Farewell, friends! Yet not farewell;
Where I am, ye too shall dwell.
I am gone before your face
A heart-beat's time, a gray ant's pace.
When ye come where I have stepped,
Ye will marvel why ye wept;
Ye will know, by true love taught,
That here is all, and there is naught.
Weep awhile, if ye are fain,--
Sunshine still must follow rain!
Only not at death, for death--
Now I see--is that first breath
Which our souls draw when we enter
Life, that is of all life center.
Know ye Allah's law is love,
Viewed from Allah's Throne above;
Be ye firm of trust, and come
Faithful onward to your home!
"_La Allah ilia Allah!_ Yea,
Mu'hid! Restorer! Sovereign!" say!
_He who died at Asan gave
This to those that made his grave._
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD.
[11] The hour of prayer; esteemed a blessed time to die.
IT IS NOT DEATH TO DIE.
It is not death to die,
To leave this weary road,
And, midst the brotherhood on high,
To be at home with God.
It is not death to close
The eye long dimmed by tears,
And wake in glorious repose,
To spend eternal years.
It is not death to bear
The wrench that sets us free
From dungeon-chain, to breathe the air
Of boundless liberty.
It is not death to fling
Aside this sinful dust,
And rise on strong, exulting wing,
To live among the just.
Jesus, thou Prince of Life,
Thy chosen cannot die!
Like Thee they conquer in the strife,
To reign with Thee on high.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BETHUNE.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303