Poetry: Ashraf AboArafe
O world of treachery and betrayal,
How can years of giving and sacrifice
Be repaid with denial and cold disdain?
When children turn away from decades of care,
When love is replaced by spite,
Mercy by cruelty,
Roots by rebellion,
And values by mockery—
What is left of honor?
Is this the reward of dreams and generosity—
To meet ungrateful hearts,
Exploitation, and scorn?
Can a father dissolve himself
So his children may live,
Only to be met with a hollow smile,
A poisoned word,
Or a whispered prayer
That death might hasten inheritance?
They lost their way,
Abandoning the mosques,
Forsaking the Qur’an,
Chasing the glitter of wealth
And bowing before desire,
Forgetting the whispered supplications
Of mothers at dawn.
They ran after the illusion of freedom,
Blinded by the fever of money
And the lure of screens.
Families fractured,
Homes grew estranged—
Strangers under a single roof.
What goodness can be hoped for
From hearts that fled the light of God?
They were deceived by false prophets
Who dressed rebellion as “freedom,”
Estrangement as “independence,”
And greed as “success.”
Now hearts are hardened,
Eyes unmoistened,
And souls emptied of mercy.
How many mothers weep alone at night?
How many fathers sit forgotten
On the steps of nursing homes,
Separated from their children
By the walls of ingratitude?
And we still ask—why are families broken?
Why do divorce and betrayal rise?
It is the policy of division, no doubt—
Executed by the very children it enslaves,
Under the banner: Divide and rule.
Fed by base dramas,
Imported thoughts,
And a culture that reproduces the colonizer
In the mask of modernity.
The mirror no longer shows truth—
It warps, it deceives,
Magnifying illusions,
Diminishing reality,
Beautifying ugliness,
And staining beauty.
Is this not the bullying world,
The treacherous world?
Where if men love you in it,
God may despise you—
And if men forsake you,
God may raise you.
So the bitter harvest comes,
Born of a storm
That uprooted kinship,
Sowed seeds of estrangement,
And sold bonds of love
For a counterfeit freedom.
O you deceived by wealth,
Bewitched by children’s glow—
Remember the Word of God:
“Indeed, your wealth and your children are but a trial.”
Do not let this fleeting world
Blind you from its Giver.
They are but a test—
Will you give thanks, or deny?
Will you obey God through them,
Or disobey Him for their sake?
Will you exchange His pleasure
For theirs?
That is the true loss—
When kin turn enemies,
When blessing becomes curse,
And children drag a soul to ruin.
For God has said:
“O you who believe, let not your wealth or your children distract you from the remembrance of God. And whoever does so—they are the losers.”
Woe to those who lose both worlds—
Neither child nor wealth shall aid them,
Nor lineage or rank avail them.
Then they will know:
God alone remains.
Whoever loses Him has lost all,
And whoever finds Him—
Has found everything.
And in the Divine words:
“O son of Adam, seek Me and you will find Me.
If you find Me, you have found all things.
But if I escape you, you have lost all things.
And I am dearer to you than all things.”
And the Prophet of mercy,
Truthful of tongue, declared:
“No one of you truly believes
Until I am dearer to him than himself,
His wealth, his children,
And all mankind.”
So place the love of God
Above the love of sons,
His obedience above desire.
Only then will hearts be healed,
Families whole,
And homes filled with mercy.
O Lord, do not make this world
Our greatest concern,
Nor wealth or children our trial.
Bless us with Your bounty here,
And Paradise in the Hereafter.
Keep our hearts steadfast,
Grant us from You a mercy—
For without You, we are lost.
