The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala, XCV

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

“Thou shalt not kill!”—Thy words, O God, we heed, 
Though thy two Soul-devouring Angels feed 
     Thy Promise of another life on this,—
To have spared us both, it were a boon indeed. 

Credit

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.