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This narrative poem is based on famous Sufi tales about amazing acts of sacrifice and journeys on the way to Hajj.

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When I was fresh, new, suckling babe

My mother’s poor spirit flew away

And my father died of a deep malaise

My life was shaping for a terrible fate

But by a stroke of eternal grace

I was taken in by a travelling maid

Nourished with her milk, settled by her face

I remember her clear soothing refrains:

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Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

La Ilaha Illalah!

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As I grew in strength and the years ran by

I lived with my mother through some terrible times

Trekking through the deserts, perilous and dry

Begging in the cities just to get by

Slaving, watched by cunning, covetous eyes

Searching for a bed under the cold sky

And while we roamed, struggling to survive

Still my mother sang, tears filling her eyes:

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Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

La Ilaha Illalah!

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Then my life caved in when I was a youth

When my mother one day revealed the truth

She had been like a solid, comforting roof

But now I was lonely orphan in sooth

She said, “Listen my son, I made an oath

To the Lord of the Kaaba and angels’ hosts

That I would visit God’s Almighty house

Where the whole of the world gathers round and round

So I was heading for Makkah nearly out of town

When I heard your shaking, adorable growl

Wriggling on the ground, wrapped in a towel

My heart wept to hear your miserable howl!

There I choose to raise you as my own little babe

Though I yearned to bow in the Kaaba’s shade

Then I called on the Lord, don’t abandon me!

All my wealth I will give to thee

I’ll spend on this poor lonely baby,

But one day grant me the opportunity

To look upon Your House and sing with glee:

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Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

La Ilaha Illalah!”

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I wiped my tears and I kissed her feet

Saying: “I will take you there on my own two feet!”

Down the winding roads, through the heaving streets

Mother on my back, in the blinding heat

We pushed through the lands in gradual degrees

And hid in ships along the pounding seas

Never were we harmed by men or disease

As we said these words like a whispering breeze

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Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

La Ilaha Illalah!”

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After days and months, or even years!

Upon the horizon loomed Arabia

My poor old mother began to suffer

Our epic journey had exhausted her

But her eyes lit up with sheer wonder

“Take me my son to the Holy Kaaba!”

So we joined a group of dervish travellers

Pilgrims wrapped in white like glowing spectres

Reading tearful prayers to their Saviour

Treading down the path, chanting with fervour:

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Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

La Ilaha Illalah!”

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The road dragged on but we marched with cheer

Until we approached the epicentre of our prayer

Past the thronging mass of devotees

Swelling and flowing like a human sea!

Mother grabbed my shoulder with a grip so tight

Then she told me that she had lost her sight

“My dear own son, my orphan boy!

Wipe away your tears! You can’t feel my joy!

I know my state doesn’t make any sense

But alas life is a test of our patience,

My heart is filled with serenity

The lights of My Lord have set me free,

Though the Kaaba’s veiled for me to see

Now instead I see the Lord is truly close to me,

But if you would like a smile to brighten my face,

Tell me what you see, describe the Kaaba’s grace.”

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“Dear Mother it’s like the Sun heating up all space

And the people, the planets, orbiting with haste

It’s like the sky on a darkened night

And the pilgrim stars shining around it so bright

It’s like a magnet that our Lord has fixed

And humanity crowds and encircles it

It’s like the heart beating silently

And the blood flows around it eternally

It’s like mighty Saturn, darkened, flattened into a cube

And the ring of pilgrims beautify the view.

It’s the House of God, and He loves His guests,

And He answers all who make sincere requests,

How I wish dear mother, you could see it now,

For the sake of your honest, sincere vow.”

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Though her eyes were blind, she looked into me

Saying: “My dear son, it is Allah’s decree,

My soul has drunk a cup which is forever filled

With the wine of love of our Lord’s pure Will.”

Her breaths gave up, she began to fade,

She would end her life in the Kaaba’s shade,

But before my mother’s spirit departed

She sang out those words, free and enchanted:

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Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

Labbayk Labbayk!

Allahumma Labbayk!

La Ilaha Illalah!

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Dhul Hijja, 1432/2011

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Notes

Labbayk Allahumma Labbayk La Ilaha Illalah- Arabic, Islamic prayers and formulas, meaning, I am at Your service, O Lord, There is no God but Allah.

These prayers are part of a longer prayer that Muslims say when they embarking on the pilgrimage and wearing their ihrams, white sheets which signify purity, repentance and rebirth.