Of threads of palm was the carpet spun Whereon he kneels when the day is done, And the foreheads of Islam are bowed as one! To him the palm is a gift divine, Wherein all uses of man combine,— House and raiment and food and wine! And, in the hour of his great release, His need of the palms shall only cease With the shroud wherein he lieth in peace. "Allah il Allah!" he sings his psalm, On the Indian Sea, by the isles of balm; "Thanks to Allah, who gives the palm!"

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Of threads of palm was the carpet spun Whereon he kneels when the day is done, And the foreheads of Islam are bowed as one! To him the palm is a gift divine, Wherein all uses of man combine,— House and raiment and food and wine! And, in the hour of his great release, His need of the palms shall only cease With the shroud wherein he lieth in peace. "Allah il Allah!" he sings his psalm, On the Indian Sea, by the isles of balm; "Thanks to Allah, who gives the palm!"" in the context of "John Greenleaf Whittier, The Palm-Tree." to mean that wisdom is timeless.