Reflections

Dedicated to Miss Fahima Hakim, in reply to a piece of hers of whispered literature in the October 1952 issue.

I stood before your picture, silent —
a whispered prayer
caressed... my lips,
to your smile...
to your ideal, pure soul.
And I began to read...
your verses in whispered literature
which...
stir the feelings... of souls
with their words —
sweet... smiling —
and their tone —
musical... sensitive.
You made...
your piece into a soul
in which...
is a light from which aspiration is born.
So hallow
freedom, even through wounds,
and behold...
in the air of darkness a morning appears.
O flower...
that fills the eye and waters minds,
rejoice...
for darkness is followed by the light of beauty.
Awake...
and smile upon hopes in this existence,
and sing...
with the birds, in charm and coquetry.
For you...
are a light whose radiance floods your soul
with magic...
and its echo fills the soul
and puts...

tenderness and hope in the soul,
and lends...
ease and bliss to life.
For you are a flower...
breathing perfume over life,
in whose fragrance...

the soul is at ease, enraptured.
And I admire...
the art in you, for it is a memory.
So flood us with beautiful art,
and send it with the breezes as solace.

Idlib — Nasimah Jujur