Soothing the Soul

It is quiet nights, reflections
Show the substance inside
That tiny bit of oomph that runs
The engine faster than our hearts
Can breathe
That swirls in our peripheral vision
Screaming look at me
Deep down we are needy
Children growing slowly on the
Soft carpet of comfort and familiarity
People, though they try
can give really bad advice
Nattering tongues afraid say
Let the poor thing scream
It's good for its lungs

The Human Being

Grey cracked palms stare.
Freshly plastered walls drip
With the ink
That wretched fingertips cannot change
Calamities hammer nails
Into the coffin.
Eyes open to , yet so unaware
Of rusted metal within an inch
Of our lives
That shrivel into
The nothingness from which we came
Reclaiming heavy hearted faith
That paltry prayers reach deeper
Than our throats
So the hope, stretches out
Like open arms , narrow beams of
Freedom rebound
As we are told that
What escapes is only dreams
That lie beyond this place

Narrated 'Abdullah: The Prophet drew a square and then drew a line in the middle of it and let it extend outside the square and then drew several small lines attached to that central line, and said, "This is the human being, and this, (the square) in his lease of life, encircles him from all sides (or has encircled him), and this (line), which is outside (the square), is his hope, and these small lines are the calamities and troubles (which may befall him), and if one misses him, an-other will snap (i.e. overtake) him, and if the other misses him, a third will snap (i.e. overtake) him."
Bukhari

Halfway House

He is clean shaven woken

5 minutes after Iftaari

Privately educated, degree-

Less than what his mother hoped

Car costs the price of a house
He never bothered to buy

Interest rates high

Swapping cards like
Fake guises, on the run
To pray Jummah
On Fridays

It is all he ever knew.

She is veiled yet
Open necked with a

Face painted prettily
She is abayas with
Rolled up sleeves

She dreams to be Prom queen

Glitz and Glam is all she’s seen

All her friends talk about is t.v

Life is dull and predictable 

So to trained eyes she is susceptible

She fogs her brain with shisha smoke  

Good grades bought

Parents happiness cheaply

So it easy to stay
Up late texting him

Then praying Fajr when

Her battery dies

For it is all she ever knew

We were the Ummah of

 Muhammad upon him be peace

Now this is an Ummah filled with Mo’s

Replacements are quick to come by
In the court of God lies
Questions to be asked
Didn’t we know ?

There are seven whom Allah ill shade in His Shade on the Day when there is no shade except His Shade: a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques; two men who love each other for Allah's sake, meeting for that and parting upon that; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position [for illegal intercourse], but be says: 'I fear Allah', a man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a man who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears.' 
Narrated by Abu Hurairah

Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim 

Anorexia

I watch the numbers consume you

You’re inching closer and closer to Zero

When in reality you are something more
Than skipped breakfasts lunches and dinners
Didn’t anyone tell you punishments are only for sinners?

Have you befriended Ana over those who are your sisters
 If you see my friend let her know that I have missed her 

Our bodies are our responsibility
Allah has made us trustees
And that is why we must eat
Oh if only it was that simple
Perhaps I will never see it the way you do
But that doesn't mean I don’t care about you
The truth is food is a blessing a gift from above
It is a mercy, it is a peace and a tranquillity
It is being content and fulfilled and at ease with yourself
How could food have all that spiritual wealth
It is not the food itself

But the obeying of Allah’s command

Our body has a right upon us
Have you committed sin by accepting a present from your creator
The shaper, the maker

Did he make a mistake?
By not giving you a 18 inch waist

 Gentle hearted soul would never starve another
Then why do you forbid yourself
Do not make Haraam what been made halal
The strong  believer is more beloved than the weak
Oh what number do you seek
Seven ajwa dates better than an empty plate
Run after Quran and hadith

1/3 food, 1/3 drink and 1/3 empty
You can trick your metabolism but you won’t trick me

Your restricted intakes scare me

For you were beautiful when you were free

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels
Trading jannah for something unreal

No need for thinspiration
Where is our admiration for the truth

 I love you sister because we are one and the same

The same blood in our veins
Give me your grief and your pain
Whatever hurts your soul on lonely nights is mine
I wish to share something, so precious with you
I pray you will trust me the way I trust you
Dip your finger in the honey that is iman
Let the sweetness of faith keep you from harm
And let go

