From An Iraqi Widow To An American Widow

Yesterday , my dear sister !, in my dream,

I saw a cascade of tears from your eyes;


When asked about the cause of your grief,
You showed me the image of your husband.


You hurled abuses at me, as he was killed,
By a brutal terrorist in my land.


I recognized him, because he was the one,
Who, with his friend, barged into my house;


Raped my teenage daughter before our eyes.
When we resisted, they, out of dignity,


Shot her dead, and also riddled,
The chest of my husband with bullets.


As a sign of greatness of a great nation,
They showed mercy to me and my only son;


Spared us, and left with a triumphant pace.
Alas! My son was ungrateful,


In return to their benevolent gesture;
One day, he, with himself, blew them apart.


I was under the siege of emotions,
The raging inferno in my mind and heart;


Could defy the power of all the oceans,
Its flames could burn the entire world.


But your tears, shimmering like pearls,
Extinguished it, and made me ashamed.


I was unable to share your pain,
With a few drops of tears in your lap;


In a downpour, they all had been shed,
Over the bodies of my husband and daughter,


And also in the memory of my only son.
Now my eyes are stony, pallid and dry.


Your tears have generated in my soul,
A turmoil which will never be set at rest;


Unless you forgive me, as I am the mother,
Of the person who killed your husband.


To atone for my sins, and show repentance,
I declare my son ‘ a condemned terrorist ’.

 
Dr. Mustafa Kamal Sherwani, LL. D., Chairman, All India Muslim Forum
Lucknow, U.P. India.