Quran 59:19 ♡

Kaveh Akbar, from Calling A Wolf A Wolf: Poems; “Heritage”

Listen, O Liberty, and harken unto us. Turn your gaze towards us, O mother of the earth’s inhabitants. For we are not the offspring of your rival. Speak with the tongue of any one of us; for from one spark the draw straw catches fire. Awaken the sound of your wings the spirit of one of our men; for from one cloud one lightning flash illuminates valley-lanes and mountain- tops. Disperse with your resolve these dark clouds. Descend as a thunderbolt. Destroy like a catapult the props of those thrones erected on bones and skulls; plated with the gold of taxes and bribery; soaked in blood and tears. Listen to us, O Liberty. Have compassion on us, O Daughter of Athens. Rescue us, O Sister of Rome. Save us, O Companion of Moses. Come to our aid, O beloved of Mohammad. Teach us, O bride of Jesus. Strengthen our hearts that we may live; or strengthen the arms of our enemies against us that we may wither, perish and find peace. - Khalil Gibran

i am listening to 5 year olds in gaza beg for ceasefires and talk about the warplanes and drones and carry language no one should carry but especially no one so small. they should be sitting in classrooms reading fables, solving silly word problems but the world decided they were born guilty, from a guilty womb, from guilty blood. and people on the other side of a wall and the other side of the world cheered on their death. i want no part in that world, i reject every politician, every news anchor, every celebrity. i reject their movies, their music, their UN work, their empty calls for peace. i want no part in this machine of death. i want no part and can no longer desire anything from life except for the people of palestine, sudan, congo, yemen, and a hundred other places to never have the murderous reach of western imperialism near them ever again.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“When a person does not have enough good deeds to reach a certain level in Jannah, but Allah wants him to attain that level, then Allah tests him and puts him through difficult trials so that Allah may make him reach that level (in Jannah).”

[Sahih Ibn Hibban; Al Ihsan, Hadith: 2908]

Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله:

“Lofty ranks cannot be reached except with trials.”

[Majmu’ al-Fataawa v25, p302]

— Celebrating Childhood, Adonis (translated by Khaled Mattawa)

[text ID: My wishes are flowers / staining my days.]

The verse that made Iblis cry:

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَـحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُواْ اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ

Translation: If they fall in sin or wrong their souls, they remember Allaah and ask forgiveness for their sins.

Anas b. Malik:

"When this verse was revealed, Iblis cried."

● {تفسير ابن كثير ٣:١٣٥}

Yūsuf ibn al-Husayn ar-Rāzī said:

‎“The most difficult thing in the world is ikhlās. How I struggle to remove showing off from my heart and it is as if it grows in it again with other colours.”

‎[Jami' Al-'Ulum Wa'l-Hikam by Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali رحمه الله pg. 10]