terengganu

the word of allah echoes in this pacific clime

far away from the austere mountain of hira

yet

its power remains

its resonance firm

as it penetrates the soul of this gentle people

bearers of its message in this land far away. the word is burned into the substance of their souls

emanating as golden light appearing as threads

weaving in songkets patterns that allude

to that magic beauty that to heaven belongs. forms in flora in symmetry bound

in a geometry that feeds the inner eye

in colors

in theopanies that remold the soul

with majestic quranic verses the unifying crown. how far we wander away from our abode

to be recalled by the word and its distant echoes

in this fleeting journey of life

of his presence

reflected in tile patterns of the alhambra and seville

as well as in the songkets of terengganu and the nearby. from east to west the light of his word does shine

for it issues from that central pole divine

which is neither to the east nor the west confined

and yet both east and west in its light unites.