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Home  »  Parnassus  »  James Freeman Clarke (1810–1888)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, comp. (1803–1882). Parnassus: An Anthology of Poetry. 1880.

Rabia

James Freeman Clarke (1810–1888)

Translated from the German of Tholuck

RABIA, sick upon her bed,

By two saints was visited,—

Holy Malik, Hassan wise—

Men of mark in Moslem eyes.

Hassan says, “Whose prayer is pure,

Will God’s chastisement endure.”

Malik, from a deeper sense

Uttered his experience:

“He who loves his Master’s choice

Will in chastisement rejoice.”

Rabia saw some selfish will

In their maxims lingering still,

And replied, “O men of grace!

He who sees his Master’s face

Will not, in his prayer, recall

That he is chastised at all.”