poetry – The Border of a Mind

fabric of the world

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 by Ajmal

Love these lines gushing with solace! There’s a beautiful kind of calm disposition on complete reliance to divine will.

Should you not gain your wants, my soul, then be not grieved;
But hasten to that banquet which your Lord’s bequeathed.
And when a thing for which you ask is slow to come,
Then know that often through delay are gifts received.
Find solace in privation and respect its due,
For only by contentment is the heart relieved.
And know that when the trials of life have rendered you
Despairing of all hope, and of all joy bereaved,
Then shake yourself and rouse yourself from heedlessness,
And make pure hope a meadow that you never leave.
Your Maker’s gifts take subtle …and uncounted forms.
How fine the fabric of the world His hands have weaved.
The journey done, they came to the water of life,
And all the caravan drank deep, their thirst relieved.
Far be it from the host to leave them thirsty there,
His spring pours forth all generosity received.
My Lord, my trust in all Your purposes is strong,
That trust is now my shield; I’m safe, and undeceived.
All those who hope for grace from You will feel Your rain;
Too generous are You to leave my branch unleaved.
 - Ali bin Muhammed bin Hussein al-Habshi

the poem you want to be.

July 12, 2020July 11, 2020 by Ajmal

“You read and write and sing and experience, thinking that one day these things will build the character you admire to live as. You love and lose and bleed best you can, to the extreme, hoping that one day the world will read you like the poem you want to be.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

A beautiful cobweb style rooftop that I found somewhere near Abudhabi many years back (atleast six!). I’m unable to recollect the exact place, but I remember how the sunset hues diffuse through the roofing. I was returning from a site visit and found this on the way. Nema Al-Araby writes in Remnants and Ashes:

“And the cobwebs of time
would surrender,
dormant, so that the rainbows
of new eras can emerge
Despite the hollowness
of you.”

clouds of fire.

April 26, 2020April 22, 2020 by Ajmal

“The blue of daylight
fades and chills as the sun sinks
beneath clouds of fire.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes

Captured by Netta. Retouched by yours truly.

to be the eyes of a dove.

March 15, 2020 by Ajmal

The title of this post is inspired by a beautiful poem written by the Serbian poet Dejan Stojanovic. Saw this lonely bird on the office gates after a day from work.

“To hear never-heard sounds, To see never-seen colors and shapes,
To try to understand the imperceptible Power pervading the world;
To fly and find pure ethereal substances That are not of matter
But of that invisible soul pervading reality.
To hear another soul and to whisper to another soul;
To be a lantern in the darkness Or an umbrella in a stormy day;
To feel much more than know. To be the eyes of an eagle,
the slope of a mountain;
To be a wave understanding the influence of the moon;
To be a tree and read the memory of the leaves;
To be an insignificant pedestrian on the streets
Of crazy cities watching, watching, and watching.
To be a smile on the face of a woman And shine in her memory
As a moment saved without planning.”
― Dejan Stojanovic

mirror | fine art.

January 2, 2020December 30, 2019 by Ajmal

“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.”

― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Lunar Silhouette

October 31, 2019October 29, 2019 by Ajmal

This Illustration is based on an original photograph by dear friend MHP. This was taken when we strolled into some of the beautiful inner desert ranges in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE. We initially went to photograph an eclipse but some cloudy patterns prevented us from taking the customary eclipse photograph and our roaming there was destined to be protracted for that perfect snap. The frame that you see was always there in the back of my mind. I’m always fascinated by celestial entities and is unapologetically fervid about stargazing. The beauty of glancing at them comprises the pattern in which they manifest of our feebleness in the grand magnificence and grandeur of the vast universe. For me, stargazing is about embracing humility and lightness. I somewhat feel the same with mighty mountains as well.

In the beautiful poetry of Serbian poet and essayist Dejan Stojanović,

“ To hear never-heard sounds,
To see never-seen colors and shapes,
To try to understand the imperceptible
Power pervading the world;
To fly and find pure ethereal substances
That are not of matter
But of that invisible soul pervading reality.
To hear another soul and to whisper to another soul;
To be a lantern in the darkness
Or an umbrella in a stormy day;
To feel much more than know.
To be the eyes of an eagle, slope of a mountain;
To be a wave understanding the influence of the moon;
To be a tree and read the memory of the leaves;
To be an insignificant pedestrian on the streets
Of crazy cities watching, watching, and watching.
To be a smile on the face of a woman
And shine in her memory
As a moment saved without planning. ”

Said Nursi writes:
“The beauty of a finely worked object points to the beauty of the craftsmanship. The beauty of the craftsmanship points to the beauty of the name which was the source of the craftsmanship. The beauty of the name of the craftsman’s art points to the beauty of the craftsman’s attributes manifested in that art… The magnificent cosmos is a palace that has the sun and the moon as its lamps and the stars as its candles; time is like a rope or ribbon hung within it, on to which the Glorious Creator each year threads a new world. “

Tag: poetry