Ramadan 2010: MM Poetry Contest | Semifinalists, Day 1

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | The Finals

Update 31/8/10: Voting for poems published on Day 1 closes today! Cast your vote now if you still haven't!

Update 1/9/1o: Voting for poems published on Day 1 has now CLOSED.

The entries are in, the judges have had a great time reading them and now, the moment you've all been waiting for – the first collection of shortlisted poems is being published! Really, this may sound cliche but the entries were all so nice that we had a very hard time deciding whom to put through to the semifinalists. May Allāh accept the efforts of all the contestants, and also accept our efforts to be impartial, to make sure the hard work is duly rewarded!

So here's how it's going to be:
1) We're going to publish four shortlisted poems a day, for the next five days, inshā'Allāh – starting today.
2) Each day, you, the public, vote for the poem that you like best out of the four published.
3) The poems with the most votes from each day will go on to the final round, where a second poll will decide the winner and runners up.

Simple, eh?

As beautiful as the poems all are, and we are indeed experiencing the Holy month of Ramadan, the spirit of the competition can be pretty overwhelming. That's why here's a simple reminder to keep it clean, and wholesome, healthy competitiveness that adds to the fun but does not hurt anyone in anyway. :)

Without further ado, here's the first four poems for your pleasurable reading. (I'd recommend grabbing a cuppa tea after Iftaar and really enjoying them!)

Please don't forget to vote!

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A Month of Mercy
is upon us.
And I remembered back
when I was young
about how I felt being able
to fast the whole month.
I thought, “How wonderful!
All the reward is in my grasp!”
I realized I should
plan for this blessed month.
So, I went in my room.
And I wrote a list.

I wrote,
I will pray my soul to rest.
I will fast with strength greater
than the one who wrestles men
down.
My remembrance will
only be of Allāh.
And can't forget the coming 'Īd
outfits…

I just kept on thinking how
I can just soak up this month
of reward.
And as I wrote, my father
entered my room.
“Oh Baba! I am preparing my
list for Ramadan. Come see
what I have written.”
My father examined every detail.
And when he looked up he smiled
then said, “Ya bunayyati (O my daughter),
these are all great things you have listed,
but I think you are missing something.”
I said, “Missing something? What do
you mean?”
He stopped for a while,
and asked me to come with him.

My father took my hand.
And we traveled into the city.
It is not something I experienced often.
And I observed the status of its condition.
I saw walks of life with no homes.
Children in rags that had seen better days
on some other child that had thrown them away.
I saw a dinner plate between a mother
and her four starve stricken children.
A plate only consisting of two
decomposed dates found
and split into four halves.

And then we stopped.
I looked at my father with tears saying,
“Where are we Baba?”
He held me close and wiped my trickles.
“Bunayatti, when I saw your list indeed I was
pleased, but Ramadan is not only
about you or I. It is about the people
around you who need you the most.
It is a second chance. It's a reminder to mankind
that forgiveness is near.
It's about self reflection, and unity.”

From then on I learned that Ramadan
was not about how many prayers I did.
The clothes I bought.
Or even the strength that
I had to fast.
It wasn't what was sitting on the dinner
table, but who was sitting around it.
It was about us all gathering together
and crying out, “Ya Rabbana!
Your Mercy is as the river flows.
And Your Bounty has no limits!
Make this the month of great
treasures for them!”

It was the peace on their faces
after telling reciting the verse to them
“Verily, with every difficulty there is relief”(94:6).
It was Allāh letting them know
He had never forgotten them
Nor had He left them not
even for a blink of an eye.

I say to you,
Ya ayyuhal Mu'minun(O you Believers)!
Don't be missing something this Ramadan.