the flood of abuse that was poured
Upon her when her son left unadored
Was separated from the mother’s stored.
No human hand came to help in her need.
The earth was filled with false faith and with greed.
With wings divine she finds a refuge in
The desert where she’s hidden from the sin
The priest and caliph, such as claim to be
Your representatives upon the lea.
Beloved, let me join her in her retreat,
Let me sink to kiss Narjis’ bleeding feet,
And comfort her that her son’s gone and free.

The word for martyrdom is witnessing,
A bearing testimony to the thing.
It is no death, but rising up to see
And tell the world of Your eternity.
The woman in the wilderness became
The mother of myself and those whose fame
Is covered with the secrets of the wood.
I might say who they are, but if I should
The public cry would follow them again
And try to slay the remnant of such men.
I take hold of the ten commandments proud
And wrap me in the flowing witness shroud
Of Jesus Christ and say Your name aloud
While hidden in the woman’s holy glen.

REVELATION 13

[876-1258 C.E.]
1 Then I stood on sand of the sea,
And saw a beast rise up to be
Out of the sea, having seven heads
And ten horns, and upon his heads’
Horns ten crowns, and on his heads name
Of blasphemy, a name of shame.

The Abbassid empire broke into pieces
Expressed in ten heads and the crowns it leases
To seven. So we find fragmented where
Umayyads ruled the land and sea and air.
Though broken, the heads of the beast are clear
In following the commands laid for fear
By the dragon to persecute and hate
The followers of the Mahdi in state,
The woman of the wilderness and late
Messiah Jesus come to rule their fate.
Beloved, I see the beast continue on
Despite Your kingdom’s flourishing at dawn.
I turn to You from earth’s vain faiths and froth
And meet in You Your love instead of wrath.

2 Now the beast which I saw was like
A leopard, one about to strike,
His feet were like the feet of bear,
And his mouth like the mouth beware
Of lion. The dragon gave him
His power, his throne, and his great vim.

The caliphate continued in the steps
Of the beasts Daniel saw for kingdoms’ reps:
The kingdom of Rome and of Greece to fail,
The golden lion of Babylon’s tail,
The Medes and Persians coming without grail,
And at last the beast finds the seat of power
Given at Baghdad for a time and hour.
The caliphate incorporates the hate
And strength of every kingdom come of late
To pretend to the faith of God and home
And yet is no better than pagan Rome.
Beloved, I see the awful heathen will
That tainted governments and their kings’ chill
With falsehood and with power on plain and hill.

3 And one of his heads as if it
Had been mortally wounded fit,
And his deadly wound had been healed.
And all the world marvelled and reeled
After the beast. 4 So they bowed down
Before the dragon who gave crown
To the beast, and bowed to the beast,
Saying, “Who’s like the beast? At least,
Who’s able to make war with him?”

Many vicissitudes came marching on
The Abbassids, not only from the dawn
But from the west, the Fatimids and spawn,
Before the hordes of Mongols struck the blow
Fatal to Baghdad and caliphate’s show.
But nothing stopped the mastery of fate
To pretend to be ruler of the state
Of heaven and earth and representative
Of You, Beloved, to all who die and live.
Beloved, I know no earthly kingdom can
Represent You before the holy span
Of heavenly throne, and so I take my place
In hiding before Abbassidic race.
I hide in You, Your mercy and Your grace.

5 And he was given a mouth and grim
Speaking great things and blasphemies,
And he was given power to please
For forty-two months. 6 Then he set
His mouth in blasphemy to fret
Against God, to blaspheme His name,
His tabernacle, and for shame
Who live in heaven. 7 It was granted
To him to make war with saints planted
And overcome them. And the power
Was given to him in that hour
Over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
8 All who live on the earth and station
Will bow to him, whose names have not
Been written in the Book and plot
Of Life of the Lamb slain as far
Back as foundation of world’s star.
9 If anyone but has an ear,
Then let such a one rise and hear.
10 He who leads to captivity
Shall go into captivity,
He who kills with the sword must be
Killed with the sword. Here patient stand
The saints in faith upon the land.

Ah my Beloved! Despite the splendour of
The power of Baghdad, sceptred golden glove,
Despite prostration of all nations round,
There is a sword to kill those when they’re found
Who killed with the sword. Yet I’ll say a word
In favour of beast above dragon turd.
Umayyads came bravely to kill with sword
The Imams as they strove to their reward.
Abbassids are a slicker race to feel
The diplomatic workings of the heel.
They always killed Imams with poisoned bread
And tried to pretend they acknowledged head,
But they too met their fate, since they instead
Served mammon and not You when they were fed.

