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I

THE MAKING OF MAN

When the Lord would fashion men,

Spake He in the Angels' hearing, "Lo! Our will is there shall be On the earth a creature bearing Rule and royalty. To-day We will shape a man from clay."

Spake the Angels, "Wilt Thou make Man, who must forget his Maker, Working evil, shedding blood,

Of Thy precepts the forsaker? But Thou knowest all, and we Celebrate Thy majesty."

Answered Allah, " Yea, I know

What ye know not of this making; Gabriel! Michael! Israfil !

Go down to the earth, and, taking Seven clods of colors seven,

Bring them unto Me in Heaven."

Then those holy Angels three

Spread their pinions and descended; Seeking clods of diverse clay,

That all colors might be blended; Yellow, tawny, dun, black, brown, White and red, as men are known.

But the Earth spake, sore afraid,
"Angels! of my substance take not;
Give me back my dust, and pray

That the dread Creator make not
Man, for he will sin, and bring
Wrath on me, and suffering."

Therefore, empty-handed came
Gabriel, Michael, Israfil,

Saying, "Lord! Thy Earth imploreth
Man may never on her dwell;
He will sin and anger Thee—
Give me back my clay! cried she."

Spake the Lord to Azrael,

Go thou, who of wing art surest. Tell my Earth this shall be well;

Bring those clods which thou procurest

From her bosom, unto Me;

Shape them as I order thee."

Thus 'tis written how the Lord
Fashioned Adam for His glory,
Whom the Angels worshippèd,

All save Iblis; and this story
Teacheth wherefore Azrael saith,
"Come thou!" at the hour of death.

SIR EDWIN ARNOLD

MERCY'S REPLY

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MERCY'S REPLY

AN ARABIAN ALLEGORY

The earth was made, yet still, though full of light
And life, beneath the conquering breath of God,

That rolled away the anarch of old Night,
There was no ruler for the teeming sod;
Then to the glorious ministers that stand-
Justice, Truth, Mercy,-by His throne
Eternally, He waved His awful hand,

And spoke as God can speak alone,

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Shall We make man?" Then stern-eyed Justice cried,

"Oh, make him not, for he, in his vain pride,

And base ingratitude to Thee, the great First Cause,
Will trample evermore upon Thy laws!"

Then Truth, "Yes, make him not! his impious foot
Thy temple pure will evermore pollute!"
But Mercy, dropping on her knees, her eyes
Suffused with pity, and all full of tears

In that else tearless Paradise,

Gazed up and cried, amid her sterner peers,

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Make him, O God! I will watch o'er his head In all the troublous paths that he may tread!" Then God looked down upon the earth again, And as man started up from Eden's plain,

He said (while Mercy, rising, blessed and smiled), Now, ruler of thy planet, go,

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And with thy brother gently deal below!"

ANONYMOUS

3

THE FIRST SUNSET SEEN BY ADAM

Thus Adam cried when first he saw

The setting of the sun:

"Ah me! perhaps 'tis through my sin,

That grievous sin I've done.

The world grows dark and now returns

To its chaotic state;

This is the death decreed by Heaven
To be my bitter fate!"

Throughout that night he sat and prayed,

As sat and prayed his bride;
All night he fasted and he wept,

Eve weeping at his side.

But when at dawn he saw again

The precious light of day,

With grateful heart he then exclaimed,

"This is but Nature's way!"

THE TALMUD

Translation by Rabbi Isidore Myers

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THE LEGEND OF THE DEAD LAMBS

Death, though already in the world, as yet
Had only tried his timorous teeth to whet
On grass and leaves. But he began to grow
Greedier, greater, and resolved to know
The taste of stronger food than such light fare.
To feed on human flesh he did not dare,

THE LEGEND OF THE DEAD LAMBS 25

Till many a meaner meal had slowly given
The young destroyer strength to vanquish even.
His restless rival in destruction, Man.

Meanwhile, on lesser victims he began

To test his power; and, in a cold spring night,
Two weanling lambs first perished from his bite.
The bleatings of their dam at break of day
Drew to the spot where her dead lambkins lay
The other beasts. They, understanding not,
In wistful silence round that fatal spot
Stood eyeing the dead lambs with looks forlorn.

Adam, who was upon the march that morn,
Missing his body-guard, turned back to see
What they were doing; and there also he

Saw the two frozen lambkins lying dead,
But understood not. At the last he said,

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Since the lambs cannot move, methinks 'twere best That I should carry them."

So on his breast
He laid their little bodies, and again
Set forward, followed o'er the frosty plain
By his bewildered flocks. And, in dismay,
They held their peace. That was a silent day.
At night he laid the dead lambs on the grass.
That night still colder than the other was,
And when the morning broke, there were two more

Dead lambs to carry. Adam took the four,
And in his arms he bore them, no great way,

Till eventide. That was a sorrowful day.

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