Seen chez Messy Mimi. Lens has no idea where it first appeared.
Abou
Ben Adhem (may his tribe decrease
By
cautious birth-control and die in peace)
Mellow
with learning lightly took the word
That
marked him not with them that love the Lord,
And
told the angel of the book and pen
“Write
me as one that loves his fellow-men:
For
them alone I labour; to reclaim
The
ragged roaming Bedouin and to tame
To
ordered service; to uproot their vine
Who
mock the Prophet, being mad with wine,
Let
daylight through their tents and through their lives,
Number
their camels, even count their wives,
Plot
out the desert into streets and squares;
And
count it a more fruitful work than theirs
Who
lift a vain and visionary love
To
your vague Allah in the skies above.”
Gently
replied the angel of the pen:
“Labour
in peace and love your fellow-men:
And
love not God, since men alone are dear,
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