A Tale of Tears and Trials

The joy in life can be realized only when one undergoes the agonies of pain and tears – reveals Mujeeb Jaihoon

Shall I tell you a tale
Of a crazy nightingale?

For many, it’d be
Without head and tail.
But for the chosen few,
Will it indeed trail.

There was a time,
Not a distant time,
When from the Lord
He would seek.
Tears on tears
Would flow down the cheek.

Don’t know why:
Every night he would cry,
When in the prayer
Was he nigh.

Yet in midst
Of the tearful stream,
His cheerful smile
Would often gleam.

‘Coz he knew very well,
No matter whatever the haal,
The moment he made a call:
‘Ya Dhal Jalaal‘,

Everything would turn fine,
Though remained some pain.

Even now his hands rise,
Towards the Qibla he’d face:
Subhanallah!
Says he in praise.
Into his heart though,
It wouldn’t pierce.

Don’t know why:
He can no longer cry?

Ah! Where are those tears gone,
Which in his eyes shone?

In his once-fertile heart,
Grew diverse crops.
Some he ate,
And the rest he shared.

Ah! What has happened?
In the salty waters,
His bean-like heart
Has not yet ripened?

He now lives
In doubt,
Knows not
Where is the fault.

Nothing he learned
From the joy of flight.
Unashamed and impatient,
He wants to halt.

Ah! Pity this weak one!
To help him is no one!

Ah! His only weapon was lost,
When faced with a test.

In that perilous
And solitary night,
When with the Devil
Was he in a fight.
He lost his might,
Judging wrong from right.

His head now hangs in shame,
In front of those who blame.

“My Merciful Him,
Who loves me,”

He cherishes
Those thunderous words,
As if they were
Some precious stones.
How lovely! How dearly!
Yet words to hear rarely.

This truth is not
Known to many:
Without pain,
Life’s ball shall un-roll.

Until one knows
Their pain,
The joy in life
They shall not gain.

Some things
Said and unsaid,
This tale
Shall here fade.

The moral, if you missed,
Of this incomplete story:
Excuse! For you
I am sorry!

From this crime
If you absolve,
A greater sin for you
Shall He forgive!

When the Rose
From Nightingale parted,
With the Cool Breeze
Was he comforted.

2002. Edited March 2023