And sharing of the frailty of mankind,

Seeking a light amid the deepening gloom,

I can but suffer, and will not repine.

A caliph once, when his last hour had come,

This prayer addressed to him he reverenced:

“To thee, sole and all-powerful king, I bear

What thou dost lack in thy immensity—

Evil and ignorance, distress and sin.”

He might have added one thing further—hope.

FOOTNOTES: