Lord’s the Limit

Landing on the moon or demystifying the atom were seen with pride. Yet, there are other possibilities than imagined— Jaihoon’s radical Miraj poem

Beware, kind reader!
Be warned: are the lines of love
Not of science, philosophy nor religion

I wish not to tax your thought:
You are free as me to agree not

I don’t want to turn you into a foe,
For lovers’ ways not many know

The Beloved bears no blame
If any, upon the lover is the shame

One solitary night I thought,
What, where would be Man’s limit?

Can he fly beyond the sky?
Can he see the sun and moon nigh?
What defines his limit?
Where ends his permit?

I asked Homer and he said,
The likes of Odyssey is his limit.

I asked Picasso and he said,
The world of colors is his end.

I asked Voltaire and he said,
To think free is the ultimate.

I asked Newton and he said,
Acquaint with motion, nothing more.

I asked Bohr and he said,
Knowledge of atoms is sufficient.

I asked Bacon and he said,
Observe; there is nothing beyond.

I asked Aristotle and he said,
Logic is his only savior.

I asked Marx and he said,
Equality of wealth is the supreme.

I asked Bethlehem’s Shepherd and he said,
Mercy to all is the greatest achievement.

I asked the Son of Kapilavastu and he said,
To not kill any is the ultimate height.

I asked the Israeli Guide and he said,
Mount Sinai is the summit of my reach.

And then Makka’s Unlettered Orphan spoke –
Neither the forces on earth
Nor the wonders in the skies, but
Face to face, the very Lord is his limit.

June 24 2011 (Rajab 22). Edit Feb 2024