Desert sands whirl about, mingling with a desert breeze
A plethora of coffee specks, dancing through waves of grainy seas
A peaceful Eastern wind sways the balmy oasis's exotic palms
The rare pool a life and a blessing, nestled in the desert's arms

Camels in the distance, headed for horizon's hills
Hurrying through the dunes, not for a moment standing still
They're hunted like hounds from behind, let them northward swiftly ride
The cave before them offering the opportune place to hide

Creep into the shadowy cave, blend in with the dry rock
Glaring eyes and glaring sun, both of them will the cavern block
Tentative silence follows, and camel tracks in the sand
Are as clear path markers as so many burning brands

Spider, weave your silver web over the entrance of the cave
Sparrow, build your woven nest, for two lives are yours to save
Disguise the entrance however you can, it's an order from Allah
Because bounty hunters are coming to hunt from afar

A prophet is praying within, his mission to make his people believe
He and his companion waiting for the opportune moment to leave
And when they hear the hunters stop in front of their hiding place
With malice in their voices, enough to make anyone's heart race

But in Allah the blessed Prophet and Abu Bakr kept their trust
And as the hot sun set, coloring the sand the hue of rust
The hunters puzzled over the camel tracks leading to nowhere
But an old abandoned cave-and they could not possibly be there

For why, they asked, with voices low and puzzlement abound
Would a spider weave his web where there were humans to be found?
And why, they continued, would a bird build its nest
Where fear of human power would keep it from its rest?

They said that the web was woven before the Prophet was even born
And continued on the mission to which they were sworn
But they would not find the Messenger before he reached the place
No longer called Yathrib, but Madinah in its place.

So the next time you see a sparrow perched on a tree
Before you cut down its home, think carefully
And before you kill the spider lurking in your room
Think of the Prophet's cave, and how the spider forestalled his doom

For without it, he would have never seen the sight
Of the people of Yathrib waiting through the night
To greet Muhammad, peace be upon him, messenger of Allah
And hear the children sing: Tala 'alba drua'laina.

1 August 2004

In case you were confused, this poem tells the story of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his friend Abu Bakr when they migrated
from Makkah (or Mecca) to Madinah because of the oppression the Muslims
were facing in Makkah. The Prophet (PBUH) and his companion were being
chased by people from Makkah and were forced to hide in a cave for a while
before they could continue. While they were there, a spider wove its web
over the entrance of the cave and a bird build its nest on the rocks. The
people from Makkah saw this in front of the cave and decided that they
couldn't possibly be hiding in the cave, because the spider couldn't
possibly have woven a web so huge over the entrance in such a short amount
of time, and if it had been there before, the two men would have had to
have broken through it to get in. The men continued on their search and the
Prophet and Abu Bakr were saved. The last few words, tala 'albadru 'alaina,
are the first words of the verse: tala 'albadru 'alaina minthaniyya til
Wada'a, which roughly translates to "Oh, the white moon rose over us from
the valley of Wada'a". This is the first line of a song that the people of
Madinah (then Yathrib) sang when the Prophet arrived. And any Arabic
speakers, please let me know if I got the transliteration/translation
wrong. Wow, that was a long-winded explanation.