230

THE GIFT OF HEJAZ

104. Satan's Parliament

SATAN

THE elements weave their ancient dance. Behold This vile world, dust and ashes of the hopes

Of Heaven's exalted dwellers l That Creator Whose Let there be made all things, today stands Ready to annihilate them. I it was

Who drew in Europe s brain the fantasy

Of empire, I who snapped the spell of mosque,

Of church, of temple; I who taught the homeless That all is ruled by Fate, and filled their guardians With capitalism's hot frenzy. Who shall quench

The devouring blaze in him whose paroxysm The fires that rage in Satan's soul have fed, Or bow the crest of that time-weathered palm Whose branches I have watered into greatness]

FIRST COUNSELLOR

Firm, beyond doubt, is the sovereignty of Hell. Through it the nations have grown rotten-ripe In slavishness: wretches, whose destiny is

ARMAGHAN-l-HEJAZ

231

II

UJJ Lr; -: r,j! CI~ ( /i;Y -: lui ( UJ~ J (i VI ~l;fv jVJ( DJ z, u~r ~1 .- uAI, JrJI

, '!:'.

Ui.hJ( ~lf. ~ (pj Ie ( Vi L if. "":,i} ( d} / J) ~~ L J u,J ( i,fJ{J J.-(' I;j L J ( {jJ Jr' ~v / UJ)r)~ L rJ! up. ( uAJ -:,L; ~J f r L ~ y / u/),,- V' J rJI T cCII;)/ uwJ,,- ( j:J M v.. uY~ L if.

A ~ uj~1 UA1 UYI vt~ If if. ?uf, j J if vI 7- r£/ Ij/

(u;j 1.fl:1: 'i- f j f- J; ~ J. rJ' (I' V- u!li L? LYi G,. vr i ~

232

TIlE GlFT OF HEJAZ

From age to age to kneel, whose nature craves A prostrate worship, no prayer uttered erect; In whom no high desire can come to birth,

Or born must perish, or grow misshapenly.

From our unceasing labour this wonder blooms:

Priesthood and sainthood now are servile props For alien dominion. Opium such as theirs

Was medicinable to Asia; had we needed,

The sophist's art lay ready, no less potent Than droning psalm. And what if pilgrim zeal Still shout for Mecca and the Kaaba?-blunt Is grown the sheathless scimitar of Islam!

To whose despair stands witness that new-fangled Canon: anathema, the Muslim who

In this age draws his sword in holy war!

SECOND COUNSELLOR

The many-headed beast bellows fOT power;

Is this our bane, or boon? You have not learned What new-hatched mischiefs are about the earth.

FIRST COUNSELLOR

I have learned; but my scrutiny of the world Assures me of no danger in what is only

ARMAGHAN-l-BEJAZ

233

Jj. J )# L tJ(..i dl c:::... Jjl f(q 4- dV' " t,;,\;i ( .:-f J' cJl uf if Ji J'Z I~ i J:1I ,j)1

(~ f- tP) 1 7- ·J~I i I~ uf Y/ cJ j r ~If J rr: I{ (9(1 ':! (V LA ,-lr. L d) ir , jyP

if (:!~I ~ L.)JjY ~ L J? ¢ !(' t J.i ; ( ;; t:- ur j' ~)J If i J~ A ... ~ ~ & J .JL.h f'(~ 4- ~ J d'Y t I) f Y1 _tf

~.k» ~Lj ,., c: dJ: N ~1!i J J

....... ..., 1

.. I. •

; j ~! ( )x/. JuJ- f- J

!;.\ z, ,Jit:- uP; Dj~ L tJ~ i

'. ,

;?~

I:. c: Jl4 ~ tJl(. J/- J 'UJ'Z

,

~ ~ vi V.J'Z D'{ Ji ( ~ ;.

