Queen, Jacks, Hearts, and Spades,
My personality fades,
In a world where exploitation is the exposition for every living respiration.
A world where in desperation, no man does speak his self truths,
A world where one wrong move could make you lose this competition,
Fame and fortune is the only designation.
And as I still walk down those school hallways
From personal experience one of these days
It’s not the clothes I wear,
It may be my act.
Or maybe what I wear on my head
The fact that discrimination still exists.
Yeah, I have been called a rag head and maybe even a terrorist.
Been asked if I was going to blow up a person,
Even been showed the act,
But my faith has pushed me to remain silent, to just walk away.
Because what good would it do for my rage to become an issue?
I could become in hold of the Satan,
Let my anger reach to where I couldn’t straighten,
Let it all become a jumble of frustration,
But no that’s not how what I was taught to do from my prophet to my parents.
In this world where I see so many ache in indescribable ways
And I swear, just one of these days
The fact that discrimination still exists today.
When I walk on the streets they say to get out of their country.
Excuse me; you can’t even stand for your country’s first rights.
And you expect me to pick a fight,
This anger, so bottled up inside,
My rage wanting to unleash its tide.
And I fight the tears and swallow back my words and stay calm.
Because to be a Muslim is to be Islam.
And who would I be to destroy my prophet’s legacy?
I can’t ruin it all.
This built up pressure
To rest and start out fresher.
Because what good could it do for my rage to become an issue?
Take it from arguing about Islam to doing the haram
Should save my aggression for maybe a calling to submission.
So I bow down to my creator and pour my soul.
I have given it my all, Lord, I have played my role.
I have tried my best to display,
So I won’t be the one questioned on judgment day.
In this world where I see so many ache in indescribable ways
And I swear, just one of these days
The fact that discrimination still exists today.
I have done it wrong all this time,
Let it get away and had made it my crime.
Now I have realized that this is the only way
For all this beautiful faith I have to portray.
I play my cards, this time right.
I humble myself upon my fright.
And display Islam, with all my might.
Try to see the light, this time outright.
Finally I can reunite…
Queen, Jacks, Hearts and Spades,
Here I am the Jack of all trades.
6 Comments
Wow, love it MashaAllah. :) I really like how the way it flows and the deep motivational message it carries. Nice job.
Oh wow, this is amazing masha Allah! I especially loved the end and how your tied it in with the names of the actual cards. :)
This is a spark of genius. And I was intrigued by the message, because I haven’t lived in that life. For someone who’s been living in a place where Muslims are majority, this message is quite an eye-opening. I especially like the way you describe the rage and how you control it.
Kings, Aces, Diamonds, and Clubs
I give this poem a thumbs up!
As you can tell, my rhyming is rusty. But MashaAllah I really enjoyed this poem!
I feel the voice of the poem is very clear and distinct in that you seem to speak as a typical American Muslim young woman, who faces discrimination and ignorance, and your frustration rings through (“And I swear, just one of these days”), but I like how you end up trying to control it and steer it toward a more positive way to deal with it (“display Islam, with all my might”).
What I feel may be my single most favorite line of the poem, and the one most profound to me is “Because to be a Muslim is to be Islam”. This is honestly such a powerful truth for any Muslim in the world today (particularly in the West). Just the fact that you are Muslim, regardless of your own religiosity, your own views, even whether your Sunni or Shi’a, just that fact makes you an ambassador to Islam. Don’t judge a book by its cover is failing adage, and so our entire Deen is represented by whoever claims to be apart of it (whether they follow it or not). MashaAllah you have a very distinct, strong voice and I make du’a Allah blesses you to even take this talent further and to keep it up!
*p.s. Br. Abu Yusuf’s comment mentioned a couple of errors: the “the” doesn’t appear to be needed in “from the my prophet”; the “Countries” doesn’t appear to be needed in “for your Countries country’s first rights”.
Thanks for your comment. Changes made.
Masha’Allah Mahnoor! This is absolutely powerful. It’s brimming with so much emotion. I just read it out loud to my non-muslim coworker, and she agreed it was very strong. I absolutely love everything about it. The rhythm, the flow; it’s fantastic! I praise Allah again. Keep up the great work, insha’Allah!