Muslim Imperatives (Poem) – By Novid Shaid

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.