ABOU BEN ADHEM by James Henry Leigh Hunt

Abou Ben Adhem (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 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 blest,
And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.

This is a poem that many of our great-grandparents memorized in school. Abou Ben Adhem was a Sufi mystic whose Islamic sect mainly focused on the direct perception of Truth or God through mystical practices based on divine love. British essayist, critic, journalist, and poet James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) made him famous in the 19th century Western world through the poem, written in 1838.