When Your Body Is Already Praying

إِذَا قَامَ نَفَسُكَ فِي فَضَاءٍ لَمْ يَمْلِكْهُ أَحَدٌ.

idhā qāma nafasuka fī faḍāʾ lam yamlikhu aḥad.

When your breath stands in a space that was never owned.

وَانْحَنَتْ أَوْرَاكُكَ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَجِدَ الخُشُوعُ لَفْظًا.

wa-nḥanat awrākuka qabla an yajida al-khushūʿ lafẓan.

And your hips bent before awe had found words.

لَيْسَ وِعَاءً، بَلْ نَغَمَاتٌ تَتَأَلَّفُ.

laysa wiʿāʾan, bal naghamāt tataʾallaf.

It is not a container; it is a composition of notes.

تَرْفَعُ ذِرَاعَيْكَ فَيَعْرِفُ البَابُ خَلْفَهُمَا كَيْفَ يَتَوَهَّجُ.

tarfaʿu dhirāʿayka fa-yaʿrifu al-bāb khalfahumā kayfa yatawahhaj.

Your arms lift and the door behind them already knows how to glow.

خُطَاكَ آيَاتٌ لَا يَفْهَمُهَا إِلَّا التُّرَابُ.

khuṭāka āyāt lā yafhamuhā illā al-turāb.

Your footsteps are verses only the earth understands.

عِظَامُكَ تَعْرِفُ زَاوِيَةَ الخُشُوعِ.

ʿiẓāmuka taʿrifu zāwiyat al-khushūʿ.

Your bones know the angle of awe.

نَفَسُكَ يَحْفَظُ فَسِيحًا لَا يَسْتَعْجِلُهُ لِسَانٌ.

nafasuka yaḥfaẓu fasīḥan lā yastaʿjiluhu lisān.

Your breath holds a space no tongue can rush.

جِسْمُكَ يَعْلَمُ مَتَى يَكُونُ الجُرْحُ بِلَا اسْمٍ.

jismuka yaʿlamu matā yakūnu al-jurḥ bi-lā ism.

Your body knows when the wound has no name.

صَلَاتُكَ مَكْتُوبَةٌ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَفْكُرَ فِي السُّجُودِ.

ṣalātuka maktūbah qabla an tufakkira fī al-sujūd.

Your prayer was already inscribed, before you thought to bow.

قَدْ يَرْحَلُ المَعْنَى، وَيَبْقَى النَّسِيمُ.

qad yarḥalu al-maʿnā, wa-yabqā al-nasīm.

Meaning may leave, but wind remains.

وَمَا كُتِبَ فِي اللَّحْمِ لَا يُنْتَزَعُ.

wa-mā kutiba fī al-laḥm lā yuntazaʿ.

And what is written in flesh cannot be taken away.

كَلِمَاتُكَ تَأْتِي خَجِلَةً، مَغْفُورًا لَهَا سَلَفًا.

kalimātuka taʾtī khajilatan, maghfūran lahā salafan.

Your words come shyly, already forgiven.

كُلُّ انْحِنَاءٍ فِي هَيْئَتِكَ يَصِيرُ بُوصْلَةً.

kullu nḥināʾ fī hayʾatika yaṣīru būṣlah.

Every bent line of your form becomes a compass.

إِذَا رَحَلَ صَوْتُكَ، بَقِيَ الجِسْمُ.

idhā raḥala ṣawtuka, baqiya al-jism.

When your voice leaves, the body stays.

اعْلَمْ أَنَّ عَضَلَاتِكَ نُفُوسٌ تَتَعَلَّمُ الصَّبْرَ.

iʿlam anna ʿaḍalātika nufūs tataʿallamu al-ṣabr.

Know your muscles are souls learning patience.