What they didn't say

High-level meeting
The king was bound to it
The reputation of the country

is attacked, and defended
with the greatest philosopher:
are the unbelievers inferior?

Should we convert them
with cannons and forced labour
and be rewarded for that?

Or are we robbing and killing
civilized people to damnation
of ourselves, an indelible debt?

The opinions remain
divided, the king is powerless
He cannot make a decision

The sages split up
Praying, they purify their souls
from what they didn't say