Just A Reminder - Islamic Poetry

In this book the author has written a number of short poems composed within the context of the Qur'an and the Sunnah. He has also gathered some remarkable true-life inspirational stories.

By the will of Allah, some of the poems will make you happy if you were sad and lift you up if you were down — and reading the stories will move you to praise Allah.

Why Poetry Sits Comfortably in Islamic Tradition

Because it always has. The Prophet ﷺ had a poet, Hassan ibn Thabit رضي الله عنه, and he said that some poetry is wisdom. What was censured was poetry that carried falsehood or immorality, not the form itself.

Verse also does something prose does not: it stays. A line that scans is remembered and returned to, which is why so much of the Islamic scholarly tradition — creed, grammar, law — was written in verse to begin with.

What the Combination Achieves

The poems supply the reflection; the true stories supply the evidence that it applies to real people. Either alone would be thinner than the two together.

Who It Is For

Anyone going through a difficult period, and anyone who finds a straightforward reminder easier to receive in this form than in a lecture. Short enough to read a page at a time.

Related Reading

• The Book of Heart Softeners — the Book of Heart Softeners
• Trials and Tribulations — Ibn Al-Qayyim on trials and their benefits
• Glory be to the Most High — inspiring accounts from Makkah