ABOU BEN ADHEM

       ABOU BEN ADHEM

“ABOU BHEN ADHEM” is a famous  poem written by the English poet, critic and journalist Leigh Hunt (1784-1859).  It is perhaps the only poem which is quoted by his critics and biographers.  The reason is that it has a great message of faith and immortality.  There is hardly a reader who tends to forget the spirit of this poem throughout his life. The diction of the poem is highly lovely, and the impact which it generates is immensely profound and enduring.

One can easily replace the title of the poem by its thematic phrase: “Love Your Fellowmen” but then the poem will lose not only its mystical charm but also the verbal beauty of its storyline.  

Let us now see the poem itself before any further comments on its interpretation:

“ABOU BEN ADHAEM (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

An angel writing in a book of gold:

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,

And to the Presence in the room he said.

“What writest thou? The Vision raised its head,

And with a look made of all sweet accord

Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”

“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”

Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still, and said “I pray thee, then,

Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”

The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night

It came again with a great wakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,

And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!”   

The word ‘love’ has many connotations but the most relevant in the context of this poem are: fellow-feeling, practical sympathy, selfless service, helpfulness, co-operation , deep compassion, unrestrained  generosity, etc.   

            In his book “Psychology in Daily Life”, Professor Seashore says : service is the key to life. There is no place for the selfish, self-centred, self-seeking individual in a happy family. The same is true in some degree of our social organizations. He goes on to add : the selfish soul is ungenerous and must pine away in his own misery, wealthy but a miser, strong but a coward, learned but a fool, gloating in luxury but despicable.

            A number of so-called lovers of God are idlers.  They are self-absorbed.  They chant their prayers but do no good to the society they live in.  Some of them become  runaway recluses for their personal good. 

            The Urdu poet Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) says in one of his lyrics:

            Khuda ke aashiq tau hain hazaron, banon mein phirtey hain maray maray, Main us ka banda banoon ga jis ko khuda ke bandon se pyar hoga

(The number of God’s lovers runs into thousands. You can see them wandering about in far away forests.  Truly speaking, I have no interest in them. My choice is the Man who loves his fellow beings.)

This is the message of the poet Leigh Hunt and almost of all the true saints who like Guru Nanak Dev JI selflessly  serve and reform the society through practical acts of uplifting the poor and the downtrodden.  

This is also the import of the Biblical saying: Love thy neighbor as thyself. And neighbor here means every individual in whichever part of the world  he or she may be .

27^th March 2020                                                         G. R. KANWAL