you talked of trees
that morning
it was winter and the trees
were bare
it was cold outside
I said
(remembering Sūrah Ibrahim):
a good word is like
a good tree
with
firm roots
skyward branches
fruit bearing
later you almost wept
and inside I kept repeating
good words
Arabic words
and became firm
in faith in our mother’s
winter journey from
this life to the next
About the Poet
Iljas Baker was born in Scotland in 1949 and was educated at Strathclyde, Aberdeen and Edinburgh universities. He now lives in Thailand where he has recently retired from teaching at Mahidol University International College. He is married with a son and a daughter and two grand-daughters. Click on photo to read our interview with the author.
This poem appears in PEACE BE UPON US - Poems by Iljas Baker
“In this sublime book Iljas Baker gives us a glimpse - in poetic form - of his spiritual journey through Buddhism, the spiritual exercise of Subud, and Islam. Many of the poems use Chinese and Japanese poetical forms, especially Haiku, Haibun and Tanka, but express somewhat uniquely an Islamic rather than a Buddhist worldview. The presence of some examples of the world-famous calligrapher Haji Noor Deen's Chinese interpretations of Islamic calligraphy adds a beautiful and complementary graphic element to the subtle marriage of East Asian literary forms and Islamic spirit to be found in this book. Iljas's poems and poetic artistry demonstrate the universality of Truth which, being Absolute, can and must manifest in every culture and in every art form, and both penetrate and embrace human life from the most mundane to the most exalted.” -Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Founder and President of Cordoba House
