The Sojourn

 An engulfing mercy is he, who gazed upon me.

He’s a king upon a pauper’s stool

Awaiting the dawn within a fool.

Indeed a blessed gaze in a golden-houred haze.

His disquieted face ill-fitted for

The luminous beam he traditionally wore.

His meanings beyond one prone to abscond.

A scorched tree, once futilely grand

He can revive its roots upon fertile land.

A brief sojourn passed, then early light cast.

Just still silence, yet still a recognition

This all is but an ephemeral partition.

Oh Praised One, Most Beloved Creation,

You have honoured me beyond my lowly station.

You raised yourself within my stupefied heart,

Yet I am powerless should you mean to depart.

None are closer to Him than your blessed Light,

Without which all Paths are like a heavenless

night.

You are Beautified beyond created beauty itself,

Your intercession the surest means to His Help.

Your blessed presence enlivens even the wrecked

You are a Mercy to His slaves perpetually abject.

Oh Messenger of God, how miraculous your

brevity

An evanescent call evolved into ever-present

fidelity.

Nurturing an illogical love, though logically sure

In a rejuvenating furnace, regenerating the pure.

Oh Creator, Gratitude itself is Your generous

favour

Grant us from its sweetness for our hearts to

savour.

Oh Infuser of Faith, The Sublime without

opposition,

Elevate us to those preferred with humble

submission.

Oh Lord of the Enshrouded and Lord of the

Perceived,

Cause that our sins are forgiven, our difficulties

relieved.

You are the Knower of all Subtleties, Creation’s

Eternal Source,

Inspire in us rectitude and incline us towards true

remorse.

Except from You and by You, surely there is no

assistance

So raise us up in Your favour, so that we may bear

witness.

Were it not for Muhammad, our treasure,

Oh Most Merciful, we would surely be lost

Through his Light which we seek Your pleasure

After him, all denial is at infinite cost!

Yaa Allah, Adorn him with Your Highest

salutations,

And upon his family and companions peace,

And raise up his followers beyond all other

nations,

And for his Ummah cause all good to increase.

Only by His Names can Death precede Living

And to Him belong all praise and thanksgiving.

Oh Ramadaan

Ramadaan, our Honoured Guest bids us Salaam, and with open arms we welcome thee!

We have waited a year to embrace you here, we receive You with thanks and glee…

Ramadaan, Holder of Treasures Unknown, you come to lift us closer to our Lord.

Your numbered days blessed at Allah’s behest, so that we may attain our reward.

How pleased we are, oh attentive Ramadaan, you duly witness our praise in chorus

Though our throats may be dry our prayers amplify as you open the heavens for us.

Oh Bringer of Purity, Remover of the Vile, Initiator of Humility and Surrender

We cannot appreciate the enormity of your Gate, Ar-Rayaan to an Abode of Splendour.

We increase our ibadah but humbly compared to the immense Rahma you convey,

We are but weak, your excellence we seek to beautify for us our Creator’s Way.

Oh Ramadaan, you are a Divine Tether to enduringly bind our hearts to our Deen,

In you an hour of ineffable Power, the Kalaamullah descended on a night serene.

Leave us not, oh Month of Emancipation without freeing us from the evil we earn.

May we diligently retain the lessons you contain, and once again await your return.

My Sister's Wedding

A name most befitting your radiant light,

An ancient covenant you’ve sworn to uphold.

Today, a vision in which the angels delight,

Inspiring the stories that young girls are told.



Mawadda, lasting love and friendship loyal,

In your name a sure formula for success.

Carry it proudly even through strife and toil,

With your innate patience, devotion and finesse.



Our celebration today strengthens many a bond,

Ties of kinship, of brotherhood, of love.

Blessed occasions from which the devils abscond,

And Divine Rahma descends from above.



Never forget that the immense love you share,

Is but droplet from Your Creator’s endless sea,

Be steadfast in remembrance and solemn in prayer

For Most Gracious, Most Merciful is He.



Today is for happiness, and also introspection,

Together, halving the distance from your Lord.

May you hold each other in support and affection

And together, achieve His Ultimate Reward.

We All Wore Black

Behind locked doors, and marbled checkered floors
Where glorious victory once proudly held the throne.
Together they conspired for the treason they desired:
To claim from a legacy that was never their own.
The freedoms disrespected, the riches they collected,
With forked-tongues they posed as our defenders.
To preserve a decaying name, and to veil shallow shame
The betrayal of thieves under the guise of tenders.

The collection so efficient, yet the distribution so poor.
Consuming mountains of gold, yet always wanting more.
Forgotten are the days when this was a righteous war,
Now we fight the tyrants to whom allegiance we swore.

