Quest For Meaning

by Nasser
(Beirut)

Why do I say I know?

What flows under the bridge

If I live in the skies

And lie on top of the pyramid

If I am extrinsic and can’t fully accept

The emotions I feel but hide under intellect

Why do I accuse my faith of setting the boundaries?

When I do not fully understand the works of art around me

Why did God create beauty if it is to perish?

Why did men of religion hide it behind Satan and oppress it?

Who am I to question the scholarly and their knowledge?

But I wonder if even they understood the world from Allah’s perspective

Is it that I fool myself because of undeclared intentions?

Is the devil himself guiding my hand as I finish every sentence?

I wonder if there is a way to unravel the mystery

Am I courageous enough to descend to earth and defy history?

You see I live in the skies and limitless as they may be

From the mother we were made and to it we return that is our destiny

For we are a tassel and we are tied to our roots in the dirt

And as tall as we grow and flourish

Cut our roots and we will perish

And fall from the skies and be buried in the earth

I would love nothing more than to tell the story of my visit

To the promise land and the knowledge I were to elicit

But I am not worthy of such honors

For ignorance is my mannerism

I only recently developed curiosity

Kept a slave of elitism

We are the descendants of saints

Martyrs who deserve endless elegies

Because they learnt more than they were taught

Analyzed every detail with admirable persnickety

For even the smallest of creatures could have the most potent effect

And if it wasn’t for those so keen to see the unseen

Disease would still be curses cast by enemy sects