Look at us
We're all we have
Yet peace and joy
Have eluded us

We're family? say you
What family? say I
You go your way
And I go mine
Paths separated
Never to intertwine

Over things mundane
And statements inane
Do we quarrel and bicker
While loving each other
Would be that much quicker
Or perhaps it'd be too great a bother

Yet, for T.V. and mall-hopping
Trips to the park and picnicking,
Annual holidays at the coast,
Time for these do we boast
Yet for family, this is much to ask
Seemingly too difficult a task

Our parents' wealth has brought this day?
Yet somehow it seems, it's always been this way
We'd gather at Eid but always a-grumbling
I've done too much, you'd find us mumbling
Snide remarks would be the order of the day
Could we not have found something better to say?

We'll cry at one another's funerals, we will
He'd better be certain I'm mentioned in his will
To his grave did I carry him with my own hand
Then cover him with a ton of sand
Perhaps for him, did I not pray
But he did plenty preparing for this day

It was the same when our parents died
Truly, how each one of us cried
Sincere tears, really they were
As sincere as mummy's were
When there was none to listen to her fears
When there was none to ease the burden of her years

And Daddy spent the last years of his life alone
Moving miserably from home to home
While his daughters in law moaned about his ways
Begrudging him happiness in his final days
And when he died, joyfully they cried
We'll miss him dearly, they lied

Then greedily their bags they filled
Around his belongings they milled
Stealing the choicest of his goods
Fighting over his antique woods
Claiming back gifts they gave
These no one else could have

So now Eid has become a solitary affair
Everyone apparently too busy to care
My own family, that's all that matters
So who needs sisters or brothers?
When I am old, care for me, my children will
Like I did for mummy and daddy when they were ill

Beauty is the Qur'anic verses
Exquisite in it's sequence
As the Arabic words drip off one another
Silky a transition as the pattern of the rain.
Raining on our barren tongues and quenching the thirst of searching

Beauty is the Hijab
Complementing the natural splendor of a woman
Hiding that which is hers
Promoting a sense of awareness
That all she does is for her Lord

Beauty is the sound of the mu'azzin
Calling to that which is called to five times each day
Reminding us of our purpose as mere mortals
Welcoming us to our reward
Feeding our souls as we continually starve them

Beauty is the act of prostration
To the one and only Allah ta'ala
As we bow our heads so full of pride
Acknowledging our insignificance
Together in congregation and alone

Beauty is the status of our mothers
Women who strive in the way of our Lord
Nurturing the cries of the young
Caressing their promises
Whispering to the ears which hear more then we fathom

Beauty is the bond of love
For Allah ta'ala alone
As brothers and sisters, husbands and wives
Peace is bestowed upon us
And charity spread through smiles

Beauty is the Qur'anic verses
Which spell all that we know
In which it's hidden beauty may be unlocked
Unlocked by the searchers
Who care not of this world.

She drifted into my life.
The noblest part of me.
Yet, aloof.

By the Qudrat of Allah, the wind united us.
Like a cloud chasing another across the sky,
I pursued her friendship.

On sunny days, she would disappear,
But when I needed shade, she was there.
On stormy days, she was difficult to distinguish,
But when I needed shelter, she was there.

When I wanted to play,
She was sometimes busy,
Gathered with the other clouds on the horizon.

At times she pushed, sometimes I pushed.
At times she pulled, sometimes I pulled.
But I always knew she would reappear,
That is,... if I pursued.

She was the noblest part of me.
For a time we were a mirror to each other.
Marvelling at Allah and His creation,
and our place in the world.

Then, by the Qudrat of Allah,
The wind shifted.
And the Friendship,
The Shade,
The Shelter,
The Mirror,
The Marvel that was mine,
Drifted away.
To beautify another horizon.