Smile endearingly like Al Mustafa
Brighter than an iridescent star
Rise celestially like Isa
Transcending corporeal fever
Conjure mystic snakes like Musa
Which devour the pull of Lucifer
Teach insightful lessons like Al Khidr
Slay the evil imp lurking within
Endure your quandaries like Ibrahim
Scorched by worldly fires but still serene
Supplicate with tears like Maryam
Ask for blessings of miraculous sums
Love your companions like Adam
Appreciate your sir or your madam
Show true patience like Asiya
With pharaonic souls and behaviour
Search for holy water like Hajar
Traverse the mounts of genuine manners
Rest like the seven sleepers of the cave
Hibernate from tendencies depraved
Convey your trusts faithfully like Jibril
Honour your receiver and reveal
Stand for truth like Abu Bakr As Siddiq
Stern with the arrogant; kind with the weak
Rule dependants like Umar ibn Al Khattab
Mediate fairly avoiding harm
Read Quran like Uthman Ibn Affan
Whether in safety or in enemy hands
Strive against deception like Imam Ali
Rip off the gates of inner hypocrisy
Believe sincerely like Khadija
Stay with the truth when most waver
Learn by heart like Lady Aisha
Capture wisdom like an early riser
Abstain from vanity like Fatima
Be in the world like a traveller
Worship the Only One like Al Hasan
Before light appears on the horizon
Campaign and move onwards like Al Husain
Before the tyrants struggle unafraid
Safeguard texts and secrets like dear Hafsa,
As the Quran was entrusted to her
Unify like Bilal Al Habashi
Crush your sins under boulders of unity
Travel like Salman Al Farisi
Gaining untold wisdom endlessly
Persevere and strive like Sumayya
Sacrifice your soul for divine favour
Nurture nature like Abu Hurayra
Be the cats and animals’ saviour
Serve leaders like Anas Bin Malik
Make your service glisten like magic
Love the poor like Uwais Al Qarani
Share your blessings even in poverty
Lead the masses like Umar ibn Abdul Aziz
Treat the rich and poor impartially
Purge your thick self, like Abu Hanifa,
Understand the rulings of the ether
Cherish Medina like Imam Malik
Dismount your horse and feel his dynamic
Efface your self, like Imam Ash Shafi
Even in genius show humility
Cling unflinchingly, like Ahmed Ibn Hanbal
To your creed and your principles
See your faults like Imam Jafar As Saddiq
Let not your lineage make you lethargic
Flee from worldlings like Mulay Idris
Whether in the west or in the east
Reject, like Imam Hasan Al Basri,
The vain glories of this world and history
Eulogise like Rabia Al Adawiyya
Reject the idols that people revere
Recite janaza prayers like Al Bistami
Upon the world’s commotions and tsunamis
Roam for God, like Dhun Nun Al Misri
Searching unceasingly for divine mysteries
Relinquish, like Ibrahim Ibn Adham,
Your earthly throne and mass media bedlam
Walk on earth like Bishr Al Hafi
Waken your sleeping soul like caffeine
Watch your soul like Zubda and Mughda
Make love and service your inner dogma
Join the schools like Imam Al Junayd
See the names and essences unveil
Hide your worship, like Bahlul Majnun
Don’t fret if people think you are a fool
Deny your selfish self, like Lubaba,
Resist the urge to swagger and blabber
Love the next world like Mu’mina
Transcend the aim for fame and villas
Burn your ships like Tariq Bin Ziyad
Face your inner fears, making a stand
Experiment with life, like Imam Al Razi
Test the chemicals of life’s safari
Aim for excellence like Fakhru Din Al Razi
Purify your faith from heresies
Contemplate deeply, like Ibn Rushd,
The signs and symbols of Godhood
Study humankind like Ibn Khaldun
Learn from Bedouins and urban fools
Journey through the earth like Ibn Battuta
See with your own eyes, not with computers
Rise with merit like Lubna of Cordoba
From slavery to exquisite culture
Humble your intellect like Imam Ghazali
Discipline your soul before life’s finale
Conquer the deserts like Hazrat Jilani
Prevail over the world’s spell, uncanny
Accompany sages like Ibn Al Arabi
Absorb their state and spirits’ clarity
Proselytise like Muhyidin Chisti
Dispel misconceptions, dim and misty
Love your friends like Rumi and Shams Tabriz
Let true friendship cure this life’s malaise
Persist and resist like Ertugul Ghazi
Never bowing before the enemy
Conquer your psyche like Al Faatih
Make these victories in constanti
Sail the seas like Imam Ash Shadhili
Against the winds of hidden idolatry
Pray with your secret like Naqshabandi
Gaze into your heart’s profundity
Forgive and be gracious like Salahudin
Those close to you or even your enemies
Share your riches like Mansa Musa
Be generous whilst in your cruiser
Facilitate like Fatima Fehri
Fund the arts, learning and poetry
Flourish superbly like Fakhr Un Nisa
Flow and curl like a master calligrapher
Dress yourself like Imam An Nawawi
Just one suit of utter simplicity
Rouse your ruh like Jani Begum
Ride your elephant; fight for the heavens
Project-manage like Mihrimah Sultan
Build structures steeped in excellence and charm
Compose couplets like Imam Busayri
Praising the chosen one visionary
Send prayers and peace like Imam Al Jazuli
Make salawat your soul and duty
Purify intentions like Imam Haddad
Relish intention’s sky like a nomad
Design structures like Mimar Sinan
Instil a sense of awe across the lands
Direct your sultanate like Uthman Dan Fodio
Make law and spirit your guiding glow
Silence your self like Ma Laichi
Like Khufiyya release your inner chi
See Rasul Allah like Ahmed Tijani
Wade through his tremendous valley
Invoke peace like Al Arabi Ad Darqawi
With all the jealous ones and their armies
Say Allah like Shaykh Ahmed Al Alawi
Until you see the Only Reality
Fight invaders like Tipu Sultan
Make your enemies shiver with alarm
Battle imperialists like Imam Shamil
Purge the empire of your cruel will
Protect the vulnerable like Al Jazairi
Those of faith or other minorities
Tame your lion like Ahmadu Bamba
Just for the truth invoke your anger
Leave this world like Omar Al Mukhtar
Facing death like a warrior
Study Al Quran like Marmaduke Pickthall
Let the verses settle and enthral
Know your degrees like Al Shabrawi
Rise through the seven souls sincerely
Disappear through the One and Only One
Say His name, until your self has gone.
By Novid Shaid
Ramadan Kareem!