The Way to God
The poem's main theme is finding the way to God. Many people profess their love of God, but this love manifests itself in their lives as a noun; it is when love of God is a verb that one finds the way to God and is blessed by Him. The poem is more like a fable in style in that it is a lyrical teachable moment. It suggests people can express their love for God in the best way by being kind to their fellow human. Just expressing in words that they love God is not enough; people need to demonstrate this love by acting in a way that God has taught them.
Faith
Abou Ben Adhem believes in God, in His love, and in the fact that the angel is an emissary of the Lord. It does not occur to him to question the angel's position, or the list that the angel comes bearing. It also does not occur to him to question God's love because his faith is strong and he knows that he has God's love. When Abou Ben Adhem learns that he is not on the list of those who love God he is not concerned, because he has faith that he is doing God's will, and in loving his fellow humans is demonstrating his love. He has faith that God will know this and that his sincerity will be known.
All That Glisters Isn't Gold
There is an interesting juxtaposition in the poem between actual love of God, and demonstrated love of God. The people on the first list spend a great deal of time being seen to love God, but very little time demonstrating this love in action in their lives. The first list is written in a flashy gold book again something that puts greater importance on the appearance of something rather than the contents of it. The poem aims to show that giving the appearance of something and actually doing something are not the same thing, and that the people on the first list are not sincere in their love of God, but just want to be seen to love God.
Love
One of the poem's themes is love; after all, both lists involve love, in that the first is a list of those who love God, and the second, a list of those whom God has blessed, which turns out to be a list of those who bring God's love to life by loving their fellow humans, who are God's creations and therefore representative of God's love for all of us.
Divine Favor and Reward
The poem investigates the idea that one's deeds toward others affect one's chance for divine favor. The angel's message suggests that actions of compassion and love are strongly linked to spiritual reward, as seen by Abou Ben Adhem's special place in the divine record due to his real love for humanity.