234

THE GIfT OF HEJAZ

A fig-leaf hung to hide the lust of empire. Was it not we, when men began to observe And to reflect, who dressed autocracy

In democratic costume? The true power And purpose of dominion lie elsewhere, And do not stand or fall by the existence Of Prince or Sultan. Whether parliaments Of nations meet, or Majesty holds court, Whoever casts his eye on another's field

Is tyrant born. Have you not seen in the West Those Demos-governments with rosy faces And all within blacker than Ghengiz' soul?

THIRD COUNSELLOR

While tyranny's spirit lives on no fear should come To trouble us! But what answer shall we give'

To that accursed creature, that vile Jew,

That Prophet of no Sinai, that Messiah

Without a cross-no messenger of God,

Yet in his clasp a Book? How shall I tell you

How many a veil those godless eyes have shrivelled, Heralding to the nations east and west

Their day of reckoning? What dire pestilence Could outgo this! the slaves have cut the ropes That held their lords' pavilions.

ARMAGHAN·I·HEJAZ

235

v~ U)Jf. T ~~ / L)i~ J} L (' A} , v~ J} T- I", el I)j ~ z, )JI & J J)~; AJ)(

,

/ f- j' { u~ J /- Jf.J « J'I AJ) ( 'jU L YI ~ Jf

.. .'~" ..

, J if. M ~ 1/ J j ,uUJ.- DJ T-

(Wi U)#. ~ ~ t vi bf'J V' L ji !j ...()t" ~ j. UJ)tl ,JJ) ~A

~~I V A i J~ T) j~ ~J) ~~I? ( .::,;)1) If 0J(.. JI ~ ! f-

~ ~ (' ~J ,if. '.- ( ~J

..... 0:;)1) !'JJ ,fi ).; ~

•

)y D)~ ~t J j( t- V' IJH~ tf

!~L> JJ) f. L uy'} J "":'t ' J}

JlJ ( ~ (..tt if )JJ j lZIY. ~ JI

.. ..

!.....,Cb J ui! L U~~r L UJk. UJ;ji

.

236

THE GIFT OF HEJAZ

FOURTH COUNSELLOR

In the halls Of mighty Rome behold the antidote.

We have revealed once more the dream of Caesar To Caesar's offspring, whose strong arms enfold The Italian sea and make its tumbling waves

Now soar like the pine, now like the rebeck sob!

THIRD COUNSELLOR Her-when he casts the future, I do not trust him; He has stripped Europe's statecraft all too naked.

FIFTH COUNSELLOR (/0 Satan) Oh you whose fiery breath fills up the sails

Of the world! You, when it pleased you, brought to light All mysteries; in your furnace earth and water

Became a planet panting with hot life.

We, once Heaven's simpletons, with you for teacher

Have come to knowledge, and no deeper skill

Than yours in Adam's nature has He whom men, POQr innocents! magnify as their PreserverWhilst they on high whose only thought was prayer And sanctification and the rosary

ARMAGHAN·I·HEJAZ

237

[, It U)lil L 0/r ;,.,) ( Ifl J j ~I} ( )j::' A L r 1lPG /)j::' JI 1ft ~ 'r a: u?y J (JJ f tjf :_,~) u£"J~ ~( 'J.~ Ui..JL ~f

.' .. . ..

Ji Jtr J; ( ~ ~~ J vI ; tt ....,l? L rJi V / ~l.- J), Lif-

1'.' ... ..

;UJ~~ (Lf~~jjJ)

!Arf (~ i c.. J Jr ~j ~I )(;1 / ~{ s V ,~~ "t'- L } )v , )y ~Lr. ~ 0:,,)17 iJl J J ":",1 )( ~ .. J'J .:;... ~ lSj ~ JI vi (! ~J ( (JI .;-j f 8)1. ~ j. )~)JJ c: )? e J. L)Jk. JJ ov

\" ,

238

THE OIFr OF HEJAZ

May hang their heads in everlasting shame,

Mean beside you. But though you have for vowed Disciples all the shamans of the West,

Their wits lose credit with me. That rebel Jew, That spirit of Mazdak come again! Not long, And every mantle will be rent to shreds

And tatters by his fury. The desert crow Begins to plume itself among the hawks

And eagles: dizzily the face of the world

Goes altering! What we blindly thought a handful Of blind dust has blown whirling over the vast Of the skies, and we see trembling, so deep sticks The terror of tomorrow's revolution,

Mountain and meadow and the bubbling spting.-> Oh Master! on the brink of chaos lies

This earth whose sale reliance is your sceptre.

