Читать книгу Shades of Islam - Rafey Habib - Страница 16

Hira

For years, the darkness has draped me,

Enshrouded in the high mantle of night.

Darkness of idols, worship of Mammon,

Abuse of orphans, widows, women.

Here, from the mountain, I see a darkness

Enfolding the world. Yet now

Another darkness descends on me,

A beating of wings, shuddering,

Beating in my own breath, heart, soul:

Shadows everywhere, all shadow.

What moment is this, opening into

The very soul of time, what mode of time

Unfolding breath of

Eternity. God. Worlds above, worlds

Upon worlds. What weight of universe

Descends, spreading through me,

Breathing through my lips

A voice from so high yet so deep within

Shuddering in Angel breath: O vision

At the edge of vision, wherever I turn

My dark horizon is lit with form of Angel,

Forcing me, wherever I turn, he stands,

Blinding, colossal, power of light:

Archangel.

All the forces of mountain and desert

Cry into my heart; the black sky

Thunders in my throat:

All the sources of life, all sense, all

Reason, beauty, the sublime,

Freeze in this moment, in this cave,

All resources of language, lips, eyes, hands

Flow and freeze in this one command:

Read! Echoing inside me, pounding,

Read! My own voice. I hear

Myself, from deep within:

I cannot, I cannot read.

Again the echo, pressing louder, harder:

Read! The word, the world, bites

In my head, my frame shivering yet

Numb: I cannot read. Read!

Read in the Name of Thy Lord...

Read.