By Ahmed W Khan
Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord,
And who shall find shade in His holy place?
He that hath a pure heart, and bears witness,
He that hath kept close to the Lord’s word.
And who shall find grace and the Promised Land,
And who shall find happiness and mirth?
He that doth not exalt himself on Earth,
He that is truthful and hath clean hands.
Come friend, sit with me awhile,
I have a story to tell thee,
Of a land conceived in glory,
The free land – land of purity.
And in this land, a solemn vow,
To guard the tenets of the faith,
To spare the weak from cruel disgrace,
And lock this vow in pure embrace.
‘Tis with a heavy heart I grieve,
For truly now the vow hath past;
I turn, I look, I stand aghast –
The Christian dying, mouths his last,
‘Forgive us Lord for we are weak,
And falter where we ought to bear’,
A final breath of hope, despair,
And parts he from the land’s affair.
I ask what crime did’st he commit,
As he is lain upon the cross,
Etched with ‘Domine, dirige nos’,
And bathed in moist, corporal gloss.
A mourner by his shoulder weeps;
‘He spake against a law most cruel,
That carves a hero from a fool,
Blaspheme did’st he, against misrule.
‘And in this land, as we sorrow,
The masses throng both nigh and far,
To praise the fool in each bazaar,
A fitting fest – our royal czar.
‘Debase they all the mores of faith!
Today a claim of faith reborn,
I chuckle twice with bitter scorn,
For yonder sits a hell forewarned.
‘What is this faith of which they speak?
They dare to claim this law from God?
‘Tis false – the law is like a rod
That beckons to the tyrant’s nod.
‘A village elder speaks aloud,
‘He did’st blaspheme and was destroyed’,
In crowds he feigns the pious poise,
In secret, gropes he little boys.’
I quietly part the grave repose,
And roam the land of pure misuse,
The scarlet dawn, a bloody ooze,
Doth beckon to the cave of Truth.
I stumble thro’ the jagged rocks,
I stumble ‘pon a maid most fair,
Tho’ bruised, and stripped and shackled bare,
The modest creature, caught, ensnared,
I ask her name and circumstance,
‘My name is Truth’, she doth reply,
‘Across the land I did’st untie
The web of man’s persistent lie,
‘But now it seems the law is more,
And man doth bow to vanity –
The plague of honour, and the free –
And casts away the likes of me’.
I part the cave with heavy heart,
‘Tis to the law, thou hast blasphemed,
‘Tis to the faith, thou hast blasphemed,
‘Tis to the Lord, thou hast blasphemed.
I ask again,
Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord,
And who shall find shade in His holy place?
He that hath a pure heart, and bears witness,
He that hath kept close to the Lord’s word.
And who shall find grace and the Promised Land,
And who shall find happiness and mirth?
He that doth not exalt himself on Earth,
He that is truthful and hath clean hands.
Ahmed W Khan is a Classics graduate, with experience as a Social Policy analyst. He is World Editor at The Platform.