The Gate
By Abu Khattab
“Something is wrong? I can see it on you,
Where is your smile that takes up your face?
Answer me brother – what has happened?
What has fallen out of its place?”
He sees a tear stream down from my eye,
It was strange for him to see me this way.
But the core within me had sunk so low,
As I was waiting for someone to make my day.
“Nothing my brother – all is well,
Having a bad day and that is all.”
Little did he know that I was torn from within,
That my body, from this world, was about to fall.
Have you ever felt that your soul was dark?
As it roamed like a nomad searching for desire.
Lost in a trance of not knowing and losing,
As if your heart was held over a blazing fire.
A solution I longed for to bring me peace,
And I knew where to look as I’ve done it before.
That is when I shut out the world from my life,
And turned the key on the repentance door.
At night I whispered my words to my Lord,
I complained to him about the things in life.
A cleansing I needed to get closer to Him,
From the sins I’ve obtained that brought me strife.
Word after word – tear after tear,
I knew He was listening to my struggling soul.
No one else around to hear my complaints,
The silence of the night – my company it stole.
The candle’s light shun on my hands,
As I raised them up in a submissive state.
Breaking down as I mumbled my request,
“O my Merciful Lord, open the gate!”
“Open the gate of your Mercy for me,
Allow for my return towards You my Lord.
For You love to forgive and You’re the Oft-Forgiving,
So Your Mercy on me – allow it to pour.
For I am Your slave who sins out of vain,
But I know that I have a Lord Who loves to forgive.
So forgive me and allow my soul to return,
Return to You so it can begin to live.”
The streaming tears had blurred my vision,
My mouth was trembling when my heart had burst.
Bursting and releasing all that it contained,
To return to my Lord was my desperate thirst.
Hope I had in His unlimited forgiveness,
For only He can bring joy to my heart.
A slave who was returning to his Master and Protector,
This what I wanted from the very start.
Slowly my head had dropped in humbleness,
My hands remained in the state they were in.
My breathing slowed as I now became silent,
My aim completed – I’ve repented from sin.
On my windows seal I gazed upon the sky,
A sea of black with a sprinkle of light.
Pondering over the greatness I see,
Reassuring my soul that with my Lord is the Might.
The gate of Mercy I walk through now,
The fragrance within is surely so sweet.
An uplifting feeling has immersed my body,
Allowing my heart to thrive in its beat.
Yet sadness remains tied to my soul,
For I see a nation that has surely lost hope.
Sinning in a binge and neglecting repentance,
Loosening their grip on the Oft-Forgiving’s rope.
Dragged down by vines of desire and deception,
Believing that their abode is certainly Hell.
The whispers of Satan have drowned their ears,
So Paradise for this world they begin to sell.
How sad it is to see this from the believers,
Your Lord is there yet you remain in the blue.
Regret you will feel on the Day of Judgement,
When your sins are like mountains crumbling on you.
Chances given yet they fail to grasp it,
They would rather grasp another cup of whisky.
Fallen they are as they're led away from the Mercy,
Fighting it off as they battle it fiercely.
I thank my Lord Who has given me the strength,
To return to Him in a humbled manner.
Removed from the scenes of corruption and deception,
For I am now striving to serve the Islamic banner.
The candle on that night didn’t burn out,
It remained illuminated in the darkness around.
A symbolic gesture to the light I had entered,
The light of repentance that I had finally found.
That day I cried was a new beginning,
Finally returning to a believer’s state.
The Mercy of my Lord has been showered upon me,
Finally at peace for I am at the gate.
By Abu Khattab
“Something is wrong? I can see it on you,
Where is your smile that takes up your face?
Answer me brother – what has happened?
What has fallen out of its place?”
He sees a tear stream down from my eye,
It was strange for him to see me this way.
But the core within me had sunk so low,
As I was waiting for someone to make my day.
“Nothing my brother – all is well,
Having a bad day and that is all.”
Little did he know that I was torn from within,
That my body, from this world, was about to fall.
Have you ever felt that your soul was dark?
As it roamed like a nomad searching for desire.
Lost in a trance of not knowing and losing,
As if your heart was held over a blazing fire.
A solution I longed for to bring me peace,
And I knew where to look as I’ve done it before.
That is when I shut out the world from my life,
And turned the key on the repentance door.
At night I whispered my words to my Lord,
I complained to him about the things in life.
A cleansing I needed to get closer to Him,
From the sins I’ve obtained that brought me strife.
Word after word – tear after tear,
I knew He was listening to my struggling soul.
No one else around to hear my complaints,
The silence of the night – my company it stole.
The candle’s light shun on my hands,
As I raised them up in a submissive state.
Breaking down as I mumbled my request,
“O my Merciful Lord, open the gate!”
“Open the gate of your Mercy for me,
Allow for my return towards You my Lord.
For You love to forgive and You’re the Oft-Forgiving,
So Your Mercy on me – allow it to pour.
For I am Your slave who sins out of vain,
But I know that I have a Lord Who loves to forgive.
So forgive me and allow my soul to return,
Return to You so it can begin to live.”
The streaming tears had blurred my vision,
My mouth was trembling when my heart had burst.
Bursting and releasing all that it contained,
To return to my Lord was my desperate thirst.
Hope I had in His unlimited forgiveness,
For only He can bring joy to my heart.
A slave who was returning to his Master and Protector,
This what I wanted from the very start.
Slowly my head had dropped in humbleness,
My hands remained in the state they were in.
My breathing slowed as I now became silent,
My aim completed – I’ve repented from sin.
On my windows seal I gazed upon the sky,
A sea of black with a sprinkle of light.
Pondering over the greatness I see,
Reassuring my soul that with my Lord is the Might.
The gate of Mercy I walk through now,
The fragrance within is surely so sweet.
An uplifting feeling has immersed my body,
Allowing my heart to thrive in its beat.
Yet sadness remains tied to my soul,
For I see a nation that has surely lost hope.
Sinning in a binge and neglecting repentance,
Loosening their grip on the Oft-Forgiving’s rope.
Dragged down by vines of desire and deception,
Believing that their abode is certainly Hell.
The whispers of Satan have drowned their ears,
So Paradise for this world they begin to sell.
How sad it is to see this from the believers,
Your Lord is there yet you remain in the blue.
Regret you will feel on the Day of Judgement,
When your sins are like mountains crumbling on you.
Chances given yet they fail to grasp it,
They would rather grasp another cup of whisky.
Fallen they are as they're led away from the Mercy,
Fighting it off as they battle it fiercely.
I thank my Lord Who has given me the strength,
To return to Him in a humbled manner.
Removed from the scenes of corruption and deception,
For I am now striving to serve the Islamic banner.
The candle on that night didn’t burn out,
It remained illuminated in the darkness around.
A symbolic gesture to the light I had entered,
The light of repentance that I had finally found.
That day I cried was a new beginning,
Finally returning to a believer’s state.
The Mercy of my Lord has been showered upon me,
Finally at peace for I am at the gate.
