Become one with the earth.
Lay upon the dirt from which you came.
Sinking, melting,
Streaming down the crevices
Cracks, slipping further.
We return to the earth, don’t we?
Go, return to your Lord.
Creator.
Guardian.
Let the sun wash over your skin.
Bask in the beams of mercy,
A gift from your Lord
Calling to you
Pray
Beg
Bathe in the sheets of noor
Filling every pore, hole, void,
With longing
To glide along the bridges threading from sky to earth.
Crystal droplets, dancing
Sloshing, swishing
Flowing down the banks
Bubbling, gurgling
Rushing foam
A gift to your parched throat.
Sliding down the tunnel
Moistening your cracked lips.
Rustling blades of grass
Crushed against your body
Crumpled, springy
Dewdrops, beads resting atop these towers,
Creased, crunched
Rustling
Waving in the breeze.
Timeless silence.
Can you paint with the colors of the wind?
Wavering
Swaying
Gliding
Persuasive gusts of incessant beauty.
Endless blue
Stretching across the heavens
Flexing to match the mold of the sky
Soft to the touch, clouds
Scattered, peppered,
Dotting the skies of great depth.
A crack, a hiss
The sound of a shattered soul
Pain, loss,
Spreading, filling every gap.
Bursting at the seams of gentle skins.
Covering
Smothering
Begging to escape
To leave your crushed body
Impossible, inescapable,
Leaking from the ducts that corner the gateways to your soul
Streaming down your face
Dripping into the ground
Soaking the earth.
Every drop
Hungry, ravenous
To leech away the pain.
Become one with the earth
Lay upon the dirt from which you came
Sinking, melting,
Streaming down the crevices
Cracks, slipping further
Little by little, bit at a time
Slowly
Go, return to your Lord.
There are times in life which every human being capable of emotion is able to relate to. A moment where you feel the power of utter vulnerability, when the spiderwebs of familiarity you have woven around you over the course of years – even decades – are ripped away, when you feel like one of the hollow sea shells drifting along the foamy seas…
There are times when every morsel of your body yearns to melt into the earth, to vanish completely. When you want to run away so nobody can ever find you again.
Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says that man was created weak, that we need to have a Lord to return to in these times of plight.
Every human is subject to these moments of hopelessness. The solution then, is to return to Allah, to yearn and ask for His Mercy.
Because of course, ‘in the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find rest’ (Surah Ar-Ra’d 13:28).
17 Comments
I could feel a cold rush down my spine, masha-Allah. Such vivid and livening language! Jazakallahu Khair, Sister Raadia.
May Allah Ta’ala guide us to Him in both the good times and the challenging times.
Ameen was iyaki. :) One thing I try to work on is to produce a picture (perhaps a movie?) in the reader’s head.
MashaAllah Raadia, beautiful! I could FEEL it, like I was the one lying there. I have been in those hopeless situations where everything feels like it’s closing in…but by Allah’s grace the peace always comes back and makes you want to turn to Him even more. I am in love with this very relateable piece! :)
That means a lot to me. Jazakullahu khairun. :)
Truly, Allah Almighty is always waiting for us.
MashAllah. Thanks for the reminder. I love the quote:
‘in the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find rest’ (Surah Ar-Ra’d 13:28).
It’s my favourite, and so true.
Jazakullahu khair. :)
Oh, raadia <3. Again, while reading the email I was like 'THIS IS RAADIA'S WORK' and sure enough it was ;)
Like all your other work, amazing ma sha Allah. "Dewdrops, beads resting atop these towers…" I love that. Keep up your work – it never ceases to please me ^.^
Aww, thank you! :D It makes me happy to know that. I will keep trying, insha Allah.
The cacophony, the harsh sounds, the powerful images, the clipped stanza length – all of these choices you made really made this poem quite moving, mashaAllah.
My favorite lines were: “Become one with the earth / Lay upon the dirt from which you came.” In the beginning of the poem, they meant the person was giving up completely. But – at the end – these very same lines shed off this meaning and slipped into a new one for me: becoming one with the earth through sujood. What a powerful spin!
Masha Allah, I didn’t think of it like that! :) That’s a really interesting concept/idea. I love how writing can be interpreted in so many different ways.
Jazakullahu khairun. :D
It’s similar to Raadia’s other article, Drowning in Sin. She starts off with the character falling down into the ocean, and ends it with her falling down into sujood. Very interesting perspective. =)
Jazakullahu khairun. ^.^
Very beautifully written. You can actually feel everything, so powerful!
Thank you/ Jazakullah khairun. <3
MashaAllah absolutely beautiful
Jazakumullahu khair. :)
MashaAllah