THROUGH DARKNESS.
One night the Angel Gabriel,
Seated in Paradise apart,
Heard the low, loving Voice of God
In answer to a human heart.
“Eminent must this servant be,
Who to the Most High is so nigh;
Whose spirit, dead to lust below,
Already is with Him on high.”
He hastened over land and sea
To find this man—he went like light;
But found him not, in earth or Heaven,
Through all the watches of the night.
“O Lord, direct me to this man,
That is so near and dear to Thee.”
“The man thou speakest of, Gabriel,
Thou shalt in yon pagoda see.”
Straightway to the pagoda sped
The Instructed One, and, looking there,
Beheld before an idol grim
A solitary man in prayer.
“Canst thou regard this man, O Lord,
Who to an idol prays, not Thee?”
“I have forgot his ignorance,
Since he through darkness hath found Me.”
