words.

these words
are nothing but
a hidden trail
and a public prayer
to lead your heart
back to mine.

sema, canim.

how can I forget the man
who gave my name new meaning?

now even heaven
is in a trance
lost in the name of God
praying for her half-prophet
to come home.

holding the roses.

if i could never hate a rose for having thorns
how could i ever hate you for having flaws?

the magician of words.

he was a magician with words,
capable of lighting up my starless nights
with his poetry
and shrouding me in darkness with his texts

midas touch.

she had the midas touch with love

the lovers sparkled

but the love turned lifeless

seeds.

you tried to bury me
not knowing,
i was already in too deep

red moon.

you eclipsed
my entire being
then left me
in darkness
longing
for your splendor
to light up this sema,
canim

the edge of darkness.

she always sat

at the edge of darkness

searching

for a shooting star

soul spill.

ah,

i know now why

You broke me…

it was the only way

this poetic soul

could spill onto these pages

 

in darkness and in light.

she had never seen a soul so pure
he had never seen a heart so wild
together,

they were like the night sky
she, the stars
and he, her moon

The Entrepreneur’s Creed

Enslave yourself
And live someone else’s dreams
Look at her…
Look at him…
The family’s cream
They’ve got respect
Security
A fat paycheck
Take my advice,
Don’t take risks
Just follow the crowd.

I was born to fly
So why should I crawl through life?
I will create my own destiny
I will fight this fight
I’ll pick myself up
After I get knocked down
I’ll take the blows and the punches
But I won’t follow the crowd
I have a fire inside
Can’t you see?
I was made for something
Much, much bigger than me
I want to discover
Explore
Bring my dreams to life
The sky isn’t the limit
When we’ve reached past the skies.

I will build
And break
Rise
And fall
Put in
Blood, sweat and tears
Give it my all
But I will not settle
No, I will not sleep
I will patiently persevere
And unleash the power of my dreams.

When Pumpkins Grow on Pine Trees: A Love Story

­

 

I long to see the world.  As I creep along the earth, I wonder what it must feel like to stand tall, confidently hovering above everyone else.  I have been teased for being stout, for being thick skinned, for being spineless…but I take it all in quietly for I know the truth above all truths – that appearances are transient and these words will not matter when we are all returned to the earth.  Some say I am an abode of kernels of great wisdom, all I try to do is appreciate the world around me and life’s little pleasures.

But there is one being in our garden who never says a word…who stands in quiet confidence, enveloped in mystery.  I am mesmerized by its beauty, its timelessness, and its seeming humility despite having reached the heavens.  We come from different worlds, but I still feel a strange pull towards it and every day, I wish to see the world through the eyes of the pine tree.

I long for companionship.  For a friend.  For someone to share this unending journey with.  It is not easy being me.  Everyone thinks I have the answers, that I soar to great heights because of a hunger to see the world…but it couldn’t be further from the truth.  I wish I could crawl along the dirt and take in the earth’s fragrance after a rain shower.  Wither away each autumn and come alive again in the spring.  Aerial beings use me at their whim to rest awhile, but I am nothing more than a sturdy respite to them.  I have deep veins and roots, yet I feel completely hollow inside.

They say that when you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it.  Maybe that was the reason why I found myself growing closer to my dreams.  Until one day, the majestic pine stood right before me in all its might and grandeur.  With all my dreams and excitement squashed inside, I did what no one had ever dared to do before – I opined my inner desire to see the world.

It certainly was an odd request.  And I am going to be honest – I had my fears.  It was different, and a world where no member of my family had ventured before.  For eternity, we only rooted for our own kind and were taught to pity others as lowly earthlings.  We were the rulers of the earth, idolized for our strength, beauty and majesty.  Plus, would I be able to carry its weight?  Yes, I was known to be strong but all my life I only held needles and cones. But I couldn’t deny the strange pull I felt towards it.  Despite its trivial size and peculiar shape, it exuded a sense of inner peace…as if it knew the secret to happiness. Could this be the answer to my loneliness?  Defying the principles I had been raised with, I chose to explore this new world and conceded to what would turn into the friendship of a lifetime and a green revolution.

