Jalal Darguzini
(may Allah be pleased with him)
sat in silence, naked

but for a few leaves covering his genitals,
sat beside the shrine of Zaynab
in Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus

until Allah brought him together with
Jamal al-Din Savi
(may Allah be pleased with him)

and his forty dervishes
so that Jalal's inner light might illuminate that microsecond
like a nuclear strike

and in the fall out of earnest prayer
everyone's hair fell out
as Jamal muttered

mūtū qabla an tamūtū
(die before your death)
and graveyards henceforth became his home

...cultures can be like an ocean
with trade winds to carry us onwards
closer to the truth

but when the weight of expectation
threatens to sink the whole crew
remember those who gave up everything

simply to remind us
of the all-encompassing, all-embracing
nature of Hu