YUSSOUF- J R LOWELL

A stranger came one night to Yussouf’s tent,
Saying, Behold1 one outcast2 and in dread3,
Against whose life the bow of power is bent,
Who flies, and hath not where to lay his head:
I come to thee for shelter and for food,
To Yussouf, called through all our tribes “The
Good.”’

‘This tent is mine,’ said Yussouf, but no more  
Than it is God’s; come in, and be at peace ;
Freely shalt4 thou partake5 of all my store,
As I of His who buildeth over these
Our tents His glorious roof of night and day,
And at whose door none ever yet heard “Nay6.”

So Yussouf entertained his guest that night,
And, waking him ere7 day, said, ‘Here is gold ;
My swiftest horse is saddled for thy flight8
Depart before the prying day grows bold.’
As one lamp lights another, nor grows less,
So nobleness enkindleth9 nobleness.

That inward light the stranger’s face made grand,
Which shines from all self-conquest. Kneeling low,
He bowed his forehead upon Yussouf’s hand,
Sobbing10, ‘ O Sheik, I cannot leave thee so ;
I will repay thee; all this thou hast done
Unto that Ibrahim who slew thy son!’

‘ Take thrice the gold,’ said Yussouf ‘for with thee
Into the desert, never to return,
My one black thought shall ride away from me.
First-born, for whom by day and night I yearn,
Balanced and just are all of God’s decrees11;
Thou art avenged, my first-born, sleep in peace !’