If there is heaven on earth, it is this…it is this.

It took several weeks but the wait was worth it.  The view from above was unlike anything I had imagined.  I could see my family in our little pumpkin patch, the cucumbers, the collard greens, the marigolds, the roses, the blue skies, the endless white clouds, the mountains…it was inspiring and humbling at the same time.  But even after seeing the world and conquering my dreams, what I fell in love with most was something I had never expected.  I fell in love with the companion and benefactor of my journey, rather than the coveted destination.  I had discovered a new bond, a friendship like no other.

We couldn’t have been more different.  I joked that we made a perfect ‘10’ together – it was tall and lean like a ‘1’, and I was short and stout like a ‘0’.  We felt a deep sense of kinship, unlike either of us had ever felt before with our own kind.

At first we wondered at the effortless depth of our relationship.  But over time, we realized the secret to our sense of bonding…after all we had taken birth from the same earth.

___________________________________________________

There are countless examples of camaraderie, of friendship and ‘live and let live’ all around us.  Of a world were meat-eaters and non-meat eaters, of wine-lovers and sobriety-dwellers, of pine trees and pumpkins living together in peace, and helping each other achieve great heights.  If God had wished to, he could have placed all of the different species on an independent planet of their own.  But He did not…  Perhaps it has been so that we may dwell on our inherent oneness and learn from one another.

“O mankind! We have created you all out of a male and a female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another.”

(Qur’an 49:13; Surah or Chapter ‘The Rooms’)

 

A writer, a dreamer and a seeker, the author is the founder of The Interfaith Text Study at the University of North Florida, USA. 

And I Kneel

I kneel

And kneel again

In awe of Your

Incessant bounty

You created all languages

Yet, there are no words to describe

Your graciousness

Your mercy

And how grateful even a sinner

Can be.

In the beauty of humbling silence

Lit by Your eternal power

My heart lies overwhelmed

And all I can do

Is kneel

And kneel again.

SubhanAllah! (Praise the Lord!)

The Hunger Games

I see The Hunger Games

All around me

In the smoke and mirrors

In the pink apathy

In the voice of

Reason suppressed

For momentary bliss

When thousands gather

For mere minutes of artificial awe

To a place clouded by

The search for pleasure

By the desire to satisfy the self

When, dear brother,

You lie all alone

A mere block away

In the darkness, hidden away,

From the red, white and blue lights

Of The Hunger Games.

 

May the odds be ever in your favor, dear sister,

I pray the smoke, mirrors and apathy

Awaken

To a world where reason prevails. 

Disconnected

Who is that girl who bows down

And kneels in seeming awe?

To the world embodies piety

But is disconnected, and feels raw?

Entrapped in daily rituals

Up, down and in between

Does she truly follow all she says

Does she believe in the unseen?

I want to fall in love with You

Feel You in every prayer

But these rituals disconnect me

From feeling that You’re there

Bring me back, O most merciful!

For I am a blind lamb that strays

I want to live, breathe and be with You

And sincerely sing your praise!

©SBég Poetry

Life Crumbles

Life Crumbles
All around me
Congenital bonds of love
Evolve
And shatter
At a pace
Too fast to absorb
Constantly reminding
Of the impermanence
Of everything,
Of everyone
But You.

If I should ever love
Pray You are the origin
May You be the end.

© SBég Poetry

“the wound is the place where the light enters you”

There are moments in life
That take your breath away
And then there are moments
That take your soul away

To me,
You were the person
Who gave me both.

In the softness of your fatherhood
In the laughter of our friendship
In the kindness of your love
In the humility of your manhood
You were the man who took my breath away.

And in the words unsaid
In the illicit romance
In the mirage
And in the blurring of lines
You were the man who took my soul away.

Your love showed me
that Allah was always there,
watching over me.
And your deceit taught me
that, all along,
Allah was the only One
truly watching over me.