A Prayer for You (is a Prayer for Me)
I pray for you to smile, my queen,
to dream Quran in the night,
wake up and see the light
on the eucalyptus leaves
outside your window, and feel
the current of Allah’s love
turning in you like a water wheel;
because when you smile I am healed,
and so a prayer for you
is a prayer for me too.
When it’s winter in your mind
my heart is chilled and rimed
while my arms yearn to warm you.
When your back is bent and sore
I sense it from distant shores.
When you damn yourself
I have faith in you like a sunrise.
When your eyes well up with tears
mine too are hot as black tea,
so a prayer for you is a prayer for me.
I pray for your chest to rise
with flowered air, your spirit rich
as your chestnut hair. I pray
for you to laugh leafy and long,
your body whole and strong,
sweet as a summer wind,
and your spirit shy but filling in,
raising your head, saying what must
be said. I ask Allah all of this for you,
because I love you, I love you… You see…
a prayer for you is a prayer for me.
- Wael Abdelgawad, March 2010
Wael Abdelgawad is an Egyptian-American living in Fresno, California. He is the founder of several Islamic websites, including Zawaj.com and IslamicAnswers.com, and also of various technology and travel websites. He is a writer and poet, and has been a web developer since 1997.
This project, IslamicSunrays.com, is very dear to his heart, as it has allowed him to express ideas that have growing inside him for many years.
Wael is divorced and has one lovely young daughter. He practices and teaches martial arts (somewhat obsessively), and loves Islamic books, science fiction, and vanilla fudge ice cream. Wael is an advocate for human rights and blogs about these issues at AbolishTorture.com. He is also a volunteer with the MyDeen Muslim youth organization in Fresno.
MaashaAllah…its a lovely poem.
Many of the poems I wrote last year are to my son, I was thinking about that this morning, and now I read this…
I´m sorry if I´m scaring you, I´m scared myself.
No worries, I am glad that you appreciate my work, Alhamdulillah.
……….. very touching,MashaAllah
“A prayer for you is a prayer for me ” SubhanAllah!
Ya Raabi Guide us all to your Pleasure..Ameen
One doesn’t know love until they become a parent!!
Ameen. Thanks very much for your comments, Shireen.
I just came across this and couldn’t help but think of this post; feeling it would be a great reminder for us all ( I very much included).
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(Ibn Taymiyyah’s Essay on Servitude )
“Say, ‘If your fathers; yours sons; your brothers; your wives; your kindred; the wealth that you have gained; the commerce in which you fear a decline and the dwellings in which you delight, are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving hard and Fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision (torment). ” [9:24]
“Thus, the genus of love should be for Allaah and His Messenger, as is the case of obedience; obedience is for Allaah ans His Messenger and is Pleasing for Allaah and His Messenger: ”
“…But it is more fitting that they should please Allaah and His Messenger…”[9:62]
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May Allah swt protect us from straying into that which will be displeasing to Him.. Ameen