T h r e e h u n d r e d a n d f i v e
(let that sink in)
Sufis needlessly suffered
at the hands of murderous militants
in the lands of the pyramids.
Their skin was brown, mine is white,
their tongue is seasoned differently.
A tribal mind might
use that as a reason
to belittle their plight.
Sorry to speak so crudely
but divisions abound:
there are walls around
countries and in the human heart,
but thank God that
not one is to be found in art,
nor in meditation,
so here I send you a poem,
a prayer from a Western nation,
and tears that fall
when death’s not fair.
To all those families,
when it rains tonight,
God is there,
sobbing with you,
how dare
those who preach in His name
breach the sacred contract
and enter into deadly contact
and maim a woman, a child, a man
(Quran 5:32).
In memory of those who died the 24th November, 2017, at the hands of Islamist militants in Egypt’s North Sinai city of El-Arish. The title refers to Rumi, the famous Sufi poet, whose beautiful heart inspired this poem.