The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton | ||
II. ABRAHAM AND HIS GODS.
Abraham is the great Patriarch of Arabia; he is declared by Mohammed to be neither a Jew nor a Christian, but a Muslim and the friend of God. The great idol of red agate, with a golden hand holding seven divining arrows, which Mohammed destroyed in the Kaabeh, after his capture of Mekkeh, is supposed to have been a representation of Abraham. The Black Stone set in silver, which the Prophet left there, and which has remained an object of idolatrous homage, is said to be one of the precious stones of Paradise, and to have been brought by the angel Gabriel to Abraham, when he was rebuilding the Kaabeh. The Books of Abraham are spoken of with those of Moses, chap. lxxxvii. v. 19; the Kuràn is full of him: Mohammed seems, whether intentionally or not, to have fused his character into his own; he makes Abraham speak as himself, and he himself speaks in the person of the Patriarch. The following story expresses either the process of Abraham's reasoning with himself, or was used, by way of argument, to convince the idolaters among whom he lived. Josephus (lib. i. cap. 8) writes of Abraham, “that he was the first that ventured to publish this notion, that there was but one God, the Creator of the Universe, and that, as to other gods, if they contributed anything to the happiness of man, each of them afford it only according to his appointment, and not by their own power: this his opinion was derived from the irregular phenomena that were visible both at land and sea, as well as those that happen to the sun and moon, and all the heavenly bodies.”
The Patriarch, lost in reverence, raised
His consecrated head, and soon
He knelt, and worshipped while he gazed:
“Surely that glorious Orb on high
Must be the Lord of earth and sky!”
The glory rose, yet paused not there,
Drawn downwards through the western air,
Until it wholly sunk away,
And the soft Stars had all the sway.
With face upturned the sage remained,—
“At least Ye stand for ever bright,—
Your power has never waxed or waned!”
Even while he spoke, their work was done,
Drowned in the overflowing Sun.
“Creatures of Night! false Gods and frail!
Take not the worship of the wise,
There is the Deity we hail;
Fountain of light, and warmth, and love,
He only bears our hearts above.”
Who seemed so absolute a King,
Only ordained his round to run,
And pass like each created thing;
He rested not in noonday prime,
But fell beneath the strength of time.
To bring his toil to fruitful end,
Whereto his aspirations tend,
Still Abraham prayed by night and day—
“God! teach me to what God to pray!”
Arose to which the Sun is pale,
The knowledge of the Infinite,
The sense of Truth that must prevail;—
The presence of the only Lord
By angels and by men adored.
The Poetical Works of (Richard Monckton Milnes) Lord Houghton | ||