he read: so deeply, that the Angel bowed

But then when the Angel—impossible 

to mistake—stepped into his hiding-place, 

erect, regal, all purity and blaze: 

then he renounced all claims and begged 

 

that he might go on being that merchant 

all confused from his travels, which he was; 

he had never learned to read—and now 

such a word, too much even for a wise man. 

 

But the Angel, imperious, showed and 

showed him what was written on his page 

and would not give way and once more willed: Read. 

 

Then he read: so deeply, that the Angel bowed. 

And was already someone who had read 

and was able and obeyed and brought to pass. 

 

[Rainer Maria Rilke {1875-1926} 'Mohammed's Summoning', from New Poems {1908}]