Poetry

Reuters photo

By

Abdulrahman M Abu-yaman

The 4th Pillar

Sawm (Fasting)

Observed in the 9th lunar

month; speaking of RAMADAN!

It is the 4th noble pillar

upholding what is virtuous;

speaking of ISLAM!

Devil may cry

A month where Shaytan’s

misery is at its pinnacle as he’s

incarcerated in chains and

thrown in the dungeon worse

than Azkaban and Alcatraz.

He’d be damned!

Heavens gate

…thrown widely opened to

usher in migrants from

Hades to Eden by book after a

remorseful rue.

Multiplier effect

A month where good deeds

are rewarded a thousandfold.

Charity

…even if it’s half a palm date.

Feed a person and get their

exact reward in return without

any deduction from theirs.

Equality

Ramadan equates the duodenal

contents of both miskins and

the atajiroons from dawn to

dusk. Empty!

Iqra (Read)

Read the holy book:

Al-qur’an, Al-furqan, Al- kitab,

call it by any of them; was

revealed in RAMADAN!

Last ten days

Beware of the last ten

days or should I rather say

the last ten nights? Especially

the ones with odd numbers.

Lailatul-qadar (The Night of Power)

A night to remember which

is worth a thousand month. Search

for it if you can.

Index

* Shaytan: the devil

* Miskins: the poor

* Atajiroons: the rich

Abdulrahman M Abu-yaman

Abdulrahman M Abu-yaman is a Nigerian poet born in the western part of the country (Tin-can island, Lagos), occasionally visiting the south (Warri) despite being from the north where he currently lives (Minna). He majored in Economics at IBB University, Lapai, Niger State, loves to draw in pencil monochrome. His works have appeared in Kalahari Reviews, Elsielsy blog and forthcoming in Lunaris Review and Black Boy Review. You can follow him on Twitter @abuu_yaman.