INTIFADA

In detention in concentration camps

we trade stories

we take turns sharing the straw mat or a pencil

we watch what crawls in and out of the sand

As-Salamm'Alaykum

The guards do not allow the blue woolen blanket

my family traveled far to bring

to this crepuscular and gelid cell

where my still breathing infant son

and I defy the purgatory implications

of a state-created hell

Wa'Alaikum As-Salam

The village trembles from the heavy tanks that try

to terrify the children:

Everyday my little brother runs behind the rubble

practicing the tactics of the stones against the rock

In January soldiers broke his fingers one by one

Time has healed his hands but not the fury

that controls what used to be his heart

Insha A'llah

Close the villages

Close the clinics

Close the school

Close the house

Close the windows of the house

Kill the vegetables languishing under the sun

Kill the milk of the cows left to the swelling of pain

Cut the electricity

Cut the telephones

Confine the people to the people

Do Not Despair of the Mercy of Allah

Fig trees will grow and oranges

erupt from desert holdings on which plastic

bullets (70% zinc, 20% glass, and 10%

plastic) will prove blood

soluble and fertilize the earth

where sheep will graze

and women no longer grieve

and beat their breasts

They will beat clean fine-woven rugs

outside a house smelling of cinnamon and nutmeg

Alhamdulilah

So says IMAN

the teacher of peace

the shepherd on the mountain of the lamb

the teacher of peace

who will subdue the howling of the lion

so that we may kneel

as we must

five times beginning just after dawn

and ending just before dusk

in the IBADAH of prayer

From Naming Our Destiny, Thunder's Mouth Press, N.Y.C. 1989

Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar

Allahu Akbar

Glossary:

As-Salamm 'Alaykum: peace be unto you

Wa 'Alaikum As-Salam: and peace be unto you

Insha A'llah: as if Allah wills it

"Do Not Despair of the Mercy of Allah:": verse from The Our'an

Alhamdullilah: praise be to Allah

Iman: faith

Ibadah: worship in a ritual sense

Allahu Akbar: Allah is the Greatest