Gratitude

Part I: The Hatred

The lands of green, a hundred sheep

They roamed upon its face

The sun that shone on his children

Delighted with its grace.



And in the massive palace sat

The owner of these goods

His wife on the other hand, she

Sat looking at the woods.



And bending in prostration, he

Kept thanking his good Lord

For he was blessed with many things -

And out his heart he poured.



Looking at this tranquility

And the good life of Job

Sat Satan spitting on the mud

"This peace, I have to rob"



Hastening to Job in prayer

He mumbled in his ears

"Oh look at all the gold you have",

"They should last you for years!"



"What use is this gratitude, when

All this was your hard work?

This wealth, belongs to you, my mate!"

Said Satan with a smirk.



But Job, the noble man he was

These words did he ignore

"They must be evil whispers from

The devil", he was sure.



Cursing and kicking, Satan went

Looking for a new plan

"This son of Adam listens not",

"I hate this foolish man"

Part II: The Wealth

The devil with his helpers had

Deviced a plan so sure

That Job would have nowhere to go

This piety they would cure!



His cattle, servants and his farms

They now set to destroy

"His wealth is what is keeping him"

This was their viscious ploy.



And rubbing his hands happily

Satan did now rejoice

He came to Job as an old man

And spoke in his wise voice.



"Oh Job! you gave up too much to

The orphans and the old

You spent your time in prayer when

They ate up all your gold!"



"Now look, if your Lord truly loved

You for all these good deeds

He would not strip you off your wealth

Deprive you from your needs"



But Job, with distant eyes he stood

And looked upon his lands

He said, "The Lord has taken back",

"The wealth into his hands".



"I was merely a trustee for

The time that He allowed,

Why should I grieve for what was not

Mine", he told himself aloud.



And kneeling down, he bent and bowed

Thanking his Lord for what

Was given to him for sometime

To others it was not.



The Devil, watching, fuming said

This man I truly hate

"I shall destroy his offspring now

So he will meet his fate!"

Part III: The Children

Happy faces, chuckling laughter

That spread across the room

Running around, Job's children looked

So far from every gloom.


Job and his wife, they sat and smiled

At their bundles of joy

As children ran around and tugged

For a small random toy.



But suddenly the building shook

Like never had they seen

Came crashing down the foundation

Where little ones had been.



And all the laughter was now dead

For little corpses lied

Where Job's children were playing once;

Each one of them had died.



Among the mourners sat Satan

So happy with his game

"This must have cured Job's righteousness

His faith has brought him shame."



He came upon Job patting him

In a comforting tone,

"I feel so bad your children died

Your Lord left you alone!"



With tears streaming down his sad cheeks

Job, he smiled and he said,

"God gives what he wills and he takes"

And thus, he bowed his head.



Vexed over this man's gratitude

Satan stood and he thought

"This malady must go away,

I'll make his body rot!".    

Part IV: The Health

Job and his wife now having lost

Their wealth and their children

They set upon their farthest woods

To build their lives again.

But in the night when Job came home

Fever striking his brow

He knew this was no simple pain -

His body shook and how!

His friends, they came for days until

His body developed

Maggots and leaking fluids that

His skin now enveloped.

Left with nothing but his strong faith

And his dear, loving wife

He spent his time thanking his Lord

For these blessings in life.

Now Satan, he approached the wife

And told her "Look at you!"

"Your children and your wealth are gone,

Your husband will go, too"

Overwhelmed with pain, the wife

She sat upon Job's side

"How long can we suffer this pain?

I am dissatisfied"

"Oh Love, can you not see that this,

Is just another trial

We lived, had fun for eighty years,

Your thinking is so vile!"

"Several years we had treasures

We lived a lovely life

But now few years of suffering

Have made your pain so rife?"

"I feel ashamed to call my Lord

I have not suffered long

But if your faith has weakened then,

Be free to run along"

"For I shall never eat or drink

From hands that have no faith

Leave me alone and go away

Let Lord decide my fate"

Part V: Alone with his Lord

His wife was gone, his children too

His friends had gone away

But Job, and his good gratitude

They seemed like they would stay.

Lifting his diseased hands did Job

Then call upon his Lord,

"Oh Merciful of merciful

Help me swim through this ford"    



"Indeed Satan has touched me with

Hardship and great torment,

But, my Lord, you are greater than

him; I shall not lament"

"Strike your foot against the mud"

The Lord revealed to him,

And out came a spring soft and cool

Clear water on its rim.

And when Job brought himself to bathe

In this lovely, pure stream

The locusts came as rings of gold,

Upon his garment's seam.

And just like that his family,

His wife and friends were back

It looked like there were no impact

From Satan's bad attack!

Thus was Prophet Job's story where

God praises his servant

And how Satan was smitten by

His old pride so fervent.

Where love is true and gratitude

Does rule upon the hearts

What harm can worldly losses do

Until your faith departs?    

