Khalid Mukhtar

I wrote this piece to motivate my children to rise before dawn. They helped me with the first two stanzas.

An angel whispers something sweet,
I think it is my name,
I feel a hand upon my feet
And wonder what became

Of angel words, for there I see
Before my sleepy eyes
My mother smiling down at me,
A smile to make me rise.

But when she leaves, I tuck my chin
Into my knees, upon
My bed that feels so cozy in
The early light of dawn.

And now another whisper takes
Me back to yesterday,
To wonder why the heart awakes
Around this time to pray.

I open wide my eyes and think
Of all the peace I felt,
Exchanging sleep’s delicious drink
For thoughts of when I knelt.

And all this thinking makes me long
To feel that love divine,
I stagger through this wake-up song
To make ablution fine:

The water on my hands and face,
The drops upon my head,
Around my feet they stream and race
Till all of sleep has fled.

Responding to the morning call,
I stand prepared to pray,
Then raise my hands and push it all
Behind me as I say

Allahu Akbar.

The less of you that stands between
Your Lord and what you pray,
The more expanse of fertile green;
For every word you say

Shall root itself in timeless soil
That timeless waters flush,
For all remembrance comes with toil
That tends your garden lush;

Your wretched self need step aside
And let your heart reflect
The Light that ever shines to guide
The lost it may detect.

That all the words of praise that share
Your tear-moistened lips,
Sprout trees of wonder foliage where
The dew of nectar drips.

And when the angels span your spread
One thousand years or more,
They’ll marvel at the words you said
That such a wonder bore,

Then rush to splash as waves of light
Upon your heart intent,
Inspiring your inward sight
With some of what you sent;

And thus the intellect of those
Who went before was blest,
For from their nothingness arose
A movement in their breast,

To soar up high on angel wings
And flourish in the land;
It comes with what remembrance brings
With its prophetic brand.

The less of you that stands between
Your Lord and what you pray,
The more expanse of fertile green
For every word you say.

But I’m still in my way.

The Prophet kept an even eye
On Amr, son of Abdi Wud
Who shouted out with every cry,
A word insulting, harsh and rude.

For Amr was a massive man
Who towered well above the rest,
A man of war with scars that ran
Across his bold, embattled chest.

Beyond the wide, forbidding trench,
Stood Yathrib’s best, but even they
Perceived the words of Amr wrench
A bit of their resolve away;

But when the challenge to a duel
Rang in the still and silent air,
Ali advanced with manner cool,
And sought the Prophet’s leave to dare.

The Prophet swiftly turned it down
When he said, “This is Amr”, and
Ali withdrew without a frown
While Amr’s mount swept up the sand.

“Is there no man a match for me?”
He boomed across the great divide,
While those he had for company
Rejoiced in laughter at his side.

Ali advanced again to ask
The Prophet to allow him fight
The giant Amr, but a mask
Of declination met his sight.

And so Quraysh persisted in
Their condescending ridicule,
Insulting who were once their kin
For failing to accept a duel,

Upon which Ali, somber, grim,
Again approached the Prophet who,
Saw, when he turned to look at him,
Deep in his eye, a sight he knew.

The Prophet’s face grew soft with care,
He gave Ali the leave he sought,
And made his dear cousin wear
The blessed turban, then he brought

His double-bladed Zulfiqar,
And girding it ’round Ali’s waist,
The Prophet prayed, his heart afar,
And bade Ali descend with haste.

Ali got down and stood before
The steed upon which Amr sat,
While Amr’s folk let out a roar
Of laughter at a sight like that.

But Amr’s face went soft, as he
Did Ali’s father well recall;
And he said, “I wish not to be
The one to make your honor fall”,

Ali bin Abi Talib said:
“It is my plan to strike you dead”,
Which made the giant’s face go red,
For off he leaped and stood up tall,

And in a show of might, hamstrung
His horse before he onward sprung,
Attacking hard the shorter man
Who moved as only Ali can.

