My heart had a visitor today,
grasping wilted flowers in his hands.
It took him longer to get here
than planned.
I gathered trampled petals
from the empty garden,
wet and soft in my palms
breathing memories of a softer past.
Secret glimpses into his words;
a man with the softest palms
leads me by the hand to
paradise.
“Abul-Qasim” refers to the prophet (saw) right? So then is he the “man with the softest palms”? but then the garden reference is also in there in the 2nd stanza…does that refer to heaven? in other words, can you provide a tafseer of your poem
By: ahmed on June 9, 2007
at 12:30 pm
Ahmed, lucky you that I wrote an essay in my creative writing class a few months ago, and part of it was about this poem:
The above poem touches on the Islamic worldview that the human soul is transient. Our souls were created long before they were breathed into our physical bodies. When we die, our souls are taken but are still as alive as ever, and will be so eternally. The human body is just a vessel that carries an individual for a short period of time before he or she returns to God. So, in reality, our existence is not characterized by the physical containers that hold us. Rather, we are completely spiritual beings who sometimes mistakingly identify with only our physical attributes.
“The empty garden” in the above poem refers to paradise – the abode that our forefathers’ souls once inhabited in “a softer past,” but that is now empty and waiting for us to return. In Islamic traditions, both Adam and Eve sinned against themselves and God, so they descended to earth for a period of time.
Here, “a man with the softest palms” is historical Muhammad – narrations about his characteristics and physical appearance often state that his hands were soft. The last stanza outline my attempts to follow in the path that he taught to his people.
By: Asmaa on June 9, 2007
at 2:26 pm