The Nation of Poets

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Day 4 (Ramadan Poems): Sam Said

I want that type of sincerity

That revives my faith

Beautifies my soul

And chapter me in page one

Of Riad-us-Saleheen

Reminding me that all

Deeds are by intentions

I want the sincerity of the

three men from Bani Israel

Who used their sincere deeds as a means to

Obtain deliverance from their predicament

I am longing for that of type sincerity

That if my feet step into sin it takes a step back

Out of Fear of Him

I want that type of sincerity

Where God watch over me

Amused how I abstain for His sake

I want that type of sincerity

where my right hand keeps

secrets from my left hand

I want that type of sincerity

Where I worship Him

Not taking my lust as a Lord

Beside Him

I want that type of sincerity

Where I feel save knowing

My appearance do not matter

My wealth do not matter

But my intention and actions

I want that type of sincerity

Where Iblees finds it hard

To mislead me

Until I achieve that type of sincerity

I will pray I am included in

‘Except sincere worshipers of Allah’

_______________________________________

Note: inspired from reading chapter one of Riad-us-Saleheen

Sam Said

Day 4 (Ramadan Poems): Abadir Hashi

Get yourself ready, Olympics are coming on steady.

Preparing for my role as a young games maker.

During Ramadan, its a challenge from the AL-mighty, the Shaker-

of the universe.

So come rain or shine, i will fast until the sun dies.

Abadir Hashi

Day 3 (Ramadan Poems): Sam Said

Your presence brought back

The absent father

The injured solider

The tearful mother over

Her lost child

And into a quiet corner you instil

Joy, hope and victory

into their life

Sam Said

Day 3 (Ramadan Poems): Abadir Hashi

Sun sizzling, scorching i see,

my throat can't handle the sweet summery smoothy

in Stratford- the olympic scenery.

Fasting, I forward my gaze from unfortunate food smiling before me,

feelings only felt when restricted from eating 18 hours

Others look at me, oblivious that am fasting while they overload

oreos into their oesophagus.

Bright and beaming, today I met a Somali coach for the Olympic team,

his blue, blooming back engraved with the words 'SOMALIA' catches my breath.

Careless and confident i approach him for questions and cameras.

Abadir Hashi

Half Priced Deception

Security means we invest tax money in weapons while you remain ignorant and hungry. You see the truth is we oven bake your perception and let your taste buds tell you it’s nothing but your own creation. You see if I told you of my intellectual capacity you would consider me vain, so you were taught to think because wisdom to the oppressor signals the coming pain. You would rather praise a black man for singing offensiveness that contaminates your children’s brain, or glamorise a woman for exposing her soft tissue. Apparently that is the definition of liberty; but if a woman covers her beauty it is an abomination that causes an issue.

You see the young must not be educated, because if they are who do you think would be the target if they retaliated. To control the masses the mentality must be eliminated so even those who strive to be educated must study something we have doctored. The fluoride in the water and the multitude of drugs on the market will keep the rest of the livestock accepting and unfrustrated. You see if you consider yourself a revolutionist we will tag you with the title of conspiracy theorist and have you alienated.

You see most people judge you with just one look, because from early days of school we are taught to feel superior so I can read you like an open book. Or so I thought, maybe it’s a cover for my low self esteem or a disguise for my own selfish dream. You see the relationship between man and reality is becoming a distant memory. Simply because reflection is only given to bank accounts and how to give back the interested infested overdraft amounts. Sometimes I feel like a matador and I am battling to dodge today’s version of freedom, I wouldn’t even consider this a metaphor because the truth is in your face naked and raw.

You see Moses (s.a) parted the sea so the Jews could flee prosecution; today the Palestinian suffers their war of attrition. Worst comes first, I am amazed at how the world is still stuck on observation, and the so called champions of freedom have the audacity to tell me about apartheid history as if I am blind to actuality, all the while the Palestinian children grow on an Indian like conservation, right this moment i feel like i have been slapped by irony. You see these words are not meant to tell you a story or to encourage your hypocrisy to trigger your sprinklers, because the world doesn’t need crocodile tears. If change is to come the citizen must shed his fears, get rid of weathered leather and stand up if you honestly want to make our days better.

Why do you think the rebel fights through endless nights and days, even when he knows he may never see the peaceful everglades, but for what he believes for his life he is willing to trades. Malcolm X said by any means necessary sadly today it is the philosophy of the enemy, wasn't that message sent to me. You see I can dream like Luther or be my destiny’s author. No one is born black listed ask yourself why none of the rich have their children in the military enlisted, and why your young are in the frontlines to the bullets and bombs gifted.

