The love for Somalia
like a downpour of
sweet fresh water
off the ground
the ills of this nation sweeps.
The newly born bonding
with the plaintiff
resuscitates the forgotten
Saint.
Dare to love
and you shall be
in the rush
to come home.
Cool Southerly breeze
and a North cheerful
are a unit in the Attar.
A body a plane boards;
Somalia is my sanctuary.
@ Safi Abdi
He knows them best
Who created these cells
He gives life
A whole being produces
Showers on it gifts
Gives it form
Embellishes the senses
Shows the ways.
How life would be
if all was had
Luxuries and
human desires unlimited
And nothing for soul’s keep?
He knows them best
Who created these cells.
@ Safi Abdi, all rights reserved.
It was the happiest moment of my life a few years ago when Allah the Most Gracious finally gave me His permission to visit Him, at His House. I was in a daze. Though I talk to Allah everyday in my prayers and in my heart, visiting His house and practically answering His call is a totaly different experience. As the impact of this sublime opportunity dawned on me I set about making my preparations. I was about to visit a most beloved Friend and I needed to be prepared, body and soul. Hajj is not about just going on any trip, it's about total obedience, hope and ultimate submission. It's a test of one's Sincerity.
Hajj(pilgrimage to Mecca) is one of the five pillars of Islam and is to be performed at least once in a lifetime, if one is able to do so. Hajj is a spiritual experience, the ultimate submission, and no words can do justice to the feelings of joy one feels during the few days spent as an honored "Guest of the Beneficent". The Ka'bah, the Cube shaped structure in the middle of the Mosque is the first house of worship on the face of the earth. History has it that the black stone that's situated within the Ka'bah came down from Paradise and was brought by the Angel Jibril (Gebriel). The stone was initially white but the sins of the sons of Adam turned it into black. The Ka'bah's foundation was raised by the prophet Ibraham (Abraham) and his son Ismael (Ishmael). When the Muslim performs the Hajj he's simply following in the footsteps of the prophet Ibrahim. My intention is not to explain the Hajj rites, there are many Islamic sites on the net that can give the reader a learned explanation of what Hajj is all about: For those who are interested in finding out more about this religious experience I'll paste a couple of sites at the foot of the poem for their perusal.
The following poem merely reflects my own personal feeling of what this journey meant to this spiritual traveler. Some two million "Invitees" perform Hajj each year and the sheer numbers of devotees is an humbling experience for each "invitee". This is the House of God and the people who answer the call are called: "Guests of the Beneficent."...
Guest of the Beneficent
Is a bare-footed beggar
A poor thing invited by One Rich and Mighty
To answer the call of a lifetime,
a pledge made to God.
Guest of the Beneficent is a humble follower
Of a humble prophet, himself a follower
In the footsteps of his father Abraham,
For the first to make the call was Abraham
To this house of God and from him sprang
Prophets by the Beneficent blessed, chosen.
Guest of the Beneficent on the path
Of such a one blessed with modest walks
All pretense and ornaments shed
Eyes fixed heart trembling hands raised
A willing guest in tears drenched
The guest is a single entity in a sea of guests
Swimming in tears remorseful
For the flesh is weak and man given to haste…
Guest of the Beneficent is humbled
By feelings of smallness felt
Insignificant he's for once lost
In an ocean of devotees
he looks towards the Lord
With heart longing for freedom
From a self to blunders given.
Guests of the Beneficent are people
Pulled together by a Hand Powerful
Able to call whom He wills when He wills.
These beggars by the Door of the Merciful
In tongues diverse cry
In sizes and hues various appear
But in unison they answer this Call sublime
Joyful in a union at last made they chant
To the beat of a Truth long desired.
Hajj is a time of bonding
Beneath a sky open
The seeker learns and teaches
Equal are the guests of God
In attires easy and plain
Kings and penniless all Needy
Shoulder to shoulder before a King Mighty
This is a time of repentance
An occasion of release in an ocean of tears.
From the attachments to sin and wrong-doing
To the bonds of fellowship, hearts healing
These days of consoling, delivery
And elevated hopes
The guest of the Beneficent returns not home
But happy.
@ Safi Abdi, all rights reserved.
When your nation becomes a liability
And your voice adds to the disability
A matter of sink or else…
And a people that won’t swim
Yaa Allah!
@ Safi Abdi, all rights reserved.
When the Universe
Becomes a Handful
And Earth just a dot
And no more Somalia to despoil
Soul! Soul! Where are you
On this map of God?
@Safi Abdi,all rights reserved.
Swift is death when it meets the host…
Death comes and man a weeper...
His case closed now just a moaner:
My Lord! My Lord!
As of today I shall abide
Undo my time to prove the right
I wish to revise, improve
No more breaking of rule
Or tool.
But death comes and none can do reverse
Air
Health
Wealth
Misapplied
Gifts immense for self supplied
All gone all gone
Reversing for none.
Death comes and man a weeper...
His case closed now just a moaner:
My Lord! My Lord!
Man! Oh, man!
Wasn't his life just a loan?
A pair of eyes, faculties to apply?
Wasn't happiness his lot and cause?
And sadness a trial for him to know?
Basked he not in sunshine clime?
Much blessings did he not deride?
Tasted the cold did he not…all right?
And heat did he not sample in delight?
Feasted on beauty did he not quite?
Feeling the opposite did he not cry?
Trekked the mountains did he not to write?
Admired the blooms did he not in a dye?
Whilst his heart the Maker did deride?
Man! Oh, man!
Time enough you were hearty and fine!
So fuss no more and stop the chime!
Death comes and man the weeper
His case closed now just a moaner:
O Lord! O Lord!
Man! You knew your guest in deep sleep
I took your friends to make you see
Arrested your neighbors to make you feel
Then you shed a tear or two or more
And straight away a beer or phrase.
I said: Listen to you in the dark of night
I said: I am the One in Whom You flee
I said: I am the Link so break not free.
You said: Later! Later! O god of mine!
You said: Create me a god, if You are true !
I said: Look at you, O man of man!
You said: Not now! Not now! Not You again!
You said: I like things just that way they're!
And give not a hoot whether false or trite !
I said: the Angel of Death's always nigh!
You said: So long I don't see the night ignite!
I said: Death comes the nut to crack at dawn!
You said: I'll wait and see that night crack!
@Safi Abdi, all rights reserved.
There’s talk of God talk of Islam
With every bomb that falls
With every limb that breaks
There’s talk of God talk of Islam
A cry for help unperceived
But the talk goes on
Never ceasing to amaze:
God why me?
Yes there’s talk of God
In some minds it jams
A bubble on some lips
In some hearts it rhymes.
For some:
Wavering distress calls
Undiscovered truths
Messages confused
But there’s talk of God
Talk of Islam.
Race against the hour looms
Lest the bomb detonates
By the foot of one unready downs
Voice from voice separates.
Yes there’s talk of God talk of Islam
Speeches of blame
Finger pointing in disputes
A question of
when’s the dawn?
Talk of things unknown
On both sides of the ocean
Currents walls erect
Noises in the hawks beak
The airwaves pollute
For partitions to persist.
But there’s talk of God talk of Islam
For some futile
For others a boon
This talk of Islam.
@ Safi Abdi, all rights reserved.
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