Raison d’être

I have more reason to have faith
Than I have faith in reason: faith
Is known by reason yet I have
Less faith in reason than in faith.

Return

Wistful watcher, you searched and thus
All we needed, you found in us
Like one fulfiling a forgotten vow
Lost to ages without song; thus
– Enow.

Wheels

Do not boast about what you do to-day
Not knowing what you may do to-marrow:
Many praise and flatter themselves by day
Only to find a night filled with sorrow.

Destiny

I dreamt that a handful on Judgement day
Reached a station; to me a voice did say,
Had I missed what had been destined for me
That day would have been recreated — Ya Hayy!

Court of Lions

Dancing lions fill corners with light
Prancing between madness and delight;
I wonder from where springs their sweet
Romancing ecstasy tonight.

Veil

O heart do not be so upset
Thinking yourself alone you forget
The Companion with you waiting
To tear the veil of your regret.

Company

I heave a heavy sigh
Looking towards the sky
Of fading horizon
And I and I and I.

Awake

I woke up dreaming from a dream
In which I dreamt or it might seem
That I dreamt to wake from a dream
In a dream in a dream — a dream.

Between

You weary by test upon test,
By shadowed doubts held in the breast;
Press on crawling through life in fear
And on wings of hope fly to rest.

Cadeau

How small a thing can be a gift,
How dear to waste, how wide the rift
When one refuses the love that
Purchased it, sending love adrift.

Oasis

Like an oasis does my love play
And pools of promises betray:
Seeming real from afar
But when at hand it slips away.

Jealousy

O Lord, You wrap Yourself in pride,
Thus I fear what may lie inside
My heart should irk jealousy for
Those faults that in my love reside.

Confession

A dire confession hangs above
These sighs; I hope the meaning of
This silence you will understand:
I know not how to speak my love.

Tartuffe

Do you count yourself among those
Of love while your tortured heart knows
Your deceit that over a sun
You a withering matchstick chose?

Featured on the Court of Lions.

Confusion

Weep, weep, weep, my heart, weep, weep, weep!
I know what silent sorrows heap
Upon you and confound the mind,
But when did sorrow ever sleep?

Dunya

O do not look into the eyes
Of the sweet gorgon’s masked disguise,
Although few may seem more lovely
They could also bring your demise.

Temptation

O heart, are you so delighted
With your being thus benighted
That you would exchange an olive
For the feast you are invited?

Sandal

At times I wish you half as fair,
Mad as it may seem to declare,
Although not borne with envy but
Love, too much love, is my despair.

J’accuse

We sit here wraped in night
With smoke our only alibi
Dancing among the moonlight
Swaying to a lullaby.

Written with Amal Uthman

Wailers

Birds wail and weep into the night
And I wonder what is their plight:
Do they despair in search of love
Or have they grown mad from its sight?

Cocodrillo verde

La día pulsa
En calor y roja húmeda
Pero sigimos caminando
La alameda.

The day pulses
In humid red heat
But we continue walking
The tree-lined street.

El sol cayó entre azules
Y el cocodrillo verde
Pero esperé la noche
Para cantar.

The sun fell between blues
And crocodile green
But I awaited the night
To sing.

Blanco llama de luna
Sobre un mundo de cuna:
El tiempo para pararse
Entre luz y zaytuna.

Lunar llama white
Over a world of cradles:
Just the time to stand
Between olive and light.

Tigre rosa rugindo
La mañana sereno,
Salta en triunfo
Sobre el tereno.

Rosey tiger roaring
The serene morning,
He jumps in triumph
Over the world.