A PRAYER IN THE DUNES.

A Prayer in the Dunes

​"Ya Allah! In this Ramadan of completion and forgiveness, I still hold onto the memory of the one I loved. Ya Khuda, I can still hear her laughter; I can still feel her touch in my hair.

​Ya Rabbal Alamin, why did You bring her into my life? Oh Lord, did I pray for pain so that I might find the words to write? Is that the reason? Ya Al-Quddus, I prayed for someone to talk to—was that the reason? Ya Al-Aziz, was it to make me understand the true nature of love?

​Ya Allah, I stand at Your gate. In the clouds, I see the clear stream with white and black pebbles—Al-Kawthar, the river You promised to our Rasool. Ya Allah, I can still hear the faint clinking of her jhumkas.

​Ya Allah, You are beyond the materialistic world; You name the children and the poor, and You address the animals and the insects alike. Oh Lord, I am calling for Your grace in this desert of sand dunes. In this wasteland of sorrow and confusion, You are the only oasis I see. I wander these vast red dunes while heavy sandstorms cloud my vision, but my inner self knows, Ya Rahim, that You are the only path.

​Ya Allah, in this desert filled with rattlesnakes and beetles, let me be a camel that carries the Hajji and Hajjah to Your residence. Ya Allah, Beloved of the world, the Giver of Peace—now I see Mecca. I see the Hajar al-Aswad in its original, purest form .

​Ya Allah, I am the most blessed in this world because You have allowed me to see this. I am a feather from Your hands who is floating in this desert , ya allah beloved by every crystal of sand.

​Make me a cactus that provides water to hundreds of Your pilgrims. Create me as a great tree that offers shade and a resting place for the devotees traveling to Your house.

​Ya Allah, I am blessed. I am blessed. I am blessed. I pray for the eternal peace the Sufis crave, and the sabr and nafs the mujahids strive for."

-aromal