9/11 Poem - Rising up against the continuing calumny of the 'them and us' mentality

The Number that is 9/11 

(The Continuing Calumny of the Us and Them)

It is 8.31 in the morning,

I am writing this with

My 10 fingers shuffling

On 1 of my 2 laptops.

With my 2 eyes I see

4 chairs next to the kitchen table,

Not including the 1 chair

That I am actually sitting on.

Bibik just came down from upstairs

Carrying a basket of laundry,

1 of my brothers is still

Sleeping on the sofa

While upstairs my father

Is readying to come down

For breakfast.

Now 4 minutes have passed

Since I started writing,

And while many things are changing,

I am still me, and there is only 1 me.

9/11 is not just a number,

It will be remembered as the day

Hubris is enthroned as the false king.

And many people will commemorate the number

For the lives of people who died on that day,

And the chain reaction which led to the loss

Of even greater number of innocent lives.

But 9/11 is also a number,

And like all numbers

It is an aggregate of 1 -

The single totality which

Is the numeric definition of

Our one God, shared, praised and loved

By the 6 odd billion people on earth.

If we do not get this lesson from 9/11,

It is the saddest thing for all of us,

Because those who died on 9/11 and post 9/11

Are already saved.

But we are still here on life’s mortal shore,

And if we fail to learn unity

Despite our differences,

We will join the miserable host

Of those already dead in the heart

But still walking on this beautiful earth,

Unconscious to the loving embrace of the One God

Because they continue to think

In terms of ‘them and us.’

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine. I know you are one of God's own bright sparks of Love, Compassion and Tolerance. This day, like all days in this era of ours will be filled with hate, hubris, intolerance, envy and bigotry because that is the agenda of people misguided in their ideology and religion, whether they are sitting in a large news corporation, in a church, mosque or a synagogue, or peddling supremacy in the corridors of power.

But you and I, we are talking in the Language of Love. The language that for me at least, is taught by my Prophet Muhammad. Let us not quibble and argue as to who taught who what... is it not wonderful enough, and is it not a mark of God's continuing trust in humanity that we are even talking in the same language? Not from my own heart but through the lessons of history of the Prophets and the Saints do I give you the greeting of Divine Unity with one hand representing the Most Merciful and the other hand heralding the Most Compassionate. I am just a sinner, you are my better. Please lead me by your good examples...

There will be those who shall take this day for their own hateful ends, don't let them!

Pax Taufiqa.