Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 59. AL-MUBDI, by EDWIN ARNOLD


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PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 59. AL-MUBDI, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Whence came ye; and the people of the groves
Last Line: Our praises, for life's pleasant, sake!
Subject(s): God; Islam


Al-Mubdî! praise Him by this holy name,
Who gave to all the spark which lights life's flame

Whence came ye; and the people of the groves;
The streams, the seas, the wilderness, the air;
Beasts, fishes, fowl; each with their lives and loves,
Each glad to be, each in its kind so fair?

"Begotten of their like?" Yea! but "their like,"
Who did devise that, and the hidden charm
Whereby—as flame from torch to torch doth strike—
The light of life shines on, bright, joyous, warm?

Al-Mubdi hath devised it! His decree
In the beginning shaped and ordered each,
Saying to all these things foreseen, "So be!"
And so they were, obeying Allah's speech.

Al-Mubdî! "Great Beginner!" take
Our praises, for life's pleasant, sake!





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