Poetry

O Allah, help me. Help me get
To where that fountain bursts;
And when I get there Allah, let
Me quench my burning thirst
By him whose hands were raised for me,
O Allah, let me meet
Your Mukhtar. Khalid longs to be
Beside his blessed feet.

Hope is like the waning moon
That flees the starlit night
But only for returning soon
A floating silver scythe
To cut the ties of apathy
And cast aside despair

Let the ink of tawbah dye
This dark and silent satin sky

Sitting on a prayer rug,
I’m broken like a twig;
Got nothing left to show, Lord
Nothing there to give.

My heart is heavy, laden
With all this filth and grime,
Dripping with the sins that I have
Gathered over time.

Let it rain Your Nur
To wash away the dirt
This sinner has forgotten how
The touch of sin must hurt.

Sitting on a prayer rug,
Trying hard to cry,
Truth for me is buried deep,
Deep inside a lie.

Let not my Nabi
Turn away
Away from me
Upon that day

Allah, when shade
Is hard to find
When I would trade
The aggregate
Of all the pleasures
In my mind

But let him find me
In the throngs
And wave me over
To his side
Beneath the mantle of Mukhtar
Where in your endless mercy, Lord
Khalid might abide

First light rain:
I can’t help wonder
That every drop’s
Descending under
The careful watch
Of two angels.

Two!

If comes the Night of Power
And you are in its grasp
Your heart will soften in that hour
Till you weep at last
Seeking forgiveness
To be forgiven
Being forgiven
To forgive
Bless the tears
That let you live

To whoso I have wronged in ways
That only you can tell
If there be harm that I’ve forgotten
Through time’s onward swell

I’m sorry and I hope you’ll find
Your Garden filled with flowers
Each sprung from my forgetful mind
That thinks of you for hours

The greater challenge now remains
To find the ones i know
Who I have hurt, and use my brains
To have them let it go

Even the wild daisy knows
To lean into the sun
And here I am entombed in apathy

Oh Allah, lift the seal upon
My heart and ears and eyes
That I may take in what I hear and see

Your Word you sent to your habib
Your guidance that is he
To save a hapless mendicant like me

How can I not think back to when
The very best of angels braced
The very best of men

And in that noble heart, he placed
First words of revelation
Expanding the universe within
Priming it to bear
The blessed burden of wahy
So I may have my share
Of pacing about my living room
Reciting it with ease
As if my tongue were endless shore
And the words were seas

So, tell me then:
How can I not think back to when
The very best of angels braced
The very best of men