How I wish I knew you better when I was younger

When I was Younger

O’ Love, O’ Light of Creation,
O’ Muhammad Habibullah,
O’ Abu Arwah!*

How I wish I knew you better,
And how I wish when I was younger
That I knew you then as what little
I know of you now…

Then perhaps I would have sinned lesser,
Then perhaps I would not have cried so often,
Then perhaps I would not have hurt myself so regular,
And maybe my smile would have been wider.

No doubt
That I would have been a better son for my mother,
A better pupil for my teachers,
A better company for my friends,
A better infidel for all believers
A better believer for all idolaters,
And a better half for all my lovers.

O’ Springtime of Mercy,
O’ Summer of Affections,
O’ Autumn of Virtues,
O’ Winter of Contentment!

You are all my seasons,
You are all my reasons,
You hold me captive now, o’ Prophet
How I wish you captured me earlier…
When I was younger…

And truthfully, not for all reasons

That I have mentioned,

But simply to be enamoured

By your loving attention.

(* JFYI, Abu Arwah is one of the many titles of the Prophet, it means the Father of Souls.)

I wrote the prose this morning and sms-ed it out to 7 of my friends. But the last four lines were written only just now at 6.00pm. How lucky I am to be corrected before I posted this out!

This Sunday is turning out to be a wonderful Sunday, sunshine. May yours equal and outshine mine. Amen.

Pax Taufiqa.

Footnote: If you are curious, I am fifth standing from the left. Yes, I wonder myself too, when did all that hair go?