The League of Giants

Where are the wings God bestowed on you?
Where is the soaring flight you once flew?
Where is the light within your prism?
Where is the resolve to heal schism?

Where is the philosophy that shatters secular thought?
Where is the ethos in which contradiction is naught?
Where is the mindset that breeds compassion?
Where is the empathy that makes us human?

Where are the definitions not borrowed from the West?
Where are the virtues that withstand every test?
Where is the morality that transcends reciprocity?
Where are the ethics that lead us to God’s proximity?

Where is the spirituality that draws the seeker?
Where is the tranquillity that is the right of a believer?
Where is the anguish over dwindling faith?
Where is the gaze upon the inner state?

Where is the wealth poured forth for a higher cause?
Where is the forgiveness that knows no pause?
Where is the tireless search for the truth?
Where is the conviction that needs no proof?

Where is the enlightenment that surpasses intellect?
Where is the unveiling that is almost perfect?
Where is the unwavering trust in a master?
Where is the spiritual journey without a disaster?

Where is the yearning for more and more learning?
Where is the balance between worship and earning?
Where is the sermon that does not divide?
Where is the preacher free of pride?

Where is the brotherhood beyond each school of thought?
Where is the impulse to help that doesn’t need to be taught?
Where is the teaching free of bias?
Where is the modesty with no claim to being pious?

Where is the sense that all belong to God’s family?
Where is the drop of magnanimity that swells into a sea?
Where is the pen endorsed by heaven?
Where is the veil cherished by women?

Where is the chest that bears divine secrets?
Where is the memory unshadowed by regrets?
Where is the soul untainted by contempt or jealousy?
Where is the ardent seeker of mystical mystery?

Where is the rigour of the scholastic?
Where is the silence of the mystic?
Where is the conqueror’s zeal?
Where is sainthood’s seal?

Where is the single-minded martyr’s zest?
Where is the bird unbound by the nest?
Where is the one sought by heaven?
Where is the worship that becomes ascension?

Where is the Sufi who upholds the higher ideals of religion?
Where is the character that becomes a beacon?
Where is he who has no fear of losing sustenance?
Where is he for whom God is the sole reliance?

Where is the harmony between this life and the hereafter?
Where is the blend of tears and laughter?
Where is the mindfulness in the Quran’s recitation?
Where is the mirror in the Prophet’s ﷺ life and its narration?

Where is the face that cannot belong to a liar?
Where is the perseverance that carries us higher?
Where is the system in which administration is worship?
Where is the self upon whose ocean rests a warship?

Where is the believer with a higher intuitive sense?
Where is the education that grants a prophetic lens?
Where is the thinker who boldly confronts the dilemma?
Where is the polymath who diagnoses the state of the Ummah?

Where is the hope that grants us relief?
Where is the revolution whose fuel is belief?
Where is the success born despite a scarcity of means?
Where is the Muslim who knows what it means?

Where are the makings of a new civilisation?
Where is the evidence of the greatness of humans?
Where is reality’s unveiling to Bayazid Bestami?
Where is the rain of divine grace upon Junaid Baghdadi?

Where is the love Rumi taught us?
Where is the centre, our nucleus?
Where is the fire of Iqbal’s poetry?
Where are the echoes of divinity?

Where are the insights of Wasif Ali Wasif?
Where is the prayer at the edge of the cliff?
Where is the genius of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi?
Where is the scholarship of Ashraf Ali Thanvi?

Where is the gnosis of Ibn al-Arabi?
Where is the wisdom of Al-Ghazali?
Where is the creativity of Fariduddin Attar?
Where is the will to journey that far?

Where is the originality of Shah Wali Ullah?
Where is the longing to be a friend of Allah?
Where is the courage of Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi?
Where is Peer Meher Ali Shah’s sagacity?

Where is the vision of Imam Jaffer Sadiq?
Where is the knowledge that foils Satan’s trick?
Where is the righteousness of Imam Zainul Abideen?
Where is the tongue that says what it means?

Where are brothers such as Hassan and Hussain?
Where is the submission to the divine plan?
Where is the key to the door of Ali?
Where is the hunger to enter that city?

Where is the renunciation of Fatima Zahra?
Where is the spirit to be kindled by Karbala?
Where is the girl whose ideal is Rabia Basri?
Where is the boy who will rewrite history?

Where is the wife whose mind is like Khadija?
Where is the couple whose bond is a sweet aroma?
Where is the acumen of the Imams of jurisprudence?
Where is the depth that always earns reverence?

Where are the impassioned verses of Bulleh Shah?
Where is the literature that has no replica?
Where is Fakhruddin Raazi’s eloquence?
Where is the book rich in intellectual opulence?

Where is the struggle of Abdul Qadir Jilani?
Where is the inner journey of Ali Hajweri?
Where is Khawaja Nizamuddin Awliya’s passion?
Where is the servitude that shines like the sun?

Where is the disciple like Ameer Khusro?
Where is the humility from head to toe?
Where is Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti’s selflessness?
Where is the fate that God will always bless?

Where is the simplicity of Shahid Awais Naqshbandi?
Where is the fruit that ripens only through humility?
Where is the loyalty that equals my mentor’s?
Where is the canvas alive with all colours?

Where are companions as devoted as Abu Bakar?
Where are leaders as exemplary as Umar?
Where are the eyes that bear Usman’s purity?
Where are the hearts that hold his generosity?

Where is the youth inspired by the Beloved ﷺ of God?
Where is the generation that follows the path he trod?
Where is the life in which sin remains a spectator?
Where is the flame that burns to witness the Creator?

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About the Poet: Aadil Farook is a thinker, poet, writer, translator, researcher, and musical artist. Due to his intellectual, literary, musical, and spiritual contributions, he has been a winner/nominee of three international awards (US & UK).

The article first appeared on The Kashmir Pulse at https://kashmirpulse.com/literature/poems/the-league-of-giants/117359.html