When we consider generosity,
We think of those possessed of wealth and time
Who give with or without the vanity
That often taints a gift with hues of crime.
And then we hear the term afresh from those
Who saw its splendor in prophetic light,
For giving matters when the giver knows
The value of what’s given, all despite
The ignorance and bliss ingratitude
Of them who walk the earth in heedlessness
While harvesting the riches that accrued
Upon the breaths of those who do with less.
SubhanAllah is charity that turns
The world despite the punishment it earns.
Vision, Green and Clear
Let’s put on our tauhīd glasses
(Of course they’re tinted green)
And maybe we’ll see glimpses of
The things that Khidr’s seen
Thinking
The more I think,
The more I think
The world should be protected
From my thinking.
The more I think
The world should be protected
From my thinking,
The more I think.
Harvest
Every dhākir knows
What a dhākir sows:
Where your tasbīh goes
There your garden grows
Wordwise
To think before you speak is to
Account for all effects that you
May have upon the world with words
In ways not even actions do
The silence of the wise can be
More active than what eyes may see
Making It Count
All those tears are no good
If you don't do what you should
All those prayers are in vain
If you don't try when you could
All your lofty plans are empty
If they're written in the sands
For the waves will come to wash them
And the will out of your hands
Think about the time you spent
All the thoughts that came and went
Why the rush into repentance
If you don't mean to repent
Don't just drain the cup of water
Even water has a taste
Savor every drop that quenches you
So nothing goes to waste
Now, turn to Him with every haste.
Body
The ummah is as one body.
We wonder where the hate we see begins;
We blame the haters and their mentoring,
But seldom see the damage that our sins
May wreak upon the hearts they’re entering.
We hate our children when we fail their cause;
We hate our spouses as we burden them;
We even hate our siblings, all because
We give our selves a love we cannot stem.
So hear the words the minbar sends our way:
“Allah! He does not change a people who
Refuse to change their selves.” Should we not say,
Your family should matter more than you?
A thorn on Cherry Street by any means
Can cause a vein to hemorrhage on Deans.
Lost
Stop your dying, let it go
The money, science and art you know
Just leave it all behind you for a minute
And turn your heart toward that place
Let go, abandon time and space
Forget forgetting it and get lost in it
Tasbīh
These words that rise up from your heart
In sweet remembrances to be
Upon your patient lips departing
For your Garden growing free
Interview
Highland Park Poetry’s Jennifer Dotson interviewed me last week about my book, In The Warmth of The Shade. We talked about how it all began, @FonsVitae, publishing, 9/11, @shaykhamin, @DarulQasim and even about my good friend @ushakur :-).
And I read a few poems from the collection.