I’m ready to tell you: I’m going to do it. The bed itself, heat, your body’s own softnesses a sickening pillow. When sick seems unbearable, your blankets, Like beachglass shorn enough of edges for taking homeĪnd putting in a jar – what was normally soft and friendly Like the war stories of our grandfathers, lacking names,ĭetails, context – polished stones – or better yet,

Remember the uncomfortable cold and smooth hard surface– How alien the tiles were against your face. To go to school – I’ll be remembering the same thingĪt the same time, half-jokingly eulogizing myself

I loved the ending and yet was sorry to see the poem end.” -Maggie Smith In this sense, the poem is embodying, enacting-with humor and vulnerability and pain, which coexist together here. “This poem looks a little wild, a little unwieldy, unspooling down the pages-and this feels just right to me formally because what it’s sharing with us resists containment and tidiness. Here, the Prophet reminds us that we must cleanse and perfume ourselves not for wordly desires and gains but purely out of the love we have for Allah.“Layaway” by Sophia Anfinn Tonnessen is the 2nd place winner for the 2021 Sappho Prize, selected by guest judge Maggie Smith. The Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have loved perfume and was the highest example of cleanliness and purity for the sake of Allah. The Prophet (S) said: “He who perfumes himself for Allah, most High, will be raised on the Day of Resurrection, smelling more fragrant than sweet musk, whereas he who perfumes himself for other than Allah will be raised on the Day of Resurrection smelling more putrid than a corpse” In this hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have stated the clear connection between purity and Heaven – meaning that we should strive to constantly cleanse ourselves not only as an act of faith but as preparation for the Hereafter. Verily, Allah has based the foundation of Islam on cleanliness hence, never can a person enter Paradise but the clean ones” The Holy Prophet (S) said: “Try to be clean as much as you are able to. We should remind ourselves daily that the water we are privileged to use is a gift, and that we should remain grateful for every act of cleansing we are able to complete. Here we are told by Allah that He has gifted us with rain and with water to be able to cleanse ourselves. “ when He overwhelmed you with drowsiness security from Him and sent down upon you from the sky, rain by which to purify you and remove from you the evil of Satan and to make steadfast your hearts and plant firmly thereby your feet” This is a powerful reminder of the need to constantly purify ourselves both physically as well as spiritually. In this verse, Allah tells us that Islam is here to purify ourselves – in all meanings of the word purify. “We have sent among you a messenger from yourselves reciting to you Our verses and purifying you and teaching you the Book and wisdom and teaching you that which you did not know” Here we are reminded that while it may take extra steps to ensure we remain clean and pure, it is not to make our lives more difficult – and we should remain grateful for all the guidance and love Allah continues to shower down upon us. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful” But if you are ill or on a journey or one of you comes from the place of relieving himself or you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it. And if you are in a state of janabah, then purify yourselves. “O you who have believed, when you rise to prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles. Staying clean is being in a state of gratitude In this verse, we are reminded that remaining clean and pure is an act of faith – and that by purifying ourselves, we are showing our love and devotion to Allah. “Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves” Here are just 6 verses from the Holy Quran as well as hadith on the beauty and importance of cleanliness, in the hopes that we can all work towards becoming better practicing Muslims.

Poems about tidiness