Strangers

I’m a stranger to the family from which I derive,
I’m a stranger to the place in which I reside,
I’m a stranger for following the Straight way,
I’m a stranger for to Whom I have decided to pray,
I’m a stranger to the dark because I have hope,
I’m a stranger to pain because I can now cope.
When guidance is revealed, ignorance subsides,
When a servant is true, in Allaah he confides,
Pain like daggers and thorns claw at him as their food,
But he is constant and firm, he knows of fortitude,
The tidal waves bang him, claps upon his head the thunder,
Yet he is constant and firm, and will not stop to blunder.
Running through the wide world so wild,
Practice and freedom of choice so limited and mild,
Soaking in an ocean of ones own tears,
Yet defeating such ghastly fears,
The believer is consistent in pleasing His lord,
What more from this life can he really afford?
The strangest of the strange are the strangers of belief,
Whose life maybe a prison house, yet they gain victory against grief,
The strangest of the strange are those whose defense
Is for Allah alone, submission and striving with a will so intense,
The strangest of the strange, know dear friend,
Are those standing for their Lord, and upon Him they depend.
I’m a stranger to the family from which I derive,
I’m a stranger to the place in which I reside,
I’m a stranger to the dark because I have hope,
I’m a stranger to pain because I can now cope,
I’m a stranger because I have chosen to be,
I’m a stranger, a stranger and this is my identity.

Rukhsar Ahmed