Precious Stones:
by Hazrat Ameer Prof. Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed
A poem written after the Government dismantled the stone-carved Kalima from the façade of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Mosque in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in April 1984
Appeared in: The Islamic Review, August/September 1984, p. 19
I don't collect precious stones,
But these ones I must keep.
My heart is filled with sorrow,
But I'll try not to weep.
I pick some stones and save them,
I hold my tears with a heavy heart.
Of a KALIMA that once graced a MOSQUE,
These precious stones are a part.
The Kalima is trodden and Azan now
banned,
The 'idol-breakers', O ALLAH, now the
Mosques break.
Before people recognise the truth once
again,
O Allah, what sacrifice will it take.
When will peace and freedom come,
How long shall the call of Azan stay choked.
When will God's help come, I ask,
How long will freedom remain yoked.
Lo and Behold? His help is nigh,
Just till Moharram wait,
For us every instant is Moharram, God,
PLEASE HELP US BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha
April 1984