Culture Medinian Blues

Zaynab Noor Mufti, MSC Political Thought

We visited, we prayed, and then we were asked to leave And now we know what it’s like to grieve

Face me with misfortune or losing a limb

I’d take it any day over leaving him

But we will return and walk the land

Smell the heat and the musk in our hands e scent of the Messenger lingering through time We will return with the permission of the Divine

We will walk in the footsteps of the man Who held with him the hearts of mankind

Who’s legacy preserved we nd Etched in the city’s cracks and crooked lines Who played in markets with his boys

As his laughter echoes with the sweetest noise

We will taste the salt in the air

From his tears that constantly cared About men and women, he’d never met About children to come and better yet

We will rest in the places where he laid his head

Under tall date trees where he broke his bread

We will follow in the path that he tread

As he walked to the Almighty in the life that he led And we will prostrate where he too placed his head

We will return to the land, the city lit up by the stars; His companions threw themselves in harm’s way To protect his life and ensure his message remained till today

We will eat from the trees that he planted with his own hands In gardens so vast, where his legacy stands

We will climb the mountains that he made shake Stand on the rocks that couldn’t take the weight Of his blessed character, because he was Muhammad the Great (Peace and blessings be upon him)

And we did

We visited, we prayed, and then we were asked to leave And now we know what it’s like to grieve

To be in the land where his close ones died Where victories were won and celebratory cries Were heard through the streets And the faithful ones weeped

For the oneness of God was proclaimed And His commandments were ordained

We will return to the city where we watch the sun set between minarets

And the call to prayer is loud and clear Rung with pride all these years Where it wakes up the sleeping one so that he may stand in line

To attest to the greatness of the Most-High and the Messenger as a sign

Where the community of the faithful hold him so dear Where we send him Salaam (Arabic, lit: peace) standing so near

Where our tears drop in the same spots as his Where our voices ring in the same air that his did Where we seek the same closeness to God as him Where we whisper to God in our prayer, following his actions to the tee

We will return so that we may see His legacy as it stands today

And drink from the spring that he also sipped And walk under the sun where his blessed sweat dripped

And we did

We visited, we prayed, and then we were asked to leave And now we know what it’s like to grieve

So, oh pilgrim who makes his way Know that there will come a day

Where you’ll leave this all behind And as you exit the city with him in mind

Just take a piece back in your heart

So that you can bare the pain of being apart

From the one who lled the city with light

And by remembering his strength and might

We continue our journey and build our lives

And upon whose wisdom our faith will thrive

Because if the trunks of the trees couldn’t help but weep When the beloved departed, my Lord, what about those like me?

We will return to the land built on his blood

As he fought for our faith, for we are his beloved As he braved the trenches and the swords and the battle scars

So, dearest pilgrim

In your own town when you prepare to leave Pack your bags, but just be ready to grieve.