أبيات تعجبني

فلله فيما قد مضى الصبر و الرضى

و لله فيما قد قضى الشكر و الحمد

ابن حزم الاندلسي

*****

I offer God for what is gone

A spirit patient and resigned,

As too, for what ensued thereon,

The praises of a grateful mind.

**

Tawq al-Hamama , IBN HAZAM (994-1064)

Poems

Habeeby Muhammad

Mumajjad, Mu-ayyad, Muhammad:
Glorious, Victorious, Muhammad.
Ajmal min kulli jameel,
Lam yakun ’anhu badeel,
I love Muhammad.
Ask Hamza Hanson or Michael Jackson,
Ask Yusuf Islam or Ingrid Mattson,
What’s in the world sweeter than a word
From the mouth of Muhammad?
Ask Suhaib Webb or Yusuf Estes
Why they brushed aside
Shakespeare and Cervantes
And followed with pride
The words of Muhammad?
Ask Sheikh Qardawi and Sheikh Tantawi
What but Muhammad’s Light
Made them stars brighter than the cars
In New York at night?
Ask every new convert, be it Jane or Albert,
Is there a man of whom you’d be a fan–
But Muhammad?
Sallo Ya Nass,
Sallo ’Alalhabeeb Muhammad!

Labbayk

Wake up and stay awake
-O Heart- and say Labbayk
Say: Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk
Say it with every seed and grain
Say it with every drop of rain
Say it and say it again and again
Say it with the stars in the skies
Say it with the light in your eyes
Say: Labbayk O Lord, O Wise!
Say it and let your tears,
Let them translate your hidden fears—
For only Allah hears
All that are on earth and in the skies.
Say Labbayk to Him Alone
Whose boundless mercy shone
Even in the heart of him
Who once worshipped a stone,
But then heard Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk
And his heart shook as with earthquake
And said: Yes, I made a mistake;
But now I say Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk!

I love your veil

What’s all this tale about the veil?
Fred and Gail shout and hail
Straw as hero
For his hail of fire on Aïsha’s attire.
Did Straw want Aïsha to show
Herself from head to toe?
Let Gail wear a mini-skirt
For her flirt.
And let Aïsha wear on her face
Or on her hair
Whatever piece
That would bring her peaceVis-à-vis God and vis-à-vis Man.
Oh, man!
Why d’you wish her to disclose
Her beautiful eyes and nice nose
Or her lips or her hips
If that belongs to her?
Come on, Sir!
That body you want her to show
Is a diamond dearer than the glow
Of the face of Marilyn Monroe!

I love your veil

I Love Your Veil

Lies

They tell me
There's the moon and the stars
And the skies and nothing beyond the skies.
Lies!
There's God beyond the skies,
I tell you.
When that woman gave birth
To her little son
She didn't feel that the Earth
Travels around the sun.
It's all one to the tellers of lies
Who believe the Earth and the skies
Were not made by the One
Who never behaves out of fun,
But were made by chance
Like the meeting of a girl and a boy
Who came to dance.
Lies!
They call themselves wise
But would they tell me why
A girl doesn't look like a guy
Nor does sunset look like sunrise
Nor do I look like my siblings?
Would they please tell me
Who made the soul that makes the flute weep?
Who made the bird's twitter
Different from the bleat of sheep?
Would they be bitter
If I asked why
A vulture flies high in the sky
Whereas a peacock won't go that far?


