The Dawn of Muhammad

O virgins of the sands, sing of the Guide
who appeared, upon the smiling of lips,
as the orphan newborn, flooding the face of the wasteland
with light, with hopes, and with fragrance;
and meet the men, in "God's sanctuary,"
with a dawn for Hashim through the ages —
faces that have shone upon the fresh new hope,
while their "Manat" is met with votive vows;
and "Bahira" sees him, by the blue stars,
a messenger upon the written radiance.
And the Prophet, the Prophet, opens an eye
and sees the universe a firebrand of evils;
borne upon the palms, he almost grows still in the cave,
closing his eyes against a rancorous world.
His mother receives him with her weary
smile, with a wounded, broken radiance.
He nestles upon the cradle-bed — and for what is to come
there is, in his eyes, the torch of liberation.