So on they fought till Amr slowed,
When Ali in a lightning flash
Threw down the giant whom he owed
The promise of a deadly clash,

And straddling thus his barrel chest,
The hands of Ali closed around
The neck of Amr, and depressed
The rest of him into the ground;

No matter all the strength that he
Exerted, Amr could not check
The steely hands of brave Ali
That slowly tightened round his  neck.

And keeping thus his grip, Ali
Drew forth his dagger, let it dance
Impending death unless there be
Surrender, giving peace a chance.

But Amr’s pride was wounded much,
And he rejected compromise,
So when he felt the dagger touch
His neck, he brought his head to rise,

Then spat upon his captor’s face,
And closed his eyes to feel the brace
Of icy death, but all he felt
Was ease in warm release’s melt.

For tall above him stood Ali,
Restored his dagger by his knee.
“I fought you for my Lord”, said he,
“But when you chose to spit on me,

My anger sought my self to please,
And that begot your here release.”
But Amr reeled from all this shame,
He gathered up his massive frame,

Then grabbed his fallen sword and brought
It smashing down on Ali’s shield,
While Ali rolled to reach the spot
Where Zulfiqar lay. As he kneeled,

He thrust with all his strength and speed
The double headed scimitar
Which found its mark and brought to bleed
The fallen giant, caused a stir.

Then rang aloud a takbeer wave
From every rank of archers awed
By what they witnessed of a slave
Who came to be the lion of God.

Your smile, my child, I love your smile,
It takes me to a sunny place,
And if you hold it for a while,
I’ll feel its warmth upon my face.

Your laugh, my child, I love it so,
I’m taken by your mirthful eyes
To where the babbling waters flow
Upon the bed that never dries.

And when our journey is complete,
Will you and I walk hand in hand
With him who all the angels greet
With all the praise his names command,

To, on the lush eternal banks
Of sweet reflection, realize
The golden sunshine of a smile
In silver streams of mirthful eyes.

As we beseech in Paradise:

Ilaahi, send your prayers and peace
Upon the dearest of your friends,
And on his blessed family,
And all of his companions.

Love him that you too may be loved,
Miss him, and you’ll be missed;
Just long to kiss his hand that might
Your longing face be kissed.

Despise him for eternal hate,
And slander him for shame;
Avenging angels long await
Who desecrate his name.

Yet he, without the bounds of time,
Within his place of rest,
Is eagerly awaiting you
To be his honored guest;

For on the Throne encompassing
The seventh firmament
Is One whose love for him exceeds
The sum of all love spent.

Exchange now all your hate for love,
And know the man you don’t,
So that a mercy from above
May save the soul you won’t.

The poet must swim in the sea of his heart
To scour its bed for the pearls of his love,
And string them in verse that will let him depart
The dark of his soul to the light up above.

But he who recites from the Word of his Lord
Immerses his heart in an ocean of Light,
Illumines the world with the pearls that afford
Us a glimpse of a life of eternal delight.

A poem can be a fancy way
To say a thing well known;
A thing that when presented plain
Is not attention prone;

To take a thought mundane and make
It sweet, romantic or
Just fascinatingly astute,
Is what a poem is for.

And seldom can it cause you pain
That makes you frown or curse,
Digesting thoughts that don’t constrain
The words that make them verse;

Like sitting in a carriage that
Is led by handsome steeds,
Unbridled, wont to gallop at
Unregulated speeds.

But if you chance upon a poem
You cannot understand,
Extending it the courtesy
Of silence would be grand.

My load is heavy, let me rest
My aching self a bit,
But only for a moment lest
I tarry where I sit.

I know I’ll slip along the way,
And suffer every plight
As I walk in the scorching day
And in the dark of night.

I may not bear the strength to rise
Above my many pains,
For obligation comes to me
In many different strains.

But come now, take my weary hand
Consolingly in yours,
So I may see you understand
What all the world ignores.

And in return, I promise you
With all my heart and mind
A constant love, and every peace
My faithful hand may find.

I pray to Him upon His Throne
That shades all Will Divine,
That I forevermore be yours,
And you, forever mine.