You see we only live once but our actions thunder or barely make a sound for eternity, or in your misery reside and count each passing moon. Would it matter the time or season, domination does not start in January and breaks for the summer in June. Or find truth in constructed abnormality because outside of your windows the flowers no longer bloom. You see there is a plan behind this decree and it’s our slavery, and if you are naive to think that death brings an injunction order, what if I told you even your grave is also up for foreclosure.

Brief

At times she doubts my vision,

bound to vivid images and her ambition,

leaving behind the poverty line.

Poverty-stricken, I used to call her mine,

miss "necessities of life" and more,

each terrain driven, four-by-four

the mind was on call twenty-four/seven

worries kept going, past eleven.

You keep coming for more, flat and smooth my case,

even money offers a chance on life's brut taste -

generating different reasons to leave.

I introduce to you... and again I keep it brief.

At times I lose all control,

her calls voice me back to the phone.

The block we live in has its own traffic,

slows down like a drive-in back to conflicts,

Pre-orders made by previous generations.

Legacies left behind for the young, no liberation,

words uttered, puffed through the nose.

Hope and despair live close

by the wisdom not to snitch,

profanity forms a solid bridge

across the river of flawed identity -

generating different reasons to leave.

I introduce to you... and again I keep it brief.

At times you wonder why,

I try to distinguish between truth and his lies.

Guess what, "a fool and his money are soon parted."

Your father taught you better, before he departed.

As time goes on you acquire knowledge,

experience is one aspect of your lifelong pledge,

lasting through seasons, reasons and emotion,

some take it to a foolish degree in slow-motion.

You keep going, head held up high,

at a steady pace, turned the back on NY.

City acclaimed as a considerable success,

forgotten are the decades of great distress -

generating different reasons to leave.

I introduce to you... and again I keep it brief.

The relation of cause and effect:

#TroubledHome #TroubledNeighbourhood #TroubledSociety

Worldwide leading to our neglect.

Pen 'N' Paper

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Day 2 (Ramadan Poems): Sam Said

Ramadan

You welcome me

Like a mother hugs

Her new born baby

Feeding me with nourishment

Renewing my innate faith

And there I prosper

With blessing and discipline

Sam Said

Day 2 (Ramadan Poems): Abadir Hashi

No smell of canjeelo reminds me of my fast and I gradually rise,

like dust particles because my feet are as light as air could be.

Time sits still and everything is in slow motion but this isn’t Matrix.

However, I’m Leo and weather to take the blue or red pill; I would consume neither of them.

Because my only pill is the Qu’ran that lifts my eyelids in the morning; soothed from

Hooyo’s radio.

In need of fresh I slither towards the front door,

The sapphire sky dances above me and its partner the sun,

sways to the rhythm of the waltzing, whispering wind.

It’s a sight to be mesmerized, a gift from Allah.

Bustling and busy, the town is filled with smiles of sun

The ghostly flame from the torch relay only makes the square brighter

Laughter and cheer fills the place like oxygen.

Everyone is either laughing or smiling and I give a little prayer:

That Allah could bless us with a sun like today, everyday.

Abadir Hashi

Day 2 (Ramadan Poems): Abdisalaan Haji

Ramadan Nights

Last night I was solicited and

swayed by the soothing

embrace of an evening breeze

as I, strolled barefoot across

red velvet like powderto join hearts with the

believers in prayer.

Abdisalaan Haji

Day 1 (Ramadan Poems): Saredo Hussein

The Significance Of Ramadan

Quotation of The Allmighty reads

aaw human nine months of the year is yours

aaw how the claws of Satan bores through your host skin blood vessels and the blood pours

Darkness waging a war

aaw Mankind isn't that the real challenge to endure

Just like grown womb of nine month carrier,a mother

All creatures have a task to insure and the reason wich the lunar month of Ramadan steps through the door

Now the goal of fasting is to achieve certain goals,

It is to seek purity from the desires hidden in your heart and souls

It is the act of a Piety

The Forgiver and Hider of Faults

The Glorious and the taker of all

From all the time and months he has restored

Ramadan is the chosen of them all

Ten days of mercy

Ten days of Almighty treasured memories

Ten days of Purification

These days meant for purity

Ten days of our Purification From Hell Fire

The ultimate Prosperity

Saredo Hussein

Day 1 (Ramadan Poems): Abadir Hashi

They say the first day is the hardest

But by stomach seemed to stands still

Nor longer groaning and moaning, it’s been silenced

By the sweet whisper of Qur’an

recited by mother.

It’s Friday, the Sheikh prolonged khutbah put me in a trance

Had me close my eyes, relax my limbs

as he recited verses that cut through my heart as weeps .

The soothing sound of rain

Slowly cleaned my peaceful brain

It clanged its cool droplets above me

Blessed by Allah for London to see.

