"Glory"... "Peace"... "Love"

I was dreaming... and my spirit wandered far, far away... It folded back the generations to see a world without a God to glorify... and peoples that knew no peace... and multitudes that counted love a weakness and a frailty.

I saw men stripped of their humanity, living as a mass of cruelty and corruption without limit... of savagery and evil without limit: as though all who dwelt there were beasts that knew nothing but preying.

I saw the ruler pass sentence on the criminal, saying: Throw him to the lions to tear him limb from limb... and the people cheer — here is a pleasure not to be missed! — then rush to watch the lions tear men to shreds and eat their flesh... and lap up their blood... all this while they applaud with delight.

I saw the ruler condemn the criminal to death... but either by crucifixion... or by stoning... two punishments that are the most hideous ever devised by an infernal mind... and I saw the people, in both cases, guffawing... and looking on... nay, even taking part.

I saw pampered lords... passing their hours either in the Roman baths, being rubbed down and carousing... or in their palaces, amusing themselves.

I saw slaves flogged with whips for the slightest slip... and if one of them died under the lash... his children and his wife remained in the service of the murdering master, the ring in their ears, without end... for they and their offspring had been bought as slaves.

I saw gloating over captives... eyes put out... limbs cut off... I saw lewdness in broad daylight... in the temples of the Romans and the Greeks... called sacred lewdness.

I saw the hell of this world and its devils... who, if a reformer came among them, said: Give him poison to drink at once.

And suddenly the music of the angels sounded... Glorify God: peace on earth... love among men...

And suddenly there was born into the world the gentlest personality that ever walked upon the earth of this world — the personality of whom the Ahmadi poet said:

Gentleness was born on the day of Jesus' birth

And suddenly there appeared, about the holy town... the martyr town... he of the single robe.

He went walking upon the earth in his body... but his spirit hovered above mankind.

He did not speak much; were all he said gathered together, it would not fill a small booklet... He went about whispering: Love... have mercy... They said: And whom shall we love? And he cried out: You shall love your neighbor... love your enemy... love your God... love the wretched... love the child... love everyone... They said: Define it for us... and then he set before them the story of the tender-hearted Samaritan... for he of the single robe saw that nothing can set this world right but love... and the mercy that springs from love.

And he went on loving and showing mercy... but they rose against him... and they fancied they had done away with the idea... and put the creed to death... and that they would go back to being, as before, gods of hatred and enmity...

But the tender voice went on whispering... Love, have mercy... and consciences awoke... and it was as though a breeze of mercy had passed over the world.

The ruler said: Put the criminal to death, but by the easiest of deaths... we seek no revenge upon him... yet the world must be saved from his crimes. And the people cried: Yes, put him to death out of sight, for we cannot bear to see lions devouring human beings... our brothers.

And the master said to his slave: You are free; you shall serve me for wages, and I shall not enslave your children and your wife... And the people cried: Yes, we want no bondage of creature to creature... we are all servants of God.

And the practitioners of sacred lewdness said: Let the barbarous horrors be hidden away... we have, besides bodies, souls... and we wish to rise by them.

And the warriors said: Captives have a sacred right... no eyes shall be put out and no limbs cut off; nay, on the night of the birth of the Father of Mercy not a shot shall be fired... rather shall the adversaries come out of their trenches and exchange greetings and holiday gifts... And the people cried: Blessed be the Father of Mercy.

Nor did people stop at this, for he of the single robe had said to them: Love, have mercy.

And they went about asking: What more shall we do? And behold, hospitals

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were raised... and associations founded; and behold, people became angels of mercy, gathering in the child, the vagrant, the wretched, the neglected girl, and the orphan... and behold, the cross fluttering over the wounded without distinction... as though a hand from on high had turned the world of cruelty into a world of tenderness and blessing.

I saw all this, and I cried out... How great is the Newborn!... He has conquered evil... and changed the face of the world.

And I opened my eyes... The world is keeping the feast of Christmas... and the millions are crying: Glory... peace... love... But much of what was has changed.

It is as though the tender voice had begun to grow faint... nay, God forgive me... as though people had stopped their ears against hearing it.

The victor has begun to take his revenge upon the vanquished.

Wars have begun to sweep away the guilty and the innocent alike.

Matter has begun to reign.

And the "I" has come back, saying: I love — but only myself.

And I heard Gandhi repeating with fervor... Give me your Christ, not your Christianity.

And my lips did not cry out with those who cried: Glory to God... peace on earth... love among men... Rather, from my depths of depths, my spirit repeated...

O Lord of the feast... O you of the meek eyes and the single robe with which you were content: teach us anew to love... and to have mercy.