The Journey

Amongst sages and scholars, saints and lovers
Students and servants, martyrs and callers
Providence did afford so opportune a travel
That this tangled quilt so woven may unravel
Laden with sin outstripped by only remorse
Of how things should have been had I stayed the course
So heedless and reckless, did I Thy favor abuse
Snared so deeply by my own deadly ruse
Only to learn that with august company would lie my roster
What but gratefulness could such senseless clemency foster
To dispel the dark of night, takes only a single ray
But you chose to keep with me the sun of day, as if you wanted me to say…
If to enlighten an ocean of darkness, it takes but a single flame
Then why did you drown me in an ocean of torches tame
Except that I may to all tell…
‘Tis the cool waters of Heaven for us you desire, not the fiery ingot of Hell

[On the occasion of the lesser pilgrimage with my beloved Shaykh (may Allah SWT preserve him)]

-Shaykh Omar Hussaini

Late

From wherest will you find a balm to soothe regret
From when will you bring back yesterday

– Shaykh Omar Hussaini

Arrival

Two things true, when unassuming do ensue
When thy search for why be over
Will sincerity be your portion true
When thy faults to look at another
Leave no occasion, will ensue
Opens swiftly humility’s door

– Shaykh Omar Hussaini

Betrayal

I looked and looked
And yet my heart yearned more
Looking for pleasure greater than before
So many faces, so little time
How my heart races, to make each one mine.
Each day my eye feasts anew
As I drink deep the lustful wine.
Wherstwile inside soul and sinew
Do wither with passing time.
Burned by guilt, consumed by shame
Before Him I must present my name
And a heart that loved another
Causeth the very Earth to shudder
And I name myself His lover?

– Shaykh Omar Hussaini

Like No Other

How wide one opens the door to his heart, to let another in
Thus deep does he risk, the dagger be thrust within
But He who values worthless pebbles as pearls so fine
Widens His guard so much more, lest hurt befall this heart of mine.

– Shaykh Omar Hussaini

 

Fog

A heavy mist blanketed all that lay around me, softly shifting and ephemeral
And I hurried home amidst the gray haze-
In hasty search for clarity
I too easily squandered the beauty of the veiled.

– Shaykh Omar Hussaini

Faltering Steps

I wandered hither and yonder, faltered whither astray
Till Mercy let me no longer wander
And settled my tired feet upon this pure way

– Shaykh Omar Hussaini