Archives for May 2025

We say we know love
and marvel at the capacity
of our hearts for it

But our love is springtime showers
flowinto a shallow puddle
that forms just outside our doorstep
reserved for us and ours

There is another love
that of a man who sat many a time
in a corner of the mosque
his mosque
silent

you would hear no sniffle
see no shudder upon his form
but if you came around
you would see
tears
warm
rivers on his blessed cheeks

falling into clear pools of grace
one pool for each of us
praying we find our ways home
and not to the other place

All those pools form the ocean of
Rahmatan lil ‘aalameen
which is more than a notion of
love, a brand we’ve never seen

We don’t know
love like that

You’re tired and it’s all too much
so much you’re ready to give up
but giving up is easy so
she didn’t

She put him down upon the ground
and went to run between the mounts
Her feet were calloused but her plan
was simple

She scanned
                   t h e   d e s o l a t e   h o r I z o n 
not a soul nor caravan
yet she endured and on she ran
our mother

A woman strong, believing slave
how could she know a nation would
spring from the dry heels of her
crying babe

Relief will come, slow down a bit
and may it be that you will find
yourself saying zam zam or
drinking it