Fox, Persistent

Although this poem is crafted as a first-person account, I was not part of the experience recounted in it. Rather it is based on what I heard from the esteemed Dr. Umar AbdAllah in a lecture delivered recently at Darul Qasim. The scene is the lush campus of the Alqueria de Rosales in Southern Spain. 

These last few days, each day had we

A visit from a fox,

A quiet, handsome creature, he

Attended all our talks;

For when we'd set to congregate

Upon a grassy hill

To purposefully separate

Our hearts from chatter ill,

This beast was wont to venture near

Neath the temperate sun,

Day after day to persevere

In a skulk of one.

He caused us no distraction nor

To mischief he inclined,

But stood in grand inaction for

What pacified his mind.

Then on that peaceful night as we

Prepared ourselves for prayer,

We sensed a sweet serenity

Excite the silent air;

I do suspect our vulpine friend

Detected it as well,

How quietly did he ascend

The grounds I cannot tell.

However, witness may I bear:

He walked the straightest line

Between the crowds assembled there

And made an exit fine.

I think the blessed night of Qadr

Came upon us then,

Upon us and on every other

Creature in that glen.