Muhammad

What can I say on your day
When every day is your day?
O Muhammad ! O Taha ! O shafi’na on the Last Day!
From the day you stood to say:
O Man ! I’m but a man
Sent to save you, sent to tell you
The way that’ll lead you away
From the one who led you astray
To the One Who made you ’n the best way
And gave you beauty and bounty in every way
And will yet give you joy where you’ll stay
For ever and ever, as you say !
From that day,
O Muhammad ! O Taha ! O shafi’na on the Last Day !
Men came to you on foot and horseback;
They said as you said
And prayed as you prayed
And when attacked, they fought back.
You lived in a shack
While your beauty was brighter than the moon ;
You ate with your hands
While one with your beauty would use a gold spoon ;
You sat on the sands
While one with your glory
Would build himself storey upon storey :
And that’s why your story
Has gone as far as Brunei and Zinjibar
And London and New York
Where people eat with a knife and fork,
They too say as you said
And pray as you prayed
And when wrongly questioned, they answer back.
O Muhammad ! O Taha ! O shafi’na on the Last Day !
What can I say on your day
When every day is your day ?
From just a few those who came to you
Filled every hill, swamped every dale,
They made Time stand still till their tale
Made the mightiest kingdoms frail
And brought the Muslim flag as close as Prague !
The Arabian Nights tells of made-up knights
And of Harun al-Rasheed
Whose life the Truth of your Message
Made eed upon eed !
And yet someone came to draw
A pic of a man whose peer he never saw,
And papers and commentators
Seeking cheap money and fake glory
Made every story
Out of the Story of the man whose glory
Defies all Posts and all Tribunes and all Times !
O Muhammad ! O Taha ! O shafi’na on the Last Day!
What can I say on your day
When every day is your day?
When your name has brought fame
To a Dane who became insane?
What can I say on your day
When night and day
Souls repeat your words
As if they were songs of jungle birds!
Peace be upon you and all those who followed your way!
O Muhammad ! O Taha ! O shafi’na on the Last Day!


Muhammad

Cheer up!

What’s wrong with your tongue?
Can’t you say Subhanallah?
Can’t you say Ma Sha Allah?
Shake off that gloom!
And let your face bloom!
Or did your team go down in esteem
By losing Three-Nil to Brazil?
Or did you lose your job?
Oh, no, don’t be a snob!
Don’t ape those in good shape!
Say Subhanallah! Say Ma Sha Allah!
And pray and pray to Allah
Till hope comes your way,
Ray by ray!
No, don’t think of Tsunami!
Think of the beaches of Miami!
Think of Amazon flowers!
Think of New York towers!
Don’t think of King Lear or even Shakespeare!
But think of Allah and you’ll steer
Right for the Light of Faith –
The Faith that’ll give you powers
And blessings in showers,
And your face will excel all flowers
In beauty and freshness!
Blessed be Allah! And Allah bless you,
For your goodness!

For You

For you,
It’s cool to drive home
An almond-eyed cool blonde
Picked up in Paris or in Rome.
For you,
It’s cool to score a goal in Liverpool
Against Real Madrid or Lazio Rome.
For you,
It must be fine to savour wine
And spaghetti while listening to Pavarotti.
For you,
It’s great to have £ 8,000 in hand
Or to land a higher rank in a central bank.
For you,
It’s a delight to the eyes
To watch sunrise in the dunes of Morocco.
For you,
It’s beyond telling the joy of jogging in Monaco.
Let alone the joy of shopping in Hanoi
Or riding a mule in Illinois.
For you,
Time is Now, life in Now,
And there’s nothing to be said
For there’s no other life ahead.
For you,
Life is the kitchen and the bed.
Well, that’s you.
As for me,
Life is Now and Tomorrow.
Life is joy and sorrow.
For me,
I would love to hear Allahu Akbar
From a minaret in Madagascar.
I would love to hear an imam
Talk of Islam in Amsterdam,
Or speak to the children of Leeds
About the worth of good deeds.
I would love to see girls pray
To Allah at Broadway.
I would love to see boys making a lot of noise
Simply because they say
It’s just as lovely
To be a Muslim in Sydney
As in Harlem or Boston!
I would love to see people
From all over the world
Flying as one bird
To meet round the Ka’ba
To say what the Queen of Sheba
Learnt from Solomon:
There’s no God but Allah.
Praise, Praise to Allah!

NO MORE

Would Sindbad...

King US President

King US President

I love your veil

I Love Your Veil

Muhammad