Note:   This is my attempt at presenting the story of Prophet Ayyub(Job) pbuh. It is a story of patience - a quality I feel I have long lost. The real story as narrated in the Quran can be found at http://goo.gl/4HnIal

The Cast

Photo Courtesy: http://goo.gl/6dBF67

It was only yesterday that

We were cast together on my

Needles. And consecutive rows

Of color played through the fabric;

Never ending loops pulled from one

To the other. Then, we were done.

On that colored surface, a nick

That broke the meandering flows

Of our yarns, revealing that shy,

Bare thread, loosening in combat. 

How long could we run away from

The reality of the end?

When the threads were pulled, it was just

A matter of time before all

The flaws in the symmetry were 

Out. And no excuses could stir

The loud, inevitable call.

The ugly frame, against the dust

The tattered wool with paths to wend

Lay yearning on my open palm. 

We are left to wait in this space -

A wait that has a hopeless end

And the colors fade, the colors

That intertwined and created

This maze of endless misery

That locked us up without a key.

Our eyelids that are now weighted

We lie, fastened, in our cellars

Waiting for these moments to end -

And waking in another place. 

On the Day [of Judgment] when some faces will shine [with happiness] and some faces will be dark [with grief]. And as for those with faces darkened, [they shall be told:] "Did you deny the truth after having attained to faith? Taste, then, this suffering for having denied the truth!" - http://goo.gl/xF1jJZ

The Light

Into a forest I forayed

Of forbidden fancies and frills

I planted flowers all the way

So if I came back one fine day

After quenching my thirst for thrills

I would have my return well-laid.



Along those lanes I lighted too

A lantern with its lowered flame

So when I was headed homeward

That beacon would bear me toward

The answers of my noble aim

And I was ready with my cue.



So when the milestones on my map

Hovered on me with hazy hues

I scampered backward for my soul

With blisters from the burning coal

On paths where I had been let loose

And darkness on my mind enwrapped.



Traveling on treacherous trail

I found where my flowers once stood

They had now wilted in the wind

Their petals had now dried and thinned

And everything that was once good

A dirty sense did now entail.



I faltered, fell and fumbled for

A sense of familiarity

With where I was, with what I was

But I had scattered like the stars

And every piece with parity

Was nothing I was looking for.



And far away I saw there shined

The lamp lighted and resplendent

I moved toward it with my might

Yearning for this beacon in sight

With a radiance so scintillant

So stately and so well-defined.



My flowers faded but my light

It gets me going everyday

The fortune of my fervent faith

Has been with me: beloved mate

And with my closed eyes when I lay

I only have this light in sight.


Note: Inspired by Surah-An-Noor http://goo.gl/tQiFQ

Image Source: http://goo.gl/rRxvJ

Mirrors

This corner of my cosy house

Holds up a solid mirror

I dare not go anywhere near

For I may die of horror.



The mirror in the marketplace

Gives me the nicest of looks

The library has window panes

That wink at me between books.



Something it is with my mirrors

That we are not so friendly

I get a smirk back when I smile

Their looks are so fiendly.



I carry a round little one

In my perfumed, pretty purse

But when I bring it up to see

Some resentment it does nurse.



I stop by my relative's place

For occasional greeting

And the mirror at her home says

It was a pleasure meeting.



Something it is with my mirrors

That know my dirty insides

They find no pleasure meeting me

And I don't like them - besides.



I look into the eyes of my

Beloved and sweet lover

And what reflects is not my face

But a pathetic blunder.



Just yesterday I went swimming

The waters smiled back at me

But walking into changing rooms

I saw a ghost beside me.



Thinking now I feel it is not

The mirrors that are smirking

It is just my muddy soul

That's on my shoulder lurking.


Picture Source: http://goo.gl/MZUO7

Zuleikha

Part I


Her Highness - when she walked the earth

Blooming flowers forgot their worth

Her charming face - a dream come true

When soft winds on her visage blew

Her loveliness and intellect

A lot of lovers did collect.



His Highness was a righteous man

Minister of a worthy clan

His love was like a thousand things

That spring to every garden brings

Never did his sweet love decrease

Thus was minister Al-Aziz.



Her Highness like a lady true

Made ways for his love to renew

But in her womb she grew no child

She worried some, but Aziz smiled

His love needed no progeny

He placated her agony.



But as his age advanced a few

He needed a son too, he knew

In time he crossed a market place

And saw a slave with charming grace

A face that shone in glowing light

And eyes like none other - so bright.



He brought this young lad home with him

And catered to his every whim

This was the son he never had

Looking at him he was so glad!

unto his wife he said the same

So that is what the slave became.



Part II



Her Highness and her character

Their beauty grew like no other

She walked gardens and wore her silk

Her skin - like cream floating on milk

And Al-Aziz - the minister

Continued to administer.



