Poetry & Fiction Qur'an

On the Subject of Al-Qur’an

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelightningman/7302023228/sizes/l/by Askia Nasir Bilal

 

Its Words are ten stone slabs in the bosom piece

Air

mountain pegs holding my celestial body in place

coral reef, beached whale bones

bleached pale

poems can’t touch the place its page reached
“Read!”

was the Word that squeezed free his rib cage

The seed rooted and breathed branches across ages

planted an oasis in the desert-chested

took its seat in the minds of peasants to sages

who halt and fall at all corners of earth

their foreheads transformed to lanterns

 

Its Words are not the spells of a soothsayer

not a madman poet who sought profit

they are Lanterns from on High

cast into our clay frames where they hang shimmering

meteors passing through our frozen membranes

floodlights to consciousness

 

Its Majestic Speech

would make skies weep and bow

a lightning bolt to the boulder-breasted
God Willing

to those who ingest its message

it gives their spines polished posture

God Willing

those whose heart-tongues host its words

their clay forms are molded into noble vessels

God Willing

 

It draws the mirage out of mankind

strikes the living dead and mends severed body-hearts

Its Letters — ladders leading to higher selves

God Willing

 

“Read!” was the Word that made his rib cage its throne

Nor was he known as a liar

 

A Warning-harbinger, Glad tidings

Its passages lead passengers to meaning

It vibrates through our barren vessels until

we are shattered whole

 

“Taught man what he knew not”

like stones thrown at our glasshouse false selves

showing an Opening to True Purpose.

 

About the author

Guest Authors

Guest Authors

As a virtual mosque, we strive to provide a safe space for learning and discussion. We would like to invite our readers to join this process. Everyone has a reflection to share, expertise on a specific topic, or a new idea. We hope, by opening up submissions from guest authors, that we can highlight the work of new, talented writers in our virtual community.

6 Comments

  • ‘Some say there were four
    their dog a fifth,
    some say there were six
    their dog a seventh
    at the door,
    its paws
    keeping watch
    its muzzle nosing out
    the holiness within
    and caring for its preservation
    Inshallah
    even from here in England to ummah there
    your timely mention of “read”
    makes me write this in appreciation.

    Brian Cokayne, Stockport, England

  • Assalamu alaikum,

    It’s wonderful to see more quality poetry being produced in this Ummah, thank you so much! I particularly liked the very first stanza, and how studded it was with metaphor. 😀

Leave a Comment