Zuhr
There is a stillness that hovers over zuhr
No wonder the salāt is read silently
It is like keeping the vigil
Under bright daylight
There must be a part of Jannah
That must be perpetually encompassed
With the light and stillness of zuhr
He who finds himself busy in the middle of
Peak hour at zuhr must be a madman
Mad from the hustle-bustle
At the wrong time
Like fishing on Sabbath
But every country dweller, farmer and herdsman
Finds at zuhr the perfection of stillness
And the one in urban or sub-urban solitude
Yearns for the stillness of zuhr
It is the stamp of silence.
Every humming of a distant bird
Sighing of a goat or faint song of a cricket
Is nothing but its repetition:
O Lord of Stillness! O Lord of Silence!
O Lord of creation’s
Quiet, musical, chords!
The most ceremonious of all sounds
Is the rustling of grass and leaves
Caused by the silent breeze
that parades through so generously
If it rains, it is the clouds’ song
Celebrating the moment
The sun’s heat is as merciful
As it were rain itself
Tranquility drifts under the sun
In the form of clouds
It is the time for reflection sinking into the ground
Like the day our bodies will sink into the ground
It is the moment for powerful dreams
It is the time for day-tears and verse
If ever Day is to win a duel against Night
It is the stillness of Zuhr that should be his weapon
That is the power given to the day
Even the silence of midnight surrenders to