And It Is

by: Sajida Mohammed

Adult Category Winner

IWA Poetry Contest 2011

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll drown with its meaning

You'll sink with its lovely essence

Dumbfounded, you'll think your dreaming

Give Him a word

One word

And He'll craft a work of art

Design an untold masterpiece

Deep rooted in your heart

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll shine with its brilliance

Glow beautifully in its depth

A story filled with magnificence

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll know what it means to smile

To Laugh, to love, to live

To go that extra mile

Give Him a word

One word

And you'll see the essence of your being

The wonders of what lies around you

The fragility of this life your living

Give Him a word

One word

And trust that nothing will be missed

Give Him a word

Just one  word

'BE!'

And it is.

Cherry Blossom

by: Farah Razeena Abduz-Zahir

I touched the petals of a cherry blossom, bowing low on laden bough

today, while waiting for the bus.

Low enough for me to reach out and caress,

And feast my eyes on their angelic hue.

My bus came then.

I jumped on, keen not to miss, a ride to deadlines upon deadlines.

But that moment my fingers connected

I swear; the electrons in my skin jumped. Excited

Pulses rushed to the brain.

Somewhere, some deep synapse

Reverberated. In some deep way.

The signal synchronized with the soul of me

Often am I oblivious. To this inner soul.

A me in constant worship

By virtue of being a created being. Regulated, kept alive, harmonized

To laws of physics and nature. Indisputable, irrevocable, inescapable.

I exist;- an embodiment of the slave of Allah

A cherry blossom invoking a profound lesson

Magnificent slave of the Magnificent Maker

Look! Cherry petals everywhere… carelessly strewn by a dancing wind

Swirl and twirl and settle, in eddies and corners,

Filling nooks and crannies of busy sidewalks

People busily hurry over.

Unaware, Unknowing, un-remembering.

So hard to be always aware of where

we came from, where we are going.

But look! Look at all the cherry trees, boughs bent low in worship.

Always aware.

Carelessly it seems, the Glorious One scatters His glory,

Each petal a miracle

Thousands upon thousands fall and pile.

A powerful reminder, we trample on.

Oh resplendent Lord, not needing our worship

I look everywhere and everywhere I see

Your immense bounty

Let me then, worship thee

As my body, my mind, my life, my existence worships thee

Let me be aware.

Like that cherry tree I saw

Connected to my Maker, in serenity

O beloved one

I get so weepy just to see you
And I'm so filled with joy to know you
With your final look from the distance
You were so pleased
You said
'Salah, Salah'
Then you closed your eyes with ease
Are you still smiling my beloved?
It's so painful
To watch you go
It's been more then 1,000 years
I know
It's such a joy to say your name
O beloved without you we'll never be the same

Are you still still smiling my beloved
Be there peace with your name
The earth and heaven rejoiced the day you came
...and were still weeping
Nothing but despair to be near your grave
Nothing but peace will ever be with your name
Are you still smiling my beloved?
May God's mercy, peace and blessing be upon you
And may you smile, O beloved

Love, Rabia

I have loved Thee with two loves - 

a selfish love and a love that is worthy of Thee.
As for the love which is selfish, 
Therein I occupy myself with Thee,
to the exclusion of all others.
But in the love which is worthy of Thee, 
Thou dost raise the veil that I may see Thee.
Yet is the praise not mine in this or that,
But the praise is to Thee in both that and this. 

My Lord's knowledge

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
For my dua and my agonizing supplication
is a witness to my poverty.
For this secret I make supplication
in times of ease and times of difficulty
I am a slave whose pride
is in his poverty and obligation
O my Lord and my King
You know my state
And what has settled in my heart
of agonies and preoccupations
Save me with a gentleness
from You, O Lord of Lords
Oh save me, Most Generous
before I run out of patience

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
O One who is swift in sending aid
I ask for aid that will arrive to me swiftly
It will defeat all difficulty
and it will bring all that I hope for
O Near One Who answers
and All-Knowing and All-Hearing
I have attained realization through my incapacity,
my submission and my brokenness

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
I am still standing by the door, so please my Lord
have mercy on my standing
And in the valley of generosity, I am in itikaf (solitary retreat)
So, Allah, make my retreat here permanent
And Im abiding by good opinion (of You)
For it is my friend and ally
And it is the one that sits by me and keeps me company
All day and night

My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing
There is a need in my soul, O Allah
so please fulfill it, O Best of Fulfillers
And comfort my secret and my heart
from its burning and its shrapnel
In pleasure and in happiness
and as long as You are pleased with me
For joy and expansion is my state
and my motto and my cover
My Lords knowledge has sufficed me
from asking or choosing

The Suburbs, Hafiz

Complaint

Is only possible

While living in the suburbs

Of God.

