JODI BHESTE JAITE CHAO - Duel of Poets
If You Wish to Go to Heaven

SHISHWA (Disciple)
If you wish to go to heaven
Keep fear of Allah in your heart

GURU (Teacher)
If you want to be close to Allah
Keep love within your heart

SHISHWA (Disciple)
I'm just your daughter's age
I'll assume the side of shariah
And take an anti-Sufi stance
Don't take what I say to heart
You ignore the Holy Scriptures -
What kind of Muslims are you?

Why are the mullahs
always angry with you?
Keep fear of Allah in your heart

GURU (Teacher)
You need a measure of wisdom
to grasp the Koran and Hadith
How can half-read mullahs
interpret the intricate Scriptures?

They preach to others
without knowing the texts
The dogmatic mullahs
make their living from deception
Well fed and fattened, they use
their strength to abuse us
Keep love within your heart

SHISHWA (Disciple)
You Sufis chant Allah's name
Ignoring creed and prayer

You smoke pot during Ramadan
With the excuse of meditation
What kind of Islamic creed
Sanctions this immorality?
Keep fear of Allah in your heart

GURU (Teacher)
Just showing off your rituals
Is that true namaz?
Namaz is meditation,
To attain tranquility

Fasting is self control
How many really follow that?
They skip their meals by day
And eat double by night

We don't lust for heaven
And have no fear of hell
Keep love within your heart

SHISHWA (Disciple)
You don't go on pilgrimage
You don't give charity
What do you have against
Ritual sacrifice?
Why should Muslims
Quaver at the sight of blood?

GURU (Teacher)
You're asked to sacrifice
Your dearest ones
Are these cows and goats
Your most beloved?

Nothing is dearer than yourself
The supreme sacrifice is self sacrifice
If you can, restrain your senses
Control your passions
Keep love within your heart

SHISHWA (Disciple)
You roam around with women
Without wedding them
You sing and dance together
Without shame

The outside world is for men
The woman's place is at home
Keep fear of Allah in your heart

GURU (Teacher)
Woman is the seed of life
The source of creation
Those who believe in inequality
Lock women into marriage

Woman is the vessel of love
Woman is the Mother
Without Woman we would not
Come into being

(Together)
You need both man and woman
For procreation and creation
Keep love inside your heart

If you want to be close to Allah
Keep love inside your heart

SHERE KHODA ALI SHABE
The Ballad of Fatema

Ali, the Tiger of Allah,
Thinks himself so handsome,
Seeing his own masculine beauty
In the mirror

Ali's son Hossain tells his father,
'If only you knew
My mother's true beauty'

Ali rushes to his wife and says,
'Show me your beauty
that you've hidden even
from your own husband'

Fatema replies,
'It's not a physical beauty
that can be seen with the naked eye.'

Then Fatema utters her curse:
'Whoever beheld my divine image
will die in a fratricidal war.'

Ali says, 'Your curse is for none
other than your own son.
Hossain witnessed your sacred self
in an invisble mosque.'

Hearing Fatema's cry, Allah says:
'I can save your son
but no other child will be
spared their mother's curse.'

Cries out Earth-Mother Fatema,
'O Allah, let me lose my son.
But let no other child
suffer from the curse of their mother!'

The inner grace of Mohammed's
Daughter illuminates the world
Thus Fatema's pain redeems
The suffering of all women

PAKHITA BONDI ACHE
The Bird Is Trapped In the Body's Cage

The bird is trapped in the body's cage
Its feet are bound with worldly chains
It tries to fly but falters to the ground
The bird is trapped in the body's cage

Rainbow colored birds
Circle freely in the sky
Their brilliant splendor
A rapture for the eye

The bird pines with longing
It yearns to spread its wings
It wants to join the joyful birds
Leaving its fleeting home behind

The clay bird laments:
'Why did you infuse
My heart with longing
If you didn't give my wings
The strength to fly?'

Its feet are bound with worldly chains
It tries to fly but falters to the ground
The bird is trapped in the body's cage

MILAAD
Islamic Death Ritual Chant

Persecuted by his own tribesmen,
the Prophet took refuge in Tayef

The people of Tayef abused him too,
but Mohammed silently endured

When Angel Gabriel sought revenge
Mohammed restrained him

The Prophet prayed, Oh Allah,
forgive them for they know not what they do

When the Prophet left this world,
All cried, followers and foes alike,
Hearing of his sad demise