SATAN

Earth, sun and moon, celestial spheres, all realms Of matter, lie in the hollow of my hand.

Let me once fever the blood of Europe's races; And East and West shall see with their own eyes A drama played out! With one incantation

I know how todrive mad their pillars of State And princes of the Church. Tell the wise fool

ARMAGHAN·j·HEJAZ

239

;I_.-.} , Ijf; ,..f --tl G. ~;! ul (Li lLr L .ijl ~I '-I LJ.t -;J ;~I f- Ji { ~Ij J (;)1 1:. ~I ;,;. ( ~, ~J) DJ ,J ;fJ uw:. ~J

it· )~ c: Up. L 1.11 f- j LJ1 g Jt i{ J ~~ r f- ~) J1 Ifi ~I) )f;)) q!i' ~ D-t G. '/ t / JLliI .:.YJ f J1 ~r tv!

':'". .

JI{ ~ JI s. ( r ~ jbt f if.

&1 j f- (~ :: ( ~ 0 IJ) j AI? J Jlj I J /vJ I.A ~.r

•

c: f LJ1 .. 0 J !j 1JLr. ~, !~1I.-fi

,

)L~ < ~)h-- ui ),Ai 1- ( u~ if.

i. ) ..£ ~l(. J J) 9"') '-I r i.J I;ir1 V' ',.>J;I V,J; V .. • • 0\" (f ... ,(, L J f

ui J ,-:"J vv.::- U.f' I v~1 - "J

~ .( I.()! (I}I ~J ~J ~ L J ~,? L ~ V '~h-- ~MI V !~ ...fI r.);e 'f- fl;;. ,;liJ f "':-'"

240

THE GIFT OF HEJAZ

Who thinks our civilization fragile like

A glassblower's workshop, to destroy its cup

And flagon if he CM! When Nature's hand

Has rent the seam, no needleworking logic

Of communism will put the stitches back.

I be afraid of socialists?-street-bawlers, Ragged things, tortured brains, tormented souls! No, if there is one monster in my path

It lurks within that people in whose ashes Still glow the embers of an infinite hope.

Even yet, scattered among them, steadfast ones Come forth who make lustration of their hearts With contrite tears in the pure hour of dawn; And he to whom the anatomy of the age

Shows clear knows well, the canker of to-morrow Is not your communism: it is Islam.

I know its congregation is the Law's Upholder now no more; the Muslim runs With all the rest, makes capitalism his creed; I know that in this dark night of the East

No sh:ining hand that Moses raised to Pharaoh Hides under his priest's sleeve. Yet none the less The importunities of the hour conceal

One peril, that somewhere the Prophet's faded path Be rediscovered. A hundred times beware,

Beware, that Prophet's ordinance, that keeps safe

The honour of women, that forges men and tries them,

ARMAGHAN-I.HEJAZ

241

t.::,..1 z, if. ulJC j, ~ ~~~

•

!,y J (~ L ~;; Vi i 4' / 5j

Jf I v;~/ d- .,:- If L .:,,}J -?'" j) L" vi c: (jjy J ~ J ~, ,/ ~f JI71 f J. ~ ~I)~ ..;

, .'" • .t.'" If. III;JJ

t ;V I if .:vI t)~)'} \,I .,,' !

c: C- ~A vi i Jf I f J. Ji 1-

,

,j)1 t~ ...f ,,:,,1 f- J. ?~ J if.

