Recite!

Recite, beloved child, I pray,
With all your heart, recite,
That all your recitation may
Become for you a light,

For you to carry in your heart,
Illuminate your face,
Your hands, your feet, your every part,
With dignity and grace.

Recite with care, recite with love,
Recite with reverence,
So that a mantle from above
May shroud your innocence,

As it once shrouded and caressed
Our blessed Muzzammil,
Upon whose heart Jibreel impressed
This Ever Living Will,

Whose hand shall rest upon your head,
God willing, on the Day
When you face all you've ever said,
And all you'll ever say;

So say much from these pearls that shine
And glow with guidance bright;
Recite and love this Light Divine,
Recite by day and night,

And It, in turn, shall bring you cheer,
With all that's good and nice,
Your Light shall carry you, my dear,
Into sweet paradise.

And I'll be waiting near.

Children of the Year

How Winter loved his sister, Spring,
Though all that he did well preserve,
(Yes, each and every little thing)
She meddled in without reserve;
But then her sweet and cheery smile
Would melt him in a little while.


Ah! Lovely Spring, a tender heart,
Enlivened all with just her touch,
And wept when Winter did depart,
For he indulged her very much;
Yet how she glowed so bright with glee
When Summer came for company


Because she was her favorite one;
They treasured all the time they spent,
For all that was by Spring begun,
Did Summer sweetly complement,
Until the farewell grackle call
Would welcome in capricious Fall.


Well, Autumn was his proper name,
For Summer leaves where Autumn goes
To huff at those who shun his game,
And shower gifts on whom he chose,
Till Winter comes to calm him down,
And wait for Spring's return to town.

Hanzalah

Ablution left it all behind,
Refreshed his body, spirit, mind;
He fetched his coat of mail and sword.
With all the love he could afford,

He glanced up at his dear bride,
And caught Jameelah as she eyed
Him longingly from head to toe;
The time had come for him to go.

But as the loom of love would weave,
When he began to take her leave,
She clung to him without a word;
The line 'tween love and duty blurred.

He tarried with his one night bride
Some loving moments by her side,
Then tore himself away in haste,
With not a moment more to waste,

And rushed to his battalion
Of nearly a thousand men,
Against a force ten times its strength
Whose ranks did span a mighty length,

And plunged himself into the heat
Of battle, and his sword did greet
Great numbers of the pagan foe,
Each of them, with a deadly blow.

The gen'ral watched, up from his mound
The scene across the battleground
And saw with his prophetic eye
The silver forms that rose up high

Above the shifting battle sands,
Young Hanzalah in angel hands:
Ablution leaving all behind,
Refreshing body, spirit, mind.

RadhiAllahu anhumaa,
RadhiAllahu anhumaa,
RadhiAllahu anhumaa,
RadhiAllahu anhumaa.


SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam

I Hope You Like Flowers

I was at the Highland Park Poetry Open Mic last Friday, and got to participate in my first on-the-spot poetry challenge. The theme was Gifts. I managed the below in the eight minutes I had.

It irks me when I
Can't figure out why
I can't think of what sort
Of present to buy.

I know who its for,
And what makes her smile,
Yet this silly task
Is taking a while.

Oh well, I won't sweat it,
I'll settle for flowers;
So much for my 'riginal
Thoughts all these hours.

And if she despises
My gift to her, I'll
Utter these words with
A sincere smile:

And then I ran dry. I was stuck, stuck, STUCK! When Jennifer Dotson called my name, I walked up and recited it, and generated some laughter at my dangling ending. And NOW, three days later, I decided to finish with this...

"I fear to buy
What dazzles the eye
Lest it become to you
Much dearer than I;

But flowers shall wilt
Till they are a mess,
And spare you the guilt
Of loving me less."

... just had to finish what I started.

The Congregation

At least one hundred thousand men, all standing side by side,
Had gathered in Jerusalem, within that hallowed space,
Behind the man who came to them on his celestial ride,
To lead a congregation so unmatchable in grace.

A timeless prayer by timeless folk compels a timeless night
Transcending spatiality that so frustrates the mind:
And thus this brotherhood had filled that night with so much light,
That all the heavens and that tiny shred of earth combined

To call for Peace and blessings on Aadam, Idris, and Nuh,
Hud, Saleh, Lut, Ibrahim, Isma'eel, and Ishaaq too,
Shu'ayb, Musa, Haroon, Yousha, Dawood and Sulaymaan,
On Zakariyya, Yahya, and the children of Imraan:

Yes, Peace and blessings be upon Isa, good Maryam's son,
And on the others in between, on each and every one,
All standing silently in rows behind their new Imaam,
Muhammad closed the circle which with Aadam had begun.

Oh what a night, that timeless night, in sweet Jerusalem,
Where all the very best of men had met the best of them;
Oh what a night, that timeless night, outside Umm Hani's place,
Where man and angel and their steed abandoned time and space.

Allahumma Salli 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa baarik wa sallim.

The Ever Rising Tide

Your anger is an ocean wave
You cannot leave to rise,
For once arisen must it brave
A path to its demise:

To slowly draw into its breast
Each vessel in its wake,
Then shatter all upon its crest
Before the downward break;

Or swell in silent solitude,
Across the fickle seas
To crash upon your shores and quench
Your grove of poison trees.

