what do you do when words needed don't comewhen the songs that you sing have already been sung—what do you say when the saying tongue breaksin crashing and cliffs and the fracture of waves? where do you go when the pages once hometurn deadened white eyes from gazes unknown—where do you set down the shimmering… Continue reading untitled
Category: Poetry
no more
The faucet weeps without a soundThe bowl fills up, no moreThe hour strikes the break of dayYet time moves on, no more The wind chime tolls for what was lostThe answer comes, no moreThe waxen sun seeps into roomsWhere shadows fall, no more The night's wings fall on candles brightThe wicks will burn, no moreThe… Continue reading no more
riches
The rose thinks the garden is enough. Blossoming in its sun, it looks upward and smiles— Oh, who is it who is richer than me? The fish thinks the pond is enough. Flitting across its expanse, it looks backward and trills— Oh, who is it who is richer than me? The eagle thinks the sky… Continue reading riches
what we claim
Would that I had been there in Karbala, My life would have been given for Hussain, How often does this thought upon me gnaw— My blood would have been spilled upon those plains. With confidence, I claim I would have been Amongst those noble few who lived to die, Unflinching, facing death, their band was… Continue reading what we claim
the shepherd
The shepherd has but gone over the hill,The setting sun has but few hours to rise—Yet with the dark has fled our pasture's will,Waking is left now only for the wise.Our withered flock now wanders to and fro,While on the path few track our herder's steps;We sit and wail, drawing the wolves below,While few seek… Continue reading the shepherd
these nights
these nights carry within their folds a song which breaks the heart, and by such, then lives on the pierce comes soft, the ache, it never ends once tasted, this, a wound which never mends stirring on trees, a fragrant symphony rising on stars, blazing your memory worlds vanish, now, there's only you and I… Continue reading these nights
my guide
my heart's rapture holds the momentwhen I first glanced upon your facewhen all that mattered disappearedand you remained there in its place when we first met, you did not speakyet until now, your voice I hearand though the miles stretch out farby the soul's standard, you are near I came to you in summer's heatwith… Continue reading my guide
there is a tale
there is a tale that aches the heart whose telling tears its seams apart a thousand years of flowing tears which call: ya Hussain there was a band of noble few who left behind all that they knew to fight the fight of dark and light their chief, al-Hussain of young and old their party… Continue reading there is a tale
nothing but beauty
ya Zaynab, the time has come to bid Hussain farewell horrors to pass the looming of a bloody moon foretells ya Zaynab, with the rising of Ashura’s sun to come to the aid of your Hussain there will be left no one ya Zaynab, to the battlefield he is to go and will… Continue reading nothing but beauty
the smallest acts
there have been times an infant this has shown that age does not define how much you know the wisdom that we look for in the skies is oft found in the youngest child’s cries there have been times without having to speak servants of God managed the greatest deeds unrecognized by servants of this… Continue reading the smallest acts
sweeter than honey
the meeting of swords, the clashing of souls brought by dawn after silence of night thousands who fight for darkness to prevail— a small band, warriors of the light the tenth of Muharram on Karbala’s sands a battle this morning has bloodily raged a few hours the length of centuries seems a grief by… Continue reading sweeter than honey
o eyes, shed your tears
O eyes shed your tears Muharram’s moon has turned in these days Hussain’s blood is spilled— the tents of Zaynab burned O eyes shed your tears the caravan arrives soon will the sands redden with blood— the children’s gasping cries O eyes shed your tears the bodies on the ground run upon by… Continue reading o eyes, shed your tears
the secret
the world still craves to know the secret spoken by Hussain that changed the heart of one such as Zuhayr the son of Qayn what was it that was spoken in the silence of that tent that changed a wary man into a man wholly content? when just moments ago, Zuhayr had in this act… Continue reading the secret
some days
some days, I walk down the street like everyone else bundling my coat close to my neck waiting for the stoplight to turn “some weather we’re having” “isn’t that right” “in my day, autumn was never this chilly” some days, I go through the motions scribbling my name hastily across a paper filling in bubbles, a… Continue reading some days
the aftermath
your face haunts my every dream. I wake from the fragrance of your embrace to the scent of fire and weeping— to the wailing of flowing rivers, rivers of flowing blood. "And think not Allah to be heedless of what the unjust ones do. He only respites them to a day when their eyes shall be fixed… Continue reading the aftermath
still far too soon
O night, prolong your hours— let me, for some moments longer, gaze upon his face; these hours of night, still far too soon these thousand years, still far too soon these infinite ages, still far too soon to embrace the broken body of Hussain.
Hurr, who chose to be free
light is breaking its way through gentle night with the reddened tones of a blood sunrise through the tents of Hussain on Ashura a morning breeze in deep sorrow sighs those who've just spent the night in prayer prepare now to face the battle call bidding farewell to the ones they love their words, La ila… Continue reading Hurr, who chose to be free
warriors + poets
once, there walked amongst us warriors. we caught our breath when we witnessed the unyielding strength of their brows. we felt our hearts marked when we met the noble glint of their gaze. we fell to our knees as before our very eyes, the magnificence of lions stepped into the fray. once, there breathed amongst… Continue reading warriors + poets
how do i go on living?
how can my body stay in this place, when my heart only wants to be where you are? how do i keep from catching my breath? how do i keep my soul from leaping from my chest? how do i go on living, knowing it's not where you are? oh, how restless is… Continue reading how do i go on living?
the first moment
the first moment my eyes set their sights on your karbala, i knew. the moment i saw your flag still whipping in the breeze blood red, the blood of Muhammad (s) your name written in the sky as if still held steady blood red, the arms of your flag-bearer... my life, (the death i had… Continue reading the first moment
travelers in the night
I once met a man walking alone Where the path in the desert bends I asked him where he was headed— He said, “To visit an old friend.” Our ways seemed to cross so I asked If I might join him by his side? He gestured the way and so off we set Two… Continue reading travelers in the night
tides of the heart
the moon turns and the heart grows restless -- whispers rustle in a silent breeze of sands drenched in the blood of kings the spirit journeys to a distant land where candles flicker in a starless night and farewells sway with the rise and fall of tents the rising of the sun,… Continue reading tides of the heart
our way through fire
millennia ago, when the world was a younger place in the heavens, a human being was created from clay a being of sinew and flesh and stardust and bone a being that would, in time, call this Earth its home. the Lord said, ‘I will create a vicegerent on Earth.’ the angels replied, ‘what… Continue reading our way through fire
the ways i knew you (on the death of a great man)
When I was five, I found you in the smiling curve of numbers. I sat in the pale morning sunlight of a Sunday School classroom painted the yellow of tender summer peaches. The wind from the fan caressed my face in rounds, the buzzing gape of its mouth first turning this way then that,… Continue reading the ways i knew you (on the death of a great man)
fragrance of the found
"O God, what did find who lost you? And what did he lose who found you?" -Hussain ibn Ali (a) I’ve heard whispered tales of a flower in a slumbering wood Whose tears did fall when the world’s weight it understood Drowning in the haze of fairytales, countless once upon a times Of knights bright… Continue reading fragrance of the found
the believer’s lament
I stand at the edge of something vast. The push and the pull of centuries and the universe, a battle between light and dark rages across the fields of my soul. “Steady your arms, men! Brace the line, men!” The clamor of shields, the cacophony of this vessel of steel marching forward into the… Continue reading the believer’s lament
W A R R I O R S + P O E T S 