" ~ Ll' ..J ,,:",1 J.. (; JI J~ J~ ?, !~ 1. t.::,.. 1Jig; ~I ~ L/

,_ (11 ~~ J,J ~ LI ''!- v~ !~ (iYl ,Ji bj j ~l

vi ul j ylg .bl ~ v! uJi C:~ W_:J ( J/ ~;; 0)1) ~V ISiJ fJ. ~I) ~/..cl J J} jJ. Ufi c:~ J;f 0 (J ~l6 f- ~~ 4--.J} '" It z, c: u}~l;i L Jig (

- I.

242

THE GIFT OF HEJAZ

That bears a death-warrant to every shape

Of servitude, admits no Dragon Thrones, Knows neither emperor nor roadside beggar.

It cleanses wealth of every foulness, making The rich no more than stewards of their riches; What mightier revolution could there be

In thought or deed than it proclaims=Earth's soil Belongs to no earth-monarch, but to God?

And well for us if those enactments still

Lie buried snugly out of sight and mind!

Felicity it is, that the believer

Himself has lost all faith. Long may he halt Entangled in the maze of divinity

And glozing comment on the sacred Word!

May daybreak never invade the obscure night Of that God-meditating folk whose creed Might burst the spells of all the finite world! ~Whether the Son of Mary perished once, Or knew no death: whether the Attributes . Of God from God are separate or are God's True essence: whether 'He who is to come' Betokens the Messiah of Nazareth or

Some new Reformer clothed with Christ's own vesture:

Whether the words of Scripture are late-born Or from eternity, and which answer holds Salvation for the chosen People;-let

These theologian's graven images

Content the Muslim of this century'

ARMAGHAN-1HEJAZ

243

4- L LfUl ~} /i (~ ( ~,..

,

'" ~) ? L ,u~~ , )? Jj L

.Jl.P J~ c: Jli.fi f ~J) r ~f JI ~ t'~ ( ':)JJ.J J~ f lJ/, ~uP11 ( ,j J j ~ )JI f g;J.t:- Vi 'v!; ~ 7- J )1 ,j J 1JJ1(})~ ~j i J..~1 ,., o;(f. c» G. J~ r

• .. 1M of' r,

J!.. (,/ ~ JI ,j f r d ~

~)LJ.l J. ~l(! if. Ij. -r

, ..

~Jv.1 J. ~ ~,~ J iJl ~(J ~

,

~ .. :..I; .;. ~ 1_If ~ \J ,\1 ~13 ~~ ~ c: JIP Ltl"'t t G. LIJ LI

I '

~,;;~ L ~I fj) IJfi J ,j ).4 ~

f) ~ ~)~ J;lPll L ;1 (' ~ ~,;;~ J. L..? I '7- J (11 ~1 J )J) ul vi ~( 4-- L ulY t.f

,~ .. r' I III

?~Ii- J ~ tl Lit t:-J e: .:.-:-r ~

244

THE GIFT OF FIEJAZ

Keep him a stranger to the realm of action, That on the chessboard of existence all

His pieces may be forfeit. Good, if he

Lie down in slavery till the day of doom, Relinquishing to others what he calls

A transient globe, and hugging such belief, Such minstrelsy, as serve to keep his eyes Well bandaged from the theatre of life.

For yet with every breath I dread that people's A wakening, whose religion's true behest

Is to hold watch and reckoning over all

The universe. Keep its wits bemused with dawn Potations of its dregs of thought and prayer:

And tighten round its soul the monkish bonds!

ARMAGHAN·I·HEJAZ

2.45

~ JfJ/ (~ ~ .;~ G-I ( ~~ (jY1 , ... ) "':"'" L Lfl J. J;; ~~~

(tJl/y' ~J .i ,:/V I~ J. lSI j

CI~ ~ .. ~

,:..~ +- ~lf. -: )~ J ()wl f ),; ; '"r'j J. J' L Lfl ,~; J ; lfJ ,_

~~ .L~li c- u/1 J Lfl ,-)K f.

~ .

J. a: UAJ[. J ~1 Lfl LJ;1 ~J j j fi

.:-~( .... ()rl 0' t1 J L J'. ~ ,_

.... ,'"'

~I J. Ij'it J , Jj ./; .::./

G-I J. (j~~ ~V' ~)f j ~