[1289-1924 C.E.]
11 Then I saw another beast come
Up out of the earth, venturesome,
And he had two horns like a lamb
And spoke like a dragon for sham.
12 He wields all the power of the first
Beast in his presence for the worst,
And causes the earth and those who
Dwell in it to give worship due
The first beast, whose deadly wound’s healed.
13 And he performs great signs revealed,
Even to make fire come down from
The sky upon the earth in sight
Of men. 14 And deceives those who come
To live on the earth by the right
Of those signs he was granted might
To do in the sight of the beast,
Telling those who lived and increased
On the earth to make image to
The beast who was wounded, it’s true,
By the sword and lived. 15 He was granted
To give life to image enchanted
Of the beast, that the image of
The beast should both speak and above
Cause those who would not worship it,
The image of the beast unfit,
To be killed. 16 And he will cause all,
Both rich and poor, and great and small,
And free and slave, to take a mark
On their right hand or on their stark
Foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy
Or sell except one notify
One has the mark or has the name
Of the beast, or the number’s claim
Of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let
Him who has understanding get
By calculation number set
Upon the beast, for it’s the number
Of a man: and this is his number
Six hundred sixty-six, don’t slumber.

The mystic number of the beast is found
Among the thirty-six sultans renowned
Of Ottoman fame. I can now proclaim
This secret of infamy since the same
Have been lost from their power so many years.
I speak aloud now after all the fears.
The pope and United States have no place
In prophecy, they’re of the heathen race.
But Caliph and Sultan had the Qur’an
And divine guidance to rely upon,
And yet were lost in drunken rites of power.
Beloved, the beasts have fallen in an hour,
And I look to the dawn of a new day
When the Mahdi shall rise and take the sway.

REVELATION 14

[still future]
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb
Stood on Mount Zion without sham,
With him one hundred forty-four
Thousand, having his Father’s score
And name written on their foreheads.
2 I heard a voice from heaven’s spreads,
Like many waters’ sound, and like
The voice of loud thunder to strike.
I heard the sound of harpers playing
Their harps. 3 And they sang without swaying
As it were a new song before
The throne of God, also before
The four live creatures, and the old
Ones, and no one could be so bold
To learn that song except the one
Hundred forty-four thousand done
Who were redeemed from off the earth.
4 These are the ones who were seen worth
And not defiled with women, for
They are virgins. In guarantor
These are the ones devotedly
Who follow the Lamb where he be.
These were redeemed from among men,
Firstfruits to God and Lamb again.
5 And in their mouth there was not found
Deceit, for they’re without false ground
Before God’s throne and all around.

Three hundred and thirteen join in the hope
When the Mahdi appears within the scope
Of Mecca at the Kaaba to go out
To conquer all the world with just a shout.
When that arrive upon the sacred hill
Of Zion to the fortress to fulfil
The prophecy, see how many have come
To swell the army to the fullest sum.
Beloved, though I may be too old to cast
My hand in with the faithful ones at last
Or shall perhaps on that glad day rest in
The comfort of my grave though without sin,
I pray my blessings on the holy one
Who shall appear on Zion and be done.

6 Then I saw another angel
Fly in the midst of heaven a spell,
Having everlasting gospel
To preach to those who live on earth,
To every nation, tribe of worth,
And tongue, and people without dearth.
7 Saying with a loud voice, “Fear God
And give Him glory on the sod,
For the hour of His judgement’s come,
And in prostration worship Him
Who made heaven and earth not dim,
Sea, springs of water, all in sum.”

The only place, Belovèd, in Your book
Of revelation, hard as I may look,
Tells what the content of the Gospel is.
A hundred times the word appears but fizz
Is all that floats upon the Gospel glass.
The Gospel is just three commands that pass
On two explanatory words. Fear God
Alone and not the neighbour’s wife, and trod
The way in gratitude to Him, so when
The judgement comes all things shall be well then.
The third command is that we pray to You
In earth prostration since the thing is true
That You have made all things, alone Creator,
And not space, time, nor any other satyr.

Beloved, bless Your sent one, the Mahdi when
He shall appear to angels and to men
Restoring the witness and good news word
That has been everlastingly one heard
For righteousness and faith: see there are two
Points of doctrine and three things there to do.
Fear God alone and not the neighbour’s wife
And say Subhan Allah in glory’s strife,
Because You come to judge both great and small,
And that’s the first two commands and the wall
Of explanation why we should do so.
The last command is to pray in prostration,
The duty of every man, woman, nation,
Because You are Creator, You alone,
And You sit Sovereign on a heavenly throne.

8 Another angel followed, saying,
“Babylon’s fallen, fallen, swaying
That great city, because she made
All nations drink of the wine paid
In the wrath of her fornication.”