Give your body and your soul
To the one who has full control
To the one who has the decree
Verily Ana is just a Qareen

A Cursed enemy

Stairs

Silvery scaled black fish
Swim amongst the school
She is swift, retiring amongst
The backdrop of the sea
She dodges gracefully
Currents that lead
To her streamlined body
Touching seaweed

She is a Hijaabi
With hands in pockets
Fighting to keep strands
Of modesty tucked beneath
Her scarf on windy days
Though even for the poised
And ready,no number of safety
Pins could secure
Victory in one way streams

In my moments of stupidity
I,a hijaabi, walked up the stairs
The wrong way
Eyes lowered in shame
Could feel the frowns all the same
Yet they moved, not one, not two
They swayed like ocean currents
Moving in accordance to a silver moon
Untouched , unscathed I stood
At the tops of the stairs that day

And as is human nature to share
An ecstatic exchange of words
So I went to tell her
'You won't believe
What happened to me-'
Thump
Knocked but not fallen
'Sorry i was going to say-'
Thumpty thump
Never mind

This time around
you win some you lose some
because, truth is
Even fishes can drown

Narrated on the authority of Anas bin Malik, the Prophet (saw) said: When lewdness is a part of anything, it becomes defective; and when haya is a part of anything it becomes beautiful.
Tirmidhi

This post is filled with irony . Not lest the fact that as I was writing this post I decided to put in a quick reminder about the importance of spacial awareness in mixed schools only to be met with a door to the face about two hours later.  If my ditsy nature was actually a metaphor the lessons to be learnt from this story would be as long as you are striving and trying to climb higher and higher Allah will make the path easy for you. It is sad but to be honest something I've noticed too much with my own self is that we ask for jannah yet deep down we know we're not worthy . And above all we know in our heedless state we're not even trying. May this Ramadan be an opportunity to rectify this.

The House

Balconies, white marble beneath
My feet and heart trembling
Elephants shot down miserably
Crying baby seeking
Refuge from the heat
Through water that will not cease
The bounty of the Lord is without measure
Four walls built by a blessed few
The time is coming soon
Where unruly hands shall plunder
Her of her beauty and her treasure

I stand on the balcony
Wondering how black
Could be so bright
It is night for the world
Except us,
Barefooted not touching sand
Quenched by AC and fans
Paper cups stand on guard
To feed water to the pilgrims
I stare at her as she stands
She is a veiled testimony
To our history
Indescribable elegance
Tranquility as she fills
The space between
This heart and the stories and the places
And the humble lowered eyes
Of honoured messengers faces
She has seen the struggle and is
The hope for unity

She is but bricks
But how much harder
The heart which doesn't love
The receiver of the prophets lips
Peace be unto him,
How much colder
The soul which doesn't respect
The place that God chose
To direct his worship
To him alone


"Behold! We gave the site, To Abraham, of the (Sacred) House (i.e., the Kaaba), (Saying): 'Associate not anything (In worship) with Me; And sanctify My House For those who compass it round, Or stand up, Or bow, or prostrate themselves (Therein in prayer). And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;
22:26-27

Tangent

We are overflowing
Pots of bubbliness like
Foam on the sea of
Antics and memories
We have burnt tenacious
Hands on the edge
Through the pain we grip
The spoon and stir
Aah gastronomy,
the science of pi

We are lost in
Streets we knew so well
Biding time
Its strange I didn't notice how
The silence fell
Why are we staring at the floor
I ignore words tugging
At my lips, for now
I wish to
Amble and that is it

It is the last day too soon
The words should trip
Over themselves
I'm sorry I am going
While knowing how everyone
You have loved leaves too soon
Forgive me for failed rights
Slips of the tongue and untruths
Through the nonsense I have
Uttered this year
Why can't I say I will miss you

Yes we are overflowing, scalding
Hot headed youths,
Today the pot runs dry
In my life , I wonder how
Many times I will fail
To say
Sorry and goodbye

'And hold fast , all of you together to the rope of Allah , and do not separate'
 3:103
Abdallah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-’As reported that the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“The supplication that gets the quickest answer is the one made by one Muslim for another in his absence.”
Abu Daw’ud and Tirmidhi
If I leave you with nothing else , then know that I will make dua for you. For our hands are empty, incapable except for whatever Allah grants us.