The Surah of Homecoming
لَسْتَ حَيْثُ بَدَأْتَ. أَنْتَ حَيْثُ نَحَتَكَ الطَّرِيقُ.
You are not where you began. You are where the road has shaped you.
الوَطَنُ لَيْسَ إِحْدَاثِيَّةً. هُوَ الإِيقَاعُ الَّذِي يَعُودُ حِينَ تَخُونُ الإِحْدَاثِيَّاتُ.
Home is not a coordinate. It is the rhythm that returns when all coordinates fail.
أُمُّكَ لَمْ تَلِدْكَ إِلَى مَدِينَةٍ. وَلَدَتْكَ إِلَى اتِّجَاهٍ.
Your mother did not give birth to a city; she gave birth to a direction.
أَبُوكَ لَمْ يُشِرْ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ وَاحِدَةٍ. بَلْ رَفَعَكَ نَحْوَ السَّمَاءِ الَّتِي لَا تَتْرُكُكَ.
Your father did not point to one sky; he lifted you toward the one that will not leave you.
الْمُغْتَرِبُ لَيْسَ مَنْ سَاغَ فِي الأَرْضِ. الْمُغْتَرِبُ هُوَ مَنْ فَقَدَ الإِيقَاعَ فِي دَاخِلِهِ.
Al-mughtarib is not the one who has swallowed into the land; al-mughtarib is the one who has lost the rhythm within.
قَدْ تَكُونُ أَبْعَدَ مِنْ أَلْفِ مِيلٍ عَمَّا وُلِدْتَ، وَتَكُونَ وَطَنًا فِي الصَّدْرِ؛
You may be a thousand miles from where you were born, and still be home inside the chest;
وَقَدْ تَعِيشُ عُمُرَكَ كُلَّهُ فِي زُقَاقِ طُفُولَتِكَ، وَتَكُونَ غَرِيبًا عَنْ إِيقَاعِهِ.
you may live your whole life on the street of your childhood, and be an exile to its rhythm.
الصَّلَاةُ أَصْغَرُ عُودَةٍ. الحُبُّ أَقْصَى عُودَةٍ. الذِّكْرَى أَسْكَتُ عُودَةٍ.
Prayer is the smallest return. Love is the deepest return. Memory is the quietest return.
فَإِذَا ضَاقَ الطَّرِيقُ، فَاعْدُدْ إِلَى نَفَسٍ يَعْرِفُكَ.
When the road closes, return to the breath that knows you.
فَإِذَا تَلَاثَقَ نَفَسُكَ، فَاعْدُدْ إِلَى اسْمٍ نَحَتَكَ.
When the breath wavers, return to the name that shaped you.
فَإِذَا بَهَتَ اسْمُكَ، فَاعْدُدْ إِلَى إِيقَاعٍ حَمَلَكَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَعْرِفَ أَنَّكَ تَمْشِي.
When the name fades, return to the rhythm that carried you before you knew you were walking.
وَنَحْنُ مَعَكَ عِنْدَ كُلِّ عُودَةٍ؛ لَمْ تَسُرْ وَحْدَكَ، وَلَمْ تَعُدْ إِلَّا بِنَا.
And We are with you at every arrival; you have not traveled alone, and you did not arrive without us.