The April 17 Project: Day 14

Day 14

Today is a poetic piece in the build up to the birth of Imam Ali (as) which is in a few days. As part of our special assembly at school, I have forced the committee to make sure we have a poetry and art contest this time and the topic/question is,

What does Imam Ali (as) mean to me?

Here's a quick piece I wrote, as I like to ensure I can do any task I set my students to do. Poetry really isn't my thing at all but by all means, Bismillah..


A withered tree in a barren land,
Nothing in sight by sky and sand,
Mariam knocked the tree with her hands,
With dates she fed Isaa, as the Lord has planned.

And in a small basket, Moses was sent,
Across the Nile, travelling every bend,
To the castle of Pharaoh, he sought to end,
Tyranny and injustice and to righteousness defend.

The year of the Elephants saw jealousy and greed,
Abraha's God complex challenged all creeds,
He marched till he was faced with the "Tayr Al Ababeel",
Muhammed was born and mankind was saved indeed.

That same Kaaba which was close to being torn,
Split itself in half when Ali was almost born,
Fatima al Assadi held onto its walls,
In the name of all Prophets and her Lord she called.

So who am I to ask what Imam Ali means to me,
When the miracle of his birth the world can still see,
With tar they cover it, in hopes that we,
Won't see the marks, and know it was Allah's decree,
He commanded the Kaaba to just be,
Breaking its own walls a simple as a twig on a tree,
And from it came our Imam Ali,
So how dare I call myself a Shi'ee,
When the Kaaba itself parted like a Black Sea,
In the honour of your birth, as such again we'll never see.