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30 Days of Ramadan (Sufi Sonnet)
On the 1st day of Ramadan I say to thee,
celebration of Ramadan is celebration of rahmat.
On the 2nd day of Ramadan I say to thee,
the greatest iftar is to lift up another.
On the 3rd day of Ramadan I say to thee,
kindness makes moments holy, not date and time.
On the 4th day I say to thee, till we renounce
apathy, refusing 'interest' counts for nothing.
On the 5th day of Ramadan I say to thee,
helping a human is worth a hundred Hajj.
On the 6th day of Ramadan I say to thee,
service to humanity is service to Allah/God.
On 7th I say, true mercy waits for no month.
On 8th I say, mercy exclusive to month is fake mercy.
9. There is nothing uglier than happiness hoarded.
10. Light shared, is amplified, when hoarded, it's lost.
11. Breaking fast while the world starves, is no holy.
12. Dua without deeds is dua (prayer) of the dead.
13. Only kafir is the one who lacks kindness.
14. Real divinity knows no distinction of faith.
15. The opposite of sacredness is prejudice.
16. Heart is the first and final mosque.
17. Heart set on prejudice tantamount to Quran set on fire.
18. Abandon fundamentalism, and adopt tolerance.
19. What's fanatic is dead, what's tolerant is alive.
20. Tolerance is the awakening of divine desire.
21. Condemn none, convert none, for all are equal.
22. All streams spring from the human heart.
23. Reflections though vary, the sun is the same.
24. Tolerate no more bigotry to poison the world.
25. Surpass all fear, and share a date.
26. Date shared is bloodshed spared.
27. Dogma deserted is harmony harvested.
28. Ramadan is the end of fear and hatred.
On the eve of Eid, I bear reminder - for one
who lives with kindness, everyday is Ramadan.
On Eid al-Fitr, I stand as a promise -
in celebrating each other we rise human.
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