I knew where I wanted to go
But not the road that led there
It was dark
And before my sight,
Were the faint trails of two pathways
One to my left, the other to my right.
Darkness enveloped my mind
I stood there absorbing the silence
Before a subtle stream of glitter and gold,
Stretched out in the sky above my head
And a path from the two, was set alight.
Dawn illuminated the indelible footprints,
Footprints that traced the path on the right
And my feet flowed to its direction.
The path was coarse and I fell at times
The hill became steeper
And my fear deepened.
I paused,
To catch my breath
And to my side came a kitten, running
I remembered my Prophet ﷺ,
The kindness of his to the animals
I gave away my thirst to quench the little kitten’s.
I resumed,
Sweat formed at the crown of my head
My chest heaved in the rhythm of my erratic breathings
The path was full of thorns and stones
And blisters formed on the heels of my foot.
I paused, again,
To sweep my wet forehead
And to catch the sight of a boy
Struggling to tie the laces of his shoe
I remembered my Prophet ﷺ
The tenderness he had for the children
I bent down and helped the boy.
Then I continued,
And I wondered,
Would I have sought these hurdles
If I had taken the other pathway?
Tears nestled in the corners of my eyes
I raised my head
To the pink and blues of the sky
And the remnants of darkness that still lingered
The path was narrow
Prickles and gravels adorned it
It was a rough and painful path
Yet, I still followed the footprints
Pondering if they had dealt with a pain more than this
To carve this way for me
Amidst untangling the web of my thoughts,
A brilliance of light hit me
It lighted the peak of the hill,
Upon where I stood- my destination
I felt the warm waft brushing my skin
And I said to myself,
“The sun’s radiance has guided me to the right path”.
My Prophet ﷺ
Was the guiding light
That led me through.
My Prophet ﷺ,
A father who never held me
A teacher who never sat before me
Yet a leader who prayed
Prayed for me and for you
To be rightly guided.
Written by: Areeba Khan
© The Islamic Reflections Blog