Abadir Hashi

Day 1 (Ramadan Poems): Sam Said

To you I devote my love

Every year I turn up

To our date dressed up

In believers’ gown

Perfumed of new page

Leaving you to record

Our story, intentions and deeds.

Sam Said

Ramadan Poems

Ramadan Mubarak folks! May Allah Ta'aal make this a productive, fulfilling and enriching month filled with lots of prayers, reflections, and increase in piety and wisdom. May we learn to forgive those who have caused us pain, and seek forgiveness from those whom we have inflicted pain upon. Enjoy the beauty and serenity of this blessed month. Ramadan Mubarak to you and your family ♥

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Clarity starts at home

Woke up earlier then dawn, winter’s tone flows through the open window, chilled to the bones watching the sun shift aside the night’s shadow.

Here today because I quarrelled with yesterday, embraced by the unwelcome, touched by the unforgotten, herded to grazing lands by a metallic Alsatian.

Even in this concrete jungle and all its insincere glitter, I hunger for the sand dunes that mark her; I was always enchanted by the world yet my heart has been touched by none better.

Seek and you shall find, tapping electronic maps, in search of peace of mind.

Outside of this realm perhaps, yet stronger ever is the earthly bind.

Conversations based on convergence, sustained by the nostalgia of independence. How so when we never address the innocent man’s grievance.

Political ignorance or just rebellious persistence, I keep chasing the unity that dances on horizon’s distance. Swirling to nomadic harmony, seeking deliverance from the wastelands to the once was sanctity.

Hearts torn with the same ease I a rip the pages out of my dairy, gems are the tears of our mothers, if only like rain water I was able to collect them, alleviate their pain with my pen, thus peace and security be not only in their recollection.

In life I have discovered many a currency yet only one truly entices the fool, faces on pieces of paper only make the gluttonous drool. Every single one of you is a pearl that would shine from the depths of the darkest sea, do you not appreciate the value I see.

In the young souls I found commonality or maybe we share the same naivety. Even in their state they beam rays that would make any soul happy. Watching them play mixed sweetness of joy and the pain of knowing that we might never meet again.

Enough with the realities of vivacity, on the pages of history our idealism will be drawn. Our efforts will be documented by the heavenly. Unity is the only weapon needed to defeat any enemy.

So before you close your eyes and bid farewell to today, ask your soul the questions, for the lack of harmony am I the reason? Can I venture for us alone? I for one believe clarity starts at home.

Hamza Egal

A point in life

Got to a point in my life where rain drops feel like acid ballots shot from the heavens with a heave heart, but we stay so nonchalant, like we can survive a war with great stakes, bodies filled the great lakes, oceans red accented by the moon to color our world with different shades of blood, as gloom takes a young mothers womb, with no praise and glaze darker than dooms day, shelter her heart with the peace of god and the will to move past the ignorance, and those who are persistence with there massage of hate, I got to a point in my life where the young and wise turn into soldiers and than body bags, where the rich get richer, count money with spinter fingers, we rip the soil and burn the soul of mother nature, we wait as she takes her course of revenge, and spits hurricanes of death, and earthquakes as we shaken her to the core, she will shake us to our graves, and drown the world with her tears of hope, only than can we see the rainbow, so long, where's my pot of gold, I got to a point in life where the shade of your skin gets you where you need to go, where proud killed the son, and tribes killed us all, where hungry is taking lives and keeping a score, it's a war and mankind is unarmed, you take a leap not of faith, to the streets, to point your life not to where u wanna go but where you need to be,

Ayan Abdi

Waiting Period

Against my evil soul’s will

I wait your presence,

counting down the days

so my conscious soul could live

to abstain from swimming

in a river where sins flow.

Sam Said

The path of the pen

When and where

I heard it many times

those questions of the past

trying to make it last

The path of the pen

takes me on a different way

when and where, a cloister remains

my attitude paves and stains

Those small remnants

I cherished for so long

releasing from any leash

a storm of protest, now we proceed

When and where

who is shedding tears

surviving in my mind

she has reason, while I try to find

The path of the pen

leading to your civil strife

critical and disastrous thoughts

disapproving your infectious brawl

Talkative is every line

narrow minded, keeping it broad

dreams lived, pictures written

destiny closes in, you remained hidden

When and where

did we lose control

perceived pain

on a vast plain

to such an extent

a struggle since birth

a traveller on earth

– the path of the pen.

