Fourteen Pieces

I walk in the garden of the beloved

Smelling the flowers as I go

I come to the Khitaam, glowing in the beauty of his green bright dome

One whiff of its fragrance and I was borne

To Madinah, to every wanderer a home

I have reached my end, resolved, here I will stay

A voice from afar, a call from the brother of Rasool

To the Ameer, the zawj of Batool

My heart is broken, and I leave with a piece

For without the Habib I cannot be at peace

Before I arrive, a glow, a musk, a spark

The jewel of Kufa, to Najaf the adornment, the mark

At the door I am breathless

At last I have arrived

For once in my life I feel I am needless

Yet just before I can set my roots

A heartbreaking call from Madina breaks my shoots

To Zahrah to Hawraa

To the noble son Hassan

Pieces of my heart I leave amongst the flowers of Baqee

To the holy meadow I must go

Where the rose of martyrdom got its perfume and its glow

On the sacred ground I bow and I grow

From the thirsty ‘Abbas to Husayn the Shaheed

A cry from afar

Sukayna wants her Abaa

The ‘attar of haunting Damascus draws me near

At the hands of the noble daughter I lose my fear

To the land of the stranger

I will let my heart wander

Only to arrive and realize this is home

The Persian tulip has my heart attached to Mashad’s dome

Back and forth

From Ghadeer to Khurasaan, Kadhmayn to Jamkaraan

Have I any heart left to carry in my zamaan

Just then as I wonder I hear fajr’s adhaan

To open my eyes in the face of the awaited of the Ka’abah

The radiant flower of Zahrah

And enshrouded in a piece of the noble leafy turban

All fourteen pieces of my heart now awaken.