Novid Shaid, January, 2011

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Oh You, without form

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem

Unlike all we imagine

Free of error and need.

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Oh Lord! As I witness this world

On the spellbinding screen

Showing pain and suffering

Worse than I could ever dream.

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Oh Lord! As I hear of the problems

Which unsettle my soul

Of the abuse of innocence

Of the Earth’s dwindling capital.

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Oh Lord! As I wince and complain

At the blows of fate

The pressures of modern living

And the storms people create.

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Oh Lord! As my heart brews and trembles

With foreboding and stress

A pulsation of waves

Clears my heart of the mess.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Al Raheem!

Thank you for my life!

As a free human being!

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If it were Your choosing

I could never exist

I would never have sensed

This world of consequences.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for the safety!

All my life, I have seen!

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If it were Your choosing

I could have survived

Through the horrors of war

And terrible genocide.

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Thank You for this safety

Keep me free from all harm,

Relieve those who are living

Frightened and alarmed.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for the blessing!

Of my whole family!

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If it were Your choosing

I could have grown up

An orphan, so lonely

Without love or childless.

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Thank You for this bounty

Of my kith and my kin.

For my mother and father

For my wife and children.

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Oh Lord! Comfort the orphans,

And those yearning for offspring

And increase all these blessings

That I find myself in.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for the soundness

Of my body and mind!

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If it were Your choosing

I could have maladies

Or my body disabled

Or my mind ill at ease.

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Thank You for my health

And my consistent energy

Protect me from illness

From depression and lethargy.

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Strengthen those with weakness

Spread Your mercy on the lame

Help those who are suffering

From their aches and their pains.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for employment

For the flow of money.

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If it were Your choosing

I could have lived wretched

As a slave or a pauper,

Or a street-dwelling beggar.

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Thank You for my job!

And my honest income.

Increase me in wealth

As much, in Your wisdom.

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Help those on the streets

And those searching for means

Give me the power

To help my brothers in need.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for my food

And water, fresh and clean.

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If it were Your choosing

I could have lived in arid lands.

Where water is scarce

And no food close to hand.

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Bless me with clean water

Provide me with good food

Make paths for those searching

For water so cool.

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Help me to consider

How great water is.

And give me the wisdom

Not to waste such a blessing.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for the warmth

In my home and the heat.

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If it were Your choosing

I could be living, so cold.

In winds so inhospitable

It would rattle my bones.

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Protect those who are living

In the cold and the winds

And continue to warm me

Though I stress and I sin.

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Oh Lord! Oh Allah!

Ar Rahman, Ar Raheem!

Thank You for my soul,

And in You, I believe.

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If it were Your choosing

I could have been blind

To the truth of Your Light

Which shines beyond time.

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Bless me with true faith,

Give me a safe passage through death.

Guide those on the path,

For the truth is their quest.

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Oh Lord! When I think

How unsettling life can be,

Just the thought of Your blessings

Cheers my heart, endlessly.

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And send perfect peace

On the pure, grateful one,

And send him Your blessings,

To his family, and companions.