Menstruating,
ejaculating
prayers,
constant,
nagging,
that
keep falling upon our heads
rather
than ascend to Heaven,
that
keep raining down upon us as curses
rather
than bringing down blessings,
the
ever-multiplying minarets of
a
senile and haggard Damascus
come
to a sickly life every morning,
with
the ever so untenable hope of reanimating the putrid souls
of
many a dying generation
in
this provingly insatiable graveyard.
They
come to
find
me, and
many
like me,
semi-conscious,
almost
comatosed,
still
barely clinging
to
life
yearning,
yearning…
and
lonely.
Too
lonely.
in
fact,
to
accommodate
traditional
faith.
la
ilah…
la
ilah…
March 1998
Note: “La
ilaha illa ‘llah, Muhammadun rasulu ‘llah.” [There is] no god
but the God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God. This simple
statement represents the main pillar of faith in Islam, and is always repeated
during the daily calls to prayer and the prayers themselves. By itself, “la ilah”
simply means “no god.”