Find a better job, Hafiz

Now

That

All your worry

Has proven such an

Unlucrative

Business

Why

Not

Find a better

Job

Faith

O Hannah
Your beautiful prayer
I pray it myself
Not for wealth nor even your health
But for an offspring
Dedicated to the one we give thanks
Ya Allah, her child was Mary
And the woman is not like the man
Except in worship
Oh Mary your faith prayed for by your mother
Cared for by Zacariah
Mary where do you get your provisions?
By Allah he is the one
To say 'Be' and it is done
To provide without struggle for the world bows to him
Ya Allah
Eve created from Adam's rib
And Jesus born without a father, without sin
Those who accused didn't really know, not true in faith
Their accusations so great
Esa spoke in defense of his mother
As if the strength of faith was born in each one of you
Oh my followers which one of you are true?
The disciples stood as true followers
Your message strengthened with their oath
Giving you hope
But what do the masses want but to follow the ways of their fathers
Killed on a cross by their imaginations
Allah saves who he wills
With his discrimination

Oh Jesus the strength of your mother could not keep away the oppressors
Oh Mary the strength of your mother could not keep away the accusers
Yet Allah tries the faithful among us so let us stand when we should
And be meek when we must

Its not about the qibla you face
But the words that you follow
Oh Muhammad the honor of the greatest of men and women and you are still greater
For God is the greatest giving whom he will taking what he will
Commanding and watching over forever existent and merciful
And our sincerest friend
Protector and guide
Worthy of all praise
Looking up to the great men and women of faith
May we say laillaha illala before we hit our graves

Before we reach that day where the wealth of pharaoh can't save our face
But the sincerity of Asiya will keep us in his grace
Oh Allah protect our faith
Save us from the burning flames
Save us from disgrace

Oh Annah let us pray like you prayed
So our children can pray for us
And on that day of certainty
For some our burdens will be set free
For those on the left a burden beyond belief
Oh Allah please love us
And let us not be fooled by the deceit
Shaytaan and his friends
They'll lose in the end

Oh Asiya you gave up the kingdom for Allah
May he shower you in blessing
Keeping you under his shade
Some of us are blind to the coming of this fateful day

Measure on a scale all the good you have done
Measure across from your sin
Take account for your life
Stop to breath the reality of the passing of time
For in the end hope in the one
Will be better that anything else you could have done

Our father Abraham the friend of Allah
Doing any and everything for the one
We weak in faith must remember these name
Those of us not facing a life sentence for practicing our faith
Allah has provided us an open space
Believe and pray and fast
Do the others if you can

For O Annah you gave your child for the will of Allah
For we with little sincerity
Barely measure up to these great names

Are we really Muslim, or have we lost the sweetness of faith?

My father

Story Of My Father

Do we kill ourselves on purpose?
Is destruction all our own?
Are we dying for a reason?
Is our misery all our own?
Are the people suicidal?
Did we come this far to die?
Of ourselves are we to perish?
For this useless, worthless lie?


My father had a kingdom
My father wore a crown
They said he was an awful man
He tried to live it down
My father built us houses
And he kept his folks inside
His images were stolen
And his beauty was denied.


My brothers are unhappy
And my sisters they are too
And my mother cries for glory
And my father stands accused.


My father, yes my father
Was a brave and skillful man
And he led and served his people
With the magic of his hand.


My father, yes my father
His soul was sorely tried
‘Cause his images were stolen
And his beauty was denied.


Sometimes the river’s calling
And sometimes the shadows fall
That’s when he’s like a mountain
That is in master over all.


This story of my father
Is the one I tell and give
It’s the power and the glory
Of the life I make and live


My father has a kingdom
My father wears a crown
And he lives within the people
And the lives he handed down
My father has a kingdom
My father wears a crown
And through the spirit of my mother, Lord
The crown was handed down.


Well sometimes the rivers callin’
And sometimes the shadows fall
That’s when he’s like a mountain
That’s a master over all.


My father has a kingdom
My father wears a crown
And he lives within the people
And the lives he handed down
My father has a kingdom
My father wears a crown
Through the spirit of my mother, Lord
The crown was handed down
Through the spirit of my mother
The crown was handed down
Through the spirit of my mother, Lord
The crown was handed down!

William Wordsworth- The world is too much with us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be

A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn

Langston Hughes -Militant

Let all who will
Eat quietly the bread of shame.
I cannot,
Without complaining loud and long.
Tasting its bitterness in my throat,
And feeling to my very soul
It's wrong.
For honest work
You proffer me poor pay,
for honest dreams
Your spit is in my face,
And so my fist is clenched
Today-
To strike your face.

London -William Blake

I wandered through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
A mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.


In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:


How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.


But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.