The proclamation comes from the Mahdi
To everyone in the world he can see
That Babylon’s beasts have fallen and he
Comes to renew the covenant and power
Of the eternal Gospel in an hour.
The caliphs have all fallen in the wake
Of the hordes of the Mongols, for the sake
Of internal corruption sultans stand
Conquered by their own people in the land.
The freedom that seems to cover the earth
Cloaks but the attempts of heathen of mirth
Who seek the gold and oil and touch no thing
But join them to Babylon and its ring.
But soon the Mahdi’s call will change its worth.

9 The third angel followed in station,
Saying with a loud voice, “If any
Worship the beast and give a penny
To his image, and take his mark
On his forehead or on his hand,
10 “He himself shall outside the park
Also drink wine not to withstand
The wrath of God, which is poured out
Unmixed in the cup of his stout
Wrath. He’ll be tormented with fire
And brimstone in the great and dire
Presence of holy angels and
Before the Lamb upon the land.
11 “And the smoke of their torment goes
Up ever and forever shows,
And they have no rest day or night,
Who worship the beast and the fright
Of his image, whoever gets
The mark of his name.” 12 Now here sets
The patience of the saints, here are
Those who keep God’s commandments’ bar
And have the faith of Jesus’ star.

I lay hold on the Decalogue whose sweet
Words guide and command even Mahdi’s feet
And are the basis of the verdicts spoken
By all twelve divine guides in holy token.
I lay hold on the faith of Jesus sent
In purity wherever Ahmed went,
And proclaimed aloud and in secret word
By the Imams who saw the truth unblurred.
With the commandments ten and with the hand
Of witness of Jesus upon the land
I join the Mahdi’s army to withstand
Both beast enlightened by Qur’an’s great light
And pagan Christian lost in heathen night.
Beloved, I wait Your coming ones as planned.

13 I heard a voice from heaven saying
To me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those they’re slaying
Who die in the Lord from this time.’”
“Yes,” says the spirit in the prime,
“That they may have rest from their work,
And their achievements follow them.”
14 Then I looked, and behold in gem,
A white cloud, and upon the cloud
Sat one like Son of Man in shroud,
Upon his head a golden crown,
And in his hand in sharp renown
A sickle. 15 And there came out then
Another angel from the den
Of the temple, to cry aloud
To him who sat upon the cloud,
“Thrust in your sickle now and reap,
For the time’s come for You to reap,
For the harvest of earth is ripe.”
16 So he who sat on the cloud’s stripe
Thrust in his sickle on the earth,
And the earth was reaped in its girth.

After the Mahdi comes again to share
Eternal Gospel with the faithful there,
Jesus Christ will appear from his estate
To help him reap the wicked world for fate
Of the destruction they have earned because
They refused to honour and keep Your laws,
Even the ten were less than any set
By wicked faiths and governments they met.
Let Jesus strike the earth with sickle and
Reap the harvest of faithful from the land
To pray behind the Mahdi in a band.
I join this Jesus Christ, Beloved, and tell
The sweet words of prostration at the well
And find the comfort of the warning bell.

17 Then one more angel came out from
The temple that’s in heaven in sum,
And also had a sickle sharp
To play upon instead of harp.
18 Another angel came out from
The altar, who had power come
Over the fire, and he cried out
With a loud cry to him with clout
Who had the sharp sickle, and said,
“Thrust in your sharp sickle of dread
And gather the clusters of grapes
From the vine of its earthly shapes,
For her grapes are now fully ripe.”
19 So the angel thrust in the stripe
Of his sickle into the earth
And gathered the vine of the earth,
And threw it in the great winepress
Of God’s wrath and without redress.
20 And the winepress was trampled down
Outside the city of renown,
And blood came out of the winepress,
Up to the horses’ bridles’ dress,
One thousand six hundred furlongs
So long’s the reaper sings his songs.

Who fail to hear the Mahdi’s spoken word
Of faith to repent of their sins occurred,
Who will continue in the fond address
Of power and oppression meet duress.
The blood of the oppressor and allies
Shall run beneath the iron and brazen skies
Up to the horses’ bridles till the foe
Of saint and goodness shall have lost the show.
Beloved, I wait the events of the one
That You have still in store though many shun
The hidden Mahdi who will soon appear
And strike the wicked down in abject fear.
Beloved, let me be one of faithful then
If I am still alive among earth’s men.

REVELATION 15

1 I saw in heaven another sign,
Great and marvellous in design:
Seven angels having seven last plagues,
For in them God’s wrath’s taken legs.

