The Mother Divine
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THE ANGEL FLAME
Poetry from the Hindu Song of the Poet Abul Hafiz Jalandhari; translated by Dilip Kumar Roy
(From: Among the Great by Dilip Kumar Roy)


House in thy soul the flickerless lamp of love; 
O way- lost dupe, relume the angel flame 
In the wistful temple of dream: nurse in faith’s grove 
The memorial rose of peace no thorn may shame. 

Delivered from thy passions’ lurid gleams 
And shadowing greeds, foes in the guise of friends, 
Know: in the deep of hush the soul redeems: 
She is the vanguard morn to darkness sends. 

Her children in gloom, thy Motherland mourns and sighs, 
Play Beauty’s flute like Krishna: thou art He. 
If thou wilt wake- the world, a-quiver, shall rise 
And mitred priests of love sing on with thee. 

Hate never pays, though sorrows purify; 
Be poised in thy Self of love – incarnate, free. 
If love resign who shall reveal the sky? 
Soul’s night is doom: her dawn – sure victory. 

Be pledged to noble ways of the ancient Sun; 
If lose thou must, let it be life – not love. 
Shall clouds besiege thy star – dominion? 
“Up! Time is fleeting!” – the bugle calls above!