The boy (Yusuf) was handsome too

With character and eyes so true

God-fearing, he was a delight

A strange beauty - wonderful sight

He served his master like a son

And soon was his beloved one.



But Satan played his part so well

In noble hearts he loves to dwell

So in the heart of Her Highness

He kindled a fiery furnace

That made her long for Yusuf's care

And such feelings her heart did bear.



No matter what Her Highness did

The passion that she could not rid

Kept growing in her smitten heart

Until it tore her soul apart

Scheming ways to earn his fancy

Emotions running a frenzy.



And soon Her Highness got her chance

A feat unworthy of her stance

Finding him alone in the room

Allowed her passion to resume

Choosing the path of seduction

Tried to lead him to temptation.



Part III



Her Highness was so beautiful

The face and eyes so wonderful

But Yusuf who was clean and pure

Did not give in to this allure

And when he headed for the door

A piece of shirt she pulled and tore.



And on the other side there stood

Aziz and all his servants good

So caught suddenly in this game

Her Highness chose to save her name

She told her husband what it was

She told him Yusuf was the cause.



But Yusuf pleaded innocence

And what he said did make some sense

The shirt was torn from the behind

And this is what the group did find

Her Highness and her shame now found

She hung her face to face the ground.



Part IV



Her Highness was a noble soul

No matter how she did console

Her heart was given to the man

Who did not fall into her plan

She thought of ways to avenge him

For not giving in to her whim.



Her Highness and her shameful act

It kept her passion still intact

And knowing she could not resist

To her husband she did insist

Let Yusuf be taken to gaol

And that is how her love would fail.



With Yusuf now taken away

Her Highness was no more so gay

She wandered around with her guilt

And everyday her soul did wilt

She turned everywhere in despair

But her sad heart knew no repair.



Part V



Her Highness and her beauty now

Was gone, with wrinkles on her brow

Her body, once so plush was frail

Her lips now bent in downward trail

She walked the earth so laden by

Her heavy heart that made her cry.



Her Highness spent so many years

With this guilt and with these tears

Until one day she was summoned

To talk of what Yusuf had done

What was the crime for which he had

Been sent behind the bars so bad?



Her Highness tired of her shame

She chose to take up rightful blame

It was her love that made her err

She had punished him for his flair

Yusuf had no crime after all

It was her fault, it was her fall.



They say when you sin and repent

You are like one who never went

Away from guided paths of faith

And though this was no love too great

It still had suffering and pain

The kind of pain one would disdain.



Her Highness, no one knows of her

What happened afterward to her

Thus was the love of Her Highness

Stooped from her ranks to brazenness

Repenting though she then became

The lover who accepted blame.    



Note: I have no knowledge save what was revealed in the Quran. This poem is my own figment of imagination from a part of the wonderful story of Surah Yusuf. The story of Yusuf (Joseph) peace be upon him has never ceased to move me. This is my take on unrequited love. Details on the real story as related in the Quran can be found here: http://goo.gl/I72az


Picture source: http://goo.gl/weQAM

Writer's Block

When thoughts do not flow

When they are fastened

To the boundaries

Of imagination

And your innermost

Feelings are pounding

The doors of your mind.



And the wretched sense

Of disappointment

Makes you lose focus

On everything around

All you want is to

Spill thoughts on paper

And leave them behind.



When the beginning

Meets no logical

End, you leave that thought

Like a loose flying kite

And scribbled thoughts stay

Whining, protesting

On paper - unsigned.



And the rhymes do not

Fall in place like they

Have turned their faces

From your dreary lifestyle

Of surviving with

No deep reflections

And no peace of mind.



When your vision is

Reduced to mere sight

How can poetry

Flow like a smooth river

Interrupted by

Your rocky insides

That keep it confined?

Suicide

Warm, parlous and fluent

Oozing out of my wrist

The swift slash of the knife

On the canvas of life

Made by myself, and then

Lying down I look at colors

Blinding all the cheerless

Yesterdays; and the mess

On the carpet starts to

Spread towards the cold floor

Where I lie, half awake

Twisting, like a hurt snake.



The color of your blood

It looks the same as mine

And we are but sisters

With the same pained blisters

Our lives are alike

With potholes on the road

To our aspirations

And our inspirations

Were the same, until I

Chose to give up, and you

Struggled on like that plant

Waiting for a transplant.



Rearranging itself

Our pain has the strangest

Of ways; to bring about

The hardest, darkest route

Leading to tomorrows

That may or may not come

And as I wait for those

Last moments to come close

I know I chose easy

Ways out of injuries

Standing alone, you still

Look for a life to till.



It is not the color

Of your blood and of mine

That can set us apart

But courage in our heart

Makes our souls different

From each other, like the

Sun and the moon; one shines

While the other- it whines

For some light to shed on

The face of the dark world

My lights are going out

And you shine all around.