Pen 'N' Paper

Life is grand

Please forgive me, my past was busy, unlocked my present, and escape to my future,

ruff patches, lonely nights, cold winter in mid summer,

life is grand, written words for the blind, spoken truth for the deaf, and spit knowledge for the dumb,

glue pieces of your heart to a free soul, just to be torn by humanity, AGIAN, broken hearts may be my forte, but my supply kit is limited,

so as I glue away, and leave a sticky mass like a trail of misfortune, itchy palms get money,

but an empty belly ends up on a Telly,

with a fake celebrity, acting the role of a kind hearted being,

if enough care was given, that young child will be eating, and that actor wouldn't need to stroke his ego,

life is grand, to some they regret their birth, mistakes made by others,

fall heave on their shoulders, burden carried almost three decades,

it's time for a new age, they say, the cold hearts, and darkest parts of your mind,

that lerk only in our nightmares, surface, with a gaze that brings a child to hold a gun,

he now has to hold his own, mistake was the name of the land,

that was sucked dry by its own people, mistake lashed back and gave birth to misery,

now misery takes a toll on humanity, humanity gave birth to agony,

and agony stripped them down to their souls, how dare you hurt home,

your life is grand, but agony is around the corner and once you fall in it,

you have no choice but to blame humanity for all their mistakes, now you drown in your misery.

Ayan Abdi

Abti Nasir

whats keeping me going in this world

is that death will come

imagining heaven and fearing hell

one day hoping I'll reunite with you

every jummah pray i make my dua's

for you and the ones we've lost

sending you my love

Abti Nasir you truly deserve Jannah

when i look at a picture of you and your children,

i still break down and cry

it hurt when i heard you died

at that time i couldn't cry

held a firm grip into asking why

i felt like it was a lie

and the tears started to entwine

wish it was me instead

never knew missing anyone can torture ones soul

I've lost my mind in this dragging hole

I've missed the souls you raised

it hurts I cant be apart of their lives

and there will always be a hole

knowing I haven't got nothing of you

i just wonder if they ever remember us altogether

when we were all happy

childhood days were full of bliss

before it was disturbed with a haunting twist

heart breaking to even think

all this sadness I'm about to be sick.

even though they may hate me

I'll love them anyway

wouldn't believe whats been happening ever since

your last breath

how Allah is putting us through the biggest test

there are so many things that people should confess

let you be and put you at rest

11 years on awards and we are still in the worst mess

but inshaaAllah with Allah's help it would be resolved

because theres nothing I can do or anyone else

Abti Nasir we just miss you

and for all the things you done we truly appreciate it

and I want to help you too

the way you gave zakat

I'll hand it over in behalf of your name

the way you and my hoyo would walk around the kaaba together

I'll walk around the kaaba in behalf of your name

servant of Allah, the helper and protector

and what you truly did you helped us

and I never felt more safe

one day all this sadness will diminish

all this pain would just finish

one day inshaaAllah I'll be there with you

with your children and grandchildren

with your hoyo and abo

with your wife

and your siblings

and there Allah promises us happiness

for entity

O how Allah is so merciful

knowing there would be one day a

stop to this pain and these falling tears.

Idil Ahmed Mahamed

My Home

By now

You heard them all

tales of derring-do

and the curtain fall

after all, you got used to

my tales, my stories

my burden, my worries

my disappointments

neglected, by those regrets

“It’s not describable in words

how much it hurts

trying to grasp the intensity,

the message, intending to set it free”

is all I heard, before I left

we fell into desuetude

finding myself, in society’s cleft

a deep split between us hushed the mood

a cry of justice

screams, just break this

verse apart, looking down at my feet

that is how you compensate the heat

“I long for you to come home

ingenuous, that is what you used to be

more and more, my son has grown

the system pushed him back to me”

a deeply moved mother

moves the soul like no other

when are we going to appreciate

time is ticking, is it close to late

for this generation

make a difference

for the next and its destination

again, at the crossroad to ignorance

“Twenty one years in the West

signs of recovery are patchy at best

my home, you look as if you still need to rest

you keep your cards close to your chest”

we still do not comprehend

how it came to this suspicion

it takes even more to understand

how it came to this division

The capital of my state of mind

the capital that hesitates, asked me to find

forgiveness, what is your part in this

step by step, we gave a sigh of bliss

“Your hope, your stay

your life, your way

your drive, as cold as your breath

seems to scare my home to death.”

Pen 'N' Paper

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Life Sentence

Life Sentence:

handcuffed

feet shackled, and

blindfolded

timid muscles tremble, with intense

Fear

amidst the bleak and frigid confines

of ironfisted concrete and steal

but

still

restricted by rules and regulations

self-imposed are ascetic sanctions

for things aren't always what they seem

adorned with Beauty

unperceived

this dark and dreary sanctuary

make those who truly believe

weary

*Based on the authentic Hadith by Abu Hurairah (May allah be pleased with him) who reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said: "The world is the believer's prison and the infidel's Jannah". [470:Muslim].

Abdisalaan Haji