It’s difficult enough to recognize
Reality when it’s before one’s eyes.
So what can I say of the future thing?
The plagues seem like the very present sting.
Will there by something new in horror coming?
I do not know, You know, Beloved, the summing.
I look towards the morning sky and see
The frozen landscape of eternity
Before my window, passing in a breath,
And wonder there can be plague beyond death.
The course of the Mahdi is present, yet
The visible of plagues once they are set
Before the human soul may bring a trace
Of violence that bright reveals Your face.

2 And I saw something like a sea
Of glass mingled with fire freely,
And those who have the victory won
Over the beast, over the gun
Of his image and over his
Mark and over what number is
His name, standing upon the sea
Of glass, with harps of God to see.
3 They sing the song that Moses won,
The servant of God, not the son,
The song of the Lamb, saying “Great
And marvellous Your works’ estate,
Lord God Almighty! Just and true
Your ways, O King of the saints! 4 “Who
Shall not fear You, O Lord, and give
Glory to Your name? For You live
Alone holy. For all nations
Shall come and worship in their tonnes
Before You, for Your judgements are
Manifested like shining star.”

The song of Moses and the Lamb is set
Here in a few lines that in glory met
Your holy heart and proclaimed judgement yet
To come upon the earth, all nations and
All things created upon loving land
To bow before you in prostration, stand
In holy awe before the rainbowed throne.
The song of Moses begins with the great
And marvellous of Your creation’s state
And in a word progresses to the bone
Where the Lamb strikes the light of judgement known.
Beloved, let me sing that great anthem that
Is not heard in any temple where sat
The bishop and the mullah on the mat.

5 After these things I looked, indeed,
The temple of the witness tent
In heaven was opened. 6 And with speed
Out of the temple came the sent
Seven angels having the seven plagues,
Clothed in pure linen on their legs
And bright, and having girded chests
With golden bands upon their crests.
7 Then one of the four living beasts
Gave to the seven angels of feasts
Golden bowls seven full of wrath
From God who lives upon the path
Forever and forever more.
8 The temple was filled with the store
Of smoke from God’s glory and from
His power, and no one then could come
Into the temple till the seven
Plagues of the seven angels from heaven
Were completed and found their sum.

The plagues in golden bowls are not in hand
Of angel to pour out upon the land
Until one redeemed of the sons of men
Takes up the vial to pour it out again.
The plagues may seem a supernatural dole,
But they arise from actions of the soul
Of humankind, the fatal result of
The cause that came without the divine love.
Beloved, let every action of my doing
Be made within the divine love in viewing,
And let my feet run to commands unheard
Except before the still small voice and word.
And so I shall not contribute to that
Great mercy of the plagues where humans sat.

REVELATION 16

1 Then I heard a loud voice come out
From the temple speaking about
To the seven angels, “Go and pour
Out the bowls of God’s wrath and more
On the earth.” 2 So the first went and
Poured out his bowl upon the land,
And a foul and loathsome sore came
Upon the men who had the shame
Of the mark of the beast and those
Who bowed down at his image close.

The seven plagues of the Mahdi approve
As though they came from Egypt in the groove
Of Moses, and that’s why, it seems, the song
That precedes them, though it is hardly long,
Is the song of both Moses and the Lamb.
I reach back to the faith of Abraham
And grasp the promise of the covenant
That he will be a father and Imam
To all who love and worship You extant
And come to Your obedience and balm.
The loathsome sore comes on those who hold dear
The pagan faith beneath the thin veneer
Of submission to You, but yet rejecting
Commandment and divine guidance inspecting.

3 The second angel then poured out
His bowl on the sea, without doubt
It became blood as of the dead,
And every living creature bred
In the sea died. 4 And then the third
Angel poured out his bowl unstirred
On the rivers and springs of water,
And they became blood like the slaughter.

The angels do not forget how the blood
Of Hussein flowed down and joined like a flood
The river Euphrates and thus was brought
By sea and river to the whole world taught.
There is no dust to eat but that which stays
From the blood and body of martyrs’ days.
There is no drink but has the blood-stained mote
Both sanctifying and defiling boat
Of faith and false faith on a world set loose
Without engine or freight, only caboose.
Beloved, I turn from slaughter ground
Refusing the blood in my water found,
And find a Kauthar from the martyred hand
That blesses me upon a heavenly land.

5 I heard the angel of the waters
Saying after all of these slaughters,
“You are righteous, O Lord, the One
Who is, who was, who will be done,
Because You have judged these things so.
6 For they have shed the blood below
Of saints and prophets, and You’ve given
Them blood to drink, since they have striven,
For it is their just due.” 7 And I
Heard one more from the altar nigh
Saying “Be so, Lord God of power,
True and righteous Your judgements’ hour.”