So slay no spirit, spare your heart,
And know the ocean wide,
That you may breathe the winds that quell
The ever rising tide.

One Day of You

To every orphan child, with love.

Up from my mother's arms so cold,
I looked around the room to see
The many faces looking on
My handsome Abba peacefully
Asleep during the day.

I turned to see my mother who
Stood quiet with her statue face,
I put my hands around her neck,
And held her in my baby brace;
Then in the softest tone,

Inquired: "Ammi, Abba get up?"
Her face retained its rocky state,
I slapped her cheeks with both my hands,
And made the room to resonate:
"AMMI, ABBA GET UP?"

And then her face went soft and warm,
She slowly blinked her moistened eyes,
Her lips went tight, and tears streamed;
I thought an Ammi never cries;
My Ammi never cries.

And so I kissed her face and said,
"Ammi, Abba get up" again.
But that just made her weep some more,
To sadly shake her head, and then
To sit upon the floor.

And that was when I raised my arms,
Before announcing loud and clear:
"Ammi, Abba get up, Ammi,
Abba get up TOMORROW". Dear
Ammi wept on but smiled.
Well said, my little child.

Take heart from what was spoken,
This true reminder token
Of sweet and soothing patience,
Absolutely beautiful:
Tomorrow to be woken.

My child, you live one day of you,
So live your day - gold, green and blue;
But live it right, and live it true,
That when the sun does set on you,

As I did, you may get up too,
Get up to live the rest of you;
Unto the Ever Living Who
Does love you with a love more true

Than mine could ever be for you;
So patience for one day of you,
This day of me and you;
Tomorrow is forever.

The Slave From Abyssinia

Consumed completely by a word
He managed through his many pains
In spite of which was only heard
That word, now coursing through his veins:

"Ahad! Ahad!", was all he said,
Enduring at Umayyah's hands
For every chilling night with dread,
A day upon the burning sands.

Yet not one mite did he relent
To rocks that pinned his body down,
Or lashes that were freely spent
To bit by bit his spirit drown.

"Ahad! Ahad!", was all he said,
And when he couldn't breathe the word,
He raised his finger up instead;
Then doubled was the wrath incurred.

When Abu Bakr heard about
Umayyah's rabid mania,
He quickly set to helping out
The slave from Abyssinia.

Umayyah turned him down at first,
But as he saw the ransom grow,
His greed outweighed his mindless thirst
To break his slave; he let him go.

And so secured the mighty sum
Bilal bin Rabah's safe release;
With every drought Umayyah come
The rains of Abu Bakr ease.

If the drought were to defeat you,
Know: your rains await to greet you.

Ya Sayyidee, Don't Turn Away

Ya Sayyidee, don't turn away,
Don't turn away from me;
I've waited long this endless day
For just a glimpse to see.

I know my sinful eyes have brought
Upon my heart disgrace,
But know they have forever sought
The brilliance of your face.

My ears are filled with empty chat
And words of lesser choice,
And now they crave the pleasure that
Accompanies your voice.

My tongue and lips, I fear, have cursed
My self and left me dry;
I beg your leave to slake my thirst
Beside your fountain high.

Ya Sayyidee, don't turn away,
Don't turn away from me;
By Him, the Master of this day,
I love you, my Nabi.

Jameel and Jameelah

I heard this lovely story, supposedly true; beautiful regardless. I picked the names Jameel and Jameelah for ease.

---

No man could compare with gracious Jameel,
And there was no lady who was fairer than Jameelah;
Her beauty unmatched and manner genteel
Had earned her the admiration of the whole qabeelah.

So when he made known his noble intent,
The tribespeople feared an immediate rejection.
But when she did bashfully give her consent,
Jameel was commended by them all with great affection.

But He who draws near the ones who love true

Bestows on them roses covered in thorns,

For sweet is the end of the righteous who

Endeavor a peace that trial adorns.

With only a week until the big day,
Jameelah was injured in an accidental fire;
Her beautiful face was burned in a way,
And destined to never be an object of desire.

She sent for Jameel, and fought back her tears,
Determined to free him from a formidable kindness,
But news of Jameel came flooding her ears:
A poisonous meal had just resulted in his blindness.

But He who draws near the ones who love true

Bestows on them roses covered in thorns,

For sweet is the end of the righteous who

Endeavor a peace that trial adorns.

They met, and they wept, and patiently sat

Considering carefully the burdens that they carried.
And all of the tribe was marveling at
The beautiful way in which they happened to be married.

Contented were they in all of their strife,
They raised a sweet child who was as lovely as her mother,
While time gnawed away at their mantle of life,

A mantle they treasured and devoted to each other.

But He who draws near the ones who love true

Bestows on them roses covered in thorns,

For sweet is the end of the righteous who

Endeavor a peace that trial adorns.

Jameel could not stop the flow of his tears,
In patient submission at the grave of his Jameelah;
And after a span of sixty five years,
He thought of the times when he pretended not to see her.

The scars in her face her heart did conceal,
His love went beyond the thing that made him feign his blindness.
How pure was the love of gracious Jameel,
Surpassed only by the likes of his Jameelah's kindness.

And He who draws near the ones who love true

Bestows on them roses covered in thorns,

For sweet is the end of the righteous who

Endeavor a peace that trial adorns.