Let go.......

Let go! Let go! Let go!
Stop hanging on to ideas
And theories and opinions -
They limit you
And imprison you -
They are the chains that envelope you
To your neck -
So you can neither turn nor look.

Open your heart
And allow pain to enter
And allow the anguish to wash away
Desires and ideologies that tie you down
And shackle you.

Let go! Let go! Let go!
Of your destiny -
So Allah can mould it as He wills.
Then your soul can be free

To take flight.

Give in! Give in! Give in!
- to Him.
Accept every opportunity

That comes your way

to be pleased with decisions

He has taken on your behalf
Sit back, slow down -

And let Allah's will prevail.

O Allah!

Just like my heart beats

And my lungs breathe

In Your obedience –

Let my eyes look ......in Your obedience,

My tongue speak ........in Your obedience,

My mouth, eat and drink .........in Your obedience,

My hands work ........ in Your obedience,

My feet step forward ..........in Your obedience –

Today and every day of the rest of my life,

Inshallah.

Regret.....

I thought regret

Would never touch me.
I scorned to hear

My elders say:
Don't waste good time,

You'll regret it one day.
I thought:
What regret

Are you talking about?
I am enjoying myself
I'm having fun
I will never regret

These joyous moments.

Years have moved on....

Like the grasshopper
I have let time pass me by,
youth pass me by,
Opportunity pass me by
Until now-
when I have a 'short' future

ahead of me
A 'long' past

behind me
My heart misses a beat

And sinks....

There is regret after all.

Man's great folly

Losses, losses, losses.
I suffer losses every day.
There are so many losses -
I've lost count.

Lost friends, lost love,
Lost chances, lost time.......
All Losses.
Losses so great and so frequent
They don't seem like losses any more.

In fact, now I am not even aware
Of losing.

Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Standing in front of Allah

Here I am standing, standing before Allah.

Neglectful and careless. Yes. This is my Salah.

Supposedly praying. A force of habit? A pretence?

Definitely not offering my best – A lack of reverence?

‘- here is what I’m giving Lord – take it or leave it

Well, that is my offering. Keep it - or trash it.’

Where is the sincerity His worship requires?

Where is the obedience His loyalty inspires?

A wandering mind, occupied in sinful thoughts,

Of anger and vengeance, and befitting retorts,

Of daily chores and material mires,

Of rampant jealousies and worldly desires.

‘Stop it!’ my conscience screams, ‘It’s Allah you’re facing!

Where are you lost? What devils are you chasing?’

It’s no use. The love of the world in control.

I’m lost and I’m drowning in misery untold.

I shake myself out of the trance I’m in.

I promise I’ll be serious – but again it begins.....

Oh Allah, my Benevolent Lord, my Creator,

These are the disgraceful returns I offer,

For the countless indulgences you shower every day,

For the deserved punishments you keep at bay.

I am not worthy my Lord, to walk on Your earth

To eat or to drink or to breathe just one breath.

I deserve to be chastised, denied every right,

Castigated for unfairness, rebuked for the slight.

You’ve kept Your promise – You are closer to me;

Closer than life itself – as You promised You’d be.

I’d promised You sincere obedience. And now:

I’m the one – it is I who has broken the vow.

I have cheated my Lord – haven’t given You Your due

I’ve no excuses – just the one simple truth – I LOVE YOU.

For lowly and mean as I am without doubt

My love for You is what keeps inner darkness out.

My trust is implicit – My life’s Your concern

To make my decisions – to do as You want.

My faith in Your Unity unquestioned and strong,

So punish me as You will – for each and every wrong.

I will bear every suffering, every crack of the whip,

But distance from You is the greatest hardship.

So Allah please, listen to just one ardent prayer

- keep me near You – Always.

Oh Guide of lost souls! Never, never let me stray.

On Eid ul Adha - Nov 2009

This Eid is a reminder:

For us to question ourselves.

Do we trust Allah (swt) enough?

Do we have confidence in Him (swt -) enough?

Are we ready to accept His will – and be content enough?

Are we ready with a sajda-e-shukr

For simply living – ?

For walking His (swt) earth ?

For breathing His (swt) air ?

For the beating heart?

For the seeing eyes?

For the hearing ears?

For the thinking mind?

- For simply being Human?

Are we willing to snuff the clamouring complaints

That keep welling up our throats?

...... Because that is what Prophet Ibrahim (as) did

All those many centuries ago -

He had Absolute Trust in Allah (swt)

He had absolute Confidence in Allah (swt)

And, he was absolutely content with Allah’s (swt)Will –

-- Even if it meant allowing himself to be swallowed

by Namrood's flaming inferno

or slaughtering his beloved son.

All – for his infinitely more beloved Lord’s pleasure.

Eid Mubarak!

Man is the author of his own destiny.

His eyes are fixed on that patch of green
In the distance. Its rich colours
Excite him - he wishes it were his.
But it's not - it's his neighbours.
He looks again - he is mesmerized.
The brightness blinds him - he cannot look away.
He wants it. He wants it now -
He can't take it though -

It's his neighbour's.
He laments. Blames misfortune.

Around him are his own bushes -
Roses, lilies and chrysanthemums -
His own patch of green.
But he cannot see - you can't when you are blinded.

He mourns and laments at his misfortune.
If only, if only - he says.

His obsession blinds him to the beauty

Of his own patch of land. He neglects it.

The grass grows dry and shrivels up.

Plants wither away and die.

Weeds begin to take over the land

Where flowers should have grown.

Bushes start sprouting thorns

That turn hard and sharp - in self defence –

Now, they wound him.
He cries out in pain.
He looks down at his feet - for the first time.
He is surrounded by thorny bushes.
- You are hurting me - he screams.
Blood trickles down their twigs -
- the bushes remains helpless and silent.
He has more reason to complain.

His cries and laments get louder.........

His eyes settle – once again – on that distant spot.

On that patch of green – that can never be his.

It’s his neighbour’s.

Time – the silent witness – passes him by.

Should I pity such a one?

I could perhaps find in my heart, the mercy -

To feel sorry for him.
But when I think of the grass on his patch

That thirsted for attention, then succumbed;
The little saplings that struggled - in vain -

To grow, to flower, to fruit –

Then gave up -
- then my heart aches,
and my throat chokes up
And my eyes cry blood

For those that did not have a chance –

Then I am convinced that this man deserves no mercy.
He is the author of his own destiny.