The soul is unwilling to listen
To the body’s excuses left over
From its earlier turning away
When awakened to answer
Nature’s call and Allah’s
Heeding one, but heedless of the other
From the seeming need for sleep
The soul is numb and stunned
By an instant’s choice to ignore
For a simple hand-washing and cool sheets
A wudu that would have flowed over sins
Washing them away, readying the body to pray
The waters that should have been wudu
Have flowed away without giving any hope in Allah
The prayers in the darkness
And tears streaming down with cries
For forgiveness and mercy
Are forever lost, unmade, unprayed
The hour is gone, irretrievable
A soul that could have been full of hope
Awash now in grief and loss and shame
Like a mother in a war watching the forest stream
Carry away her fat, drowned babies
The soul waits now
Wanting another night to come
Another chance for prayer
Another chance for hope, for forgiveness
Hurrying down a path
A small, ordinary stone
Caught my eye
I nearly passed it by
A second, third, fourth and fifth
Were strewn along the way
I was really in a hurry
But stopped each time that day
For the small, ordinary stones
That caught my eye
When I had nearly passed them by
Later that night
Before I went to bed
I took them out of my pocket
And discovered what I had
When I dusted them off
And polished them clean
They were the finest, brightest jewels
That I had ever seen
Now each day
As I travel on my path
I never pass it by
When a small, ordinary stone
Catches my eye
Posted by ummumar
