When he lifted his hand to my heart
He was so odious to me
When he lifted his hand from my heart
I was circling the house of Allah
With a mission engaging me
To murder Muhammad
The troublemaking Hashimi
He had shattered the bonds
Of our families and our certainties
He had poisoned the hearts of our friends
From our rites and our deities
When he lifted his hand to my heart
He was so odious to me
When he lifted his hand from my heart
He was most beloved to me
I approached him, prepared, through the crowds
Steadying to dispatch of him
He was easy prey in the open
Not a soul was protecting him
But before I could render the blow
His eyes burrowed into me
I sensed an absorbing radiance
A profundity
Then he lifted his hand to my heart
He was still odious to me
When he lifted his hand from my heart
He was most beloved to me
When he lifted his hand to my heart
He was my sworn enemy
When he lifted his hand from my heart
I was mended eternally
When he lifted his hand to my heart
His beliefs were absurdities
When he lifted his hand from my heart
There was no other guide for me
When he lifted his hand to my heart
He was so odious to me
When he lifted his hand from my heart
He was most beloved to me