The Salvaging

I gather now, the fragments
of our relationship
scattered on the ground.
The storm has moved on
leaving behind a fretful calm
that says:
there will never be peace again.

Weather beaten, windblown
I wander -
picking random pieces
of love and laughter.
anger and frustration
despair and disappointment.

Weak and vulnerable
I lift me and gather me
to myself.
Shattered remnant of
fragile emotional outbursts
grate under my feet.
I gather them too -
lacing them together
into a semblance of order.

I'm recovering.

Each breath, a celebration
of Your Mercy
Each heart beat, a tasbeeh
in Your Praise
The surging red streams, a tawaf
of the Kaaba of my heart
- purified -
so You may reside.

i'm Yours

I've realised
I'm Yours.....
And why not?
You made me
And fed me.
You cherished me
And blessed me.
Why shouldn't I
be Yours?

And there is
no doubt
about it -
We are all
Yours:
the believers
and non believers
the monotheists
and the polytheists
the deniers
and the accepters -
whether they want to
or they don't -
they are Yours!

There was
never a doubt
as to our ownership.

I say:
I'm consciously submitting:
I'm Yours.
And it fills me
with joy.
My heart swells
And I can't
contain it -
the exhilaration
of knowing
I am Yours!

And now,
now that I
have found You
rather ...
I have found myself
for You .....
I fear being lost
again.

So pick me up
please,
cleanse me
and take me
to yourself -
and keep me;
forever and ever -
in this life
and the life after -
For eternity.

It’s all because I love you………..

My child, my beloved, I set you free
To spread your wings and reach new heights.
To rise with the currents and design your destiny
To explore God’s world and savour all its delights.

I am setting you free to be your very own person
Free to think and to do what you please,
To break free from shackles of selfish oppression
I am letting you fly – so seize your release.

You’re the flesh of my flesh and the blood of my blood
You hurt – and I hurt; you cry – and I cry with you.
You reach out for help and I am always around
I am yours; you are mine. But I do not own you.

My Child: because I love you, I set you free.

As I release you I sense my own freedom within
I realise all at once that Allah created me free.
He loves each of us more than anyone else can
Yet there are no pressures – not on you not on me.
I realise: because Allah loves us, He set us all free.

flight feathers

My little fledgling has found his flight feathers.
He has lifted off into the skies.
He must conquer their vastness
He must reach the pinnacle of his flight.
His head is inundated with light
Its blue brilliance blinding him.

He can neither see nor feel this
Aching heart that yearns for his return.
For him:
There is no looking back – only the way forward.

Pseudo Freedom

I'm free.
Free to do whatever I want.....
Free to work, and work some more
Free to earn, and earn some more
And then .......
Free to spend, and spend some more
free...free ....free.....

Is this freedom though?
- free to sin, and sin some more?
- free to indulge myself,
and indulge some more?
free to ignore the truth if I choose to,
to turn the other way?
- free to wash my hands off my responsibility
to God and Society?

Is this what freedom means?
Am I free to call indulgence a waste?
- or a lapse in morality a sin?

Alas! I have put my conscience to sleep –

drugged it into a lull
of false security –

the 'ecstasy' of activity –

and I'm on the run!

Every time my inner voice
lifts its head from
its drugged slumber,
I quickly soothe it back to sleep
with some more 'interesting things to do’ -
a game? some TV? a soap?
perhaps..... food? new clothes? gossip?

Something........anything......to keep me occupied.

The 'activity of sleep' is now a habit,

my second nature –

If I’m not asleep, I’m ‘bored’!

And time, the silent witness, is passing by.

I’m losing out.

I have to rehabilitate –

Break my dependence;

break the shackles of this enslavement,

and liberate myself.
Free me

from this prison of pseudo freedom

That the world has put on 'sale' -

And I have bought.

Go!

Awaken your mind!
Invent something!
Climb on to the ladder of success
Go!
Go change the world,
Go!
For you have chance at your door!
Youth at your feet!
Intelligence - your slave!
Life - your wealth!
Time - your cash in hand!

Faith – your strength!
Use them!

What are you waiting for?
The sky is the limit for you!
Reach out to the sky then
And pluck off the stars!
(they were put there for you!)
Keep moving!
Take no breaks.
Take no time off.
Take no time to chill.
Keep moving!

Make time for just one thing –

Remembrance of Allah -
And bow down before Him,
(the world will bow before you!)
Because He lights the candle of your life -
And He alone has the power to snuff it out.
With Him on your side
It will be payback time –

All the time -
with success in this world,
And success in the hereafter.

Go out then,
And become what He has created you to be –
Go out!
And design your destiny!