Although this poem is crafted as a first-person account, I was not part of the experience recounted in it. Rather it is based on what I heard from the esteemed Dr. Umar AbdAllah in a lecture delivered recently at Darul Qasim. The scene is the lush campus of the Alqueria de Rosales in Southern Spain.
These last few days, each day had we
A visit from a fox,
A quiet, handsome creature, he
Attended all our talks;
For when we’d set to congregate
Upon a grassy hill
To purposefully separate
Our hearts from chatter ill,
This beast was wont to venture near
Neath the temperate sun,
Day after day to persevere
In a skulk of one.
He caused us no distraction nor
To mischief he inclined,
But stood in grand inaction for
What pacified his mind.
Then on that peaceful night as we
Prepared ourselves for prayer,
We sensed a sweet serenity
Excite the silent air;
I do suspect our vulpine friend
Detected it as well,
How quietly did he ascend
The grounds I cannot tell.
However, witness may I bear:
He walked the straightest line
Between the crowds assembled there
And made an exit fine.
I think the blessed night of Qadr
Came upon us then,
Upon us and on every other
Creature in that glen.
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