There was a true champion leading us not so long ago,
That preached to us, pray: "let your inner light glow.
For others, this is permission to let their radiance show,
And we all by this bright honest light the truth can know."

Banished to the fringes this great message lays forsaken,
All the votes and support has been sucked out and taken.
But we will not accept this malice, we want the truth back.
We want no secrets, we want our power, we all wore black.

Islamophobia

Their battle cries ring out across the highways of light
Their hatred apparent from their faceless fight
Their fanatical accusations of malicious treason
They jeer and provoke with paranoia for reason.
They beat the war drum as they are commanded to do
Blind to the Shadows whose bidding they pursue.
Deaf to the soundness of logical thought
Dumb against the same injustice that once they fought.
Through mere flashing lights and circus play
They reduced their minds to lifeless clay.

They beat in trance their drums of war.
And march with bloodlust to our door.

Be clear, we are aware of their bigoted lie.
Remember we stood beside them in years gone by.
Together we laid the bricks of their old-styled abodes
And made them laugh as we paraded in the roads.
We struggled with them through an oppression undue
We chanted and we sang for a cause that was true.
We shared in victory as we had shared in pain,
We have reconciled and forgiven, let it not be in vain.

Yet still they beat their drums of war
And march with bloodlust to our door.

So we pray that God remove their veils,
To recognise Truth and what it entails.
To see the Shadows from the setting sun,
And realise the battle has just begun.

Too late! Engulfed by their trance of war,
They have spilled our blood across the floor.

He Gave Me Clay

I sat one night upon my rug reciting my broken-hearted prayer,
I pleaded my case for a perfect soul mate with whom to lay my affair.
I went to sleep with burning eyes to await His Merciful reply,
And in my trance, He gave me the chance to show the coveting of my eye.

In my hands I found a lump of clay, ready to be shaped by my will.
A peace profoundly settled around me, both my heart and mind went still.
He said to me, “Our beloved slave, from thus We have created you!
So for what you ask, fulfil this task, fashion from it your soul mate too!”

A blank cheque, a clean slate, every beauty my mind could conceive,
Away I went , like from Heaven sent I crafted my perfection perceived.
Aquiline nose with a graceful build, long curly chestnut coloured hair
Eyes that sort of green that is seldom seen, and a complexion rosy and fair.

On her lips I crafted a lasting smile, and coupled a laugh to be my ease,
Her demeanour serene like that of a queen, and a nature happy to please.
I filled her heart with love for me, and sharpened her mind to a blade
A step redressed, I was very impressed by the sight of what what I had made.

“My Lord, my Sustainer!” I childishly cried, “This is for what my heart yearns!
In her the desires to which I aspire, I wish her to be the reward I earn!”
“Our beloved slave, reward is with Us! We shall hold her and observe your deeds,
Present your soul pure if ye want to be sure, for verily We will fulfil all needs!”

Inspiration filled my entire being as I returned from my wondrous trance,
But just before I awoke, again He spoke, “Beloved slave, turn ye back your glance!
We found thee tarrying, oh slave of Ours, on matters that will avail ye not!
Yet never have We forsaken thee, no, slave, your salvation was always in Our plot!

While ye indulged in your vain pursuits, We commanded thine heart to speak!
Your senses conspired for what your heart desired, but We knew truly what ye seek!”
He turned me towards a veiled silhouette, emerging as from a magical mist.
To which witness I now bore, I stood in awe, from falling I could not desist.

My heart humbled and ached with love for that which He mercifully let me see
I knew right away that I could not last a day without the marvel He laid before me.
It was as if my soul had amused itself in trivial work that my senses had carried out,
But when the wonder arose, all my senses froze, yet it melted away my soul’s doubt.

“My Vicegerent, I have created your kind in pairs, so that you in peace may exist,
Your senses just a guise for those who are wise, But it is We that you cannot resist.”
Overwhelmed I am, All-Knowing is He, there is none else to safeguard my fate.
To my knees I fell down, with my face on the ground; it is He that knew my soul mate.

Thus I knew, with not a shadow of a doubt, what my heart had always known true,
I had come to recognise who He placed before my eyes, my love, it was always you.

Does She Know

Does she know that when she smiles
The tempest inside me subsides.
My anguish and turmoil like imprints on the shore
Are faded and dulled by the tides..

Does she know that when she speaks
My restless soul becomes serene..
Infusing a cold heart with calm and joy
And washing dark stained feelings clean..

Does she know that her blazing touch
Sets my rabid soul alight.
Wings of invincibility spread wide and proud
Beating mirthfully as I take flight..

Does she know? How could she not
When every action and syllable the truth shows
Stuttered words and reddened face scream the truth
And in my heart I know: she knows..