You are righteous, Beloved, that You send down
The stinking blood to those beneath Your frown
You sacrifice anew Your martyrs in
The church and altar of heathenish sin.
It’s not enough the evil crew of Rome
Came to kill Your Christ on the ivory throne.
It’s not enough Yezid ran out to fight
The guided one with deceit and not might.
But every evil soul must clamour more
To re-enact the wickedness in store,
Delighting in the killing of the good
By those who know better, at least they should.
To drink the cup of wine is to take part
In martyring the loved and blessed heart.

8 Then the fourth angel poured out his
Bowl on the sun, till power is
Given to him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with the great fire,
And they blasphemed the name of God
Who’s power over these plagues by rod,
And they did not repent and give
Him glory. 10 Then the fifth to sieve,
The angel poured out his bowl on
The throne of the beast overdrawn,
His kingdom was full of darkness,
And they gnawed their tongues to confess
Their pain. 11 They blasphemed heaven’s God
Because of their pains on the sod
And their sores, and did not repent
Of their deeds on the path they went.

The wicked are staunch in their wickedness
Before the plagues that come to their address.
To harden heart against the call of love,
The Scriptures cantillated by the dove
And by the silver serpent with the tongue
Of every heavenly glory in the rung,
Is to make heart so hard that pain cannot
Come penetrate the wall and cut the knot.
Beloved, I see the many and the few
Turn from Your law and love and seek the pew
Where Your divine guide does not lead the way,
And so they harden heart with crooning sway.
Let me be strong to follow Your love’s will
So that I need not feel the wrathful bill.

12 Then the sixth angel poured out his
Bowl on great river Euphrates,
And its water was dried up, so
That the way of the kings might go
From the east might prepare to show.

The lamblike beast with two horns has set up
A dam capable of reducing cup
Of the Euphrates to a dry-bed stream.
It is no longer an unfavoured dream
Of John but what the hand of power can do
Within an hour with electronic screw.
The drying up of the great river can
Come by the time I turn around to scan
The clouds for sign of rain, the clouds for dew.
Beloved, I see that what You said was true,
Although when John said that, no one could find
The strength to believe what he had in mind.
The great Euphrates was a stream whose might
Was above any other stream in sight.

13 And three unclean spirits like frogs
I saw come out the mouth like bogs
Of the dragon, out of the mouth
Of the beast, and out of the mouth
Of the false prophet. 14 For they are
Spirits of demons, making signs,
Which go out to the kings’ aligns
Of the earth and of the whole world,
To gather them to battle furled
Of that great day of God Almighty.
15 “Indeed, I’m coming like thief flighty.
Blessed is he who watches, and keeps
His garments, lest he walk the deeps
Naked and they see of his shame.”
16 And they gathered them all by name
Together to the place called in
Hebrew language, Armageddon.

The unclean frogs the Umayyads set out
In doctrine to make all the people doubt
The divine guidance and the Lamb who stood
Upon the word to make prophecy good,
The unclean frogs the Abbassids required
To make their deceitfulness seem inspired,
The unclean frogs spewed by Ottoman power
To rule the world for an unflavoured hour,
All are the spirits of a demon tower.
The proof of such civilized hand is seen
In how the Christian world has taken bean
From the medieval pinnacle of kings
To set them out in greed of oil and things.
The fighting will not end, I watch their rings.

17 Then the seventh angel poured out
His bowl into the air, and shout
Came out of heaven’s temple, from
The throne, saying “It’s done in sum!”
18 And there were noises, thunderings
And lightnings, and there were the stings
Of great earthquake, and such in might
A great earthquake as not in sight
Since men were on the earth. 19 And then
The great city was set again
Divided into three parts, and
The cities of the nations fell.
And great Babylon there at hand
Was remembered before God well,
To give her the cup of the wine
Of the fierceness of His wrath’s sign.
20 Then every island fled away,
And the mountains were gone astray.
21 Great hail from heaven fell on men,
A talent’s weight each stone and wen.
Men blasphemed God because the hail
In plague was very great and hale.

As in Egypt the hail shall come to find
A world destroyed already by the blind
Who do not follow what You say in kind,
The simple ten words that should always bind.
The faith that replaces the Decalogue
With the scourge of false doctrine in a frog
Shall fall before the lightning and the fog
Of earthquake set on Babylon and Rome
And on Baghdad, the dragon’s seat and home.
While men blaspheme who claim that You are one,
And men blaspheme who claim that three is done
In Your glory and essence, I have won
By laying hand on the one sermon You
Once set before all men in good to view.

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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