GLIMPSES OF PARADISE.....

Close your eyes and imagine this:
Eternal bliss;
Your every wish
at your finger tips
and more…

Perched on a throne, near a stream;
So serene and exquisite a scene
You’ve never seen
Yet you still dream
of more…

Gone is pain, gone is fear,
Gone is grief, gone are tears;
Idle speech you shall never hear,
And the Prophets make up your social sphere
and more…

The martyrs, righteous and truthful too—
You are from them, and they from you.
They held tightly to what they knew was true,
and to join them, you did too.
There’s more…

Maidens, chaste, who restrain their gaze,
Lost in a glance for days and days.
Fun and frolic, as a child plays
Where the breath that leaves your lips is praise
of the One who gave you more…

Imagine you and your father, with ages the same;
Imagine showing off your book with no shame;
Imagine nights with the sahabah¹, with their stories to entertain;
Imagine Muhammad ﷺ² knowing your name.
What could there be more…

Gardens underneath which rivers flow;
A goal so far, and yet so close;
A journey worth taking, for those who know;
Tell me—Do you not wish to go?
For more?

For all the bounties, all the grace,
All the sights and the smells and the tastes,
Will be forgotten, without a trace,
as if frozen in time and space—
When you see His Face.

What an excellent Master, of a miserable slave—
You forgot and He forgave.
He gave you guidance, and you still strayed
You asked for mercy, that He gave—
and more… and more… and more…

(A short poem written by Ammar Alshukry)