Salam Abbu
Did you get my gifts today? There weren’t as many as I’d like to have sent but I hope you received many more from all over. Mustafa sent us all an email with a poem that he said was from one of your favourite poets. Brought tears to my eyes even though I think he meant to send it so that we can make peace with your departure to the other side.
Here you go Abbu, this one is for you:
When I die
when my coffin
is being taken out
you must never think
i am missing this world
don’t shed any tears
don’t lament or
feel sorry
I’m not falling
into shaytan’s abyss
when you see
my corpse is being carried
don’t cry for my leaving
I’m not leaving
I’m arriving at eternal love
when you leave me
in the grave
don’t say goodbye
remember a grave is
only a curtain
for the paradise behind
you’ll only see me
descending into a grave
now watch me rise
how can there be an end
when the sun sets or
the moon goes down
it looks like the end
it seems like a sunset
but in reality it is a dawn
when the grave locks you up
that is when your soul is freed
have you ever seen
a seed fallen to earth
not rise with a new life
why should you doubt the rise
of a seed named human
have you ever seen
a bucket lowered into a well
coming back empty
why lament for a soul
when it can come back
like Yousef from the well
when for the last time
you close your mouth
your words and soul
will belong to the world of
no place no time
(30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273)
The Saudi Expat 