This poem spoke to me

I decided to restart blogging again. Inspired by many awesome writers out there, the ones that write from the heart. This is my 1st entry under a new label called "my jihad". God knows what a struggle it has been the past year. Found a perfect poem by a blogger (came highly recommended by a dear sister) Yasmin Mogahed. Not too sure though it this beautifully written piece was done by her. May Allah swt rewards the writer. In italic are my own transliteration i.e how I hear the words as the poem 'spoke' to me:

My heart is an open book, 

Torn open by my story.

Tell them you learned the lesson.

You’ll learn it every time,

You seek completion in the incomplete. (endless quest of perfection in the fleeting world)

You sought refuge in a straw house. (mirage of hopes in the temporary dunya)

Then when the storm came, (the impending Qiyamah)

You were bare and alone.

Exposed.

You spent years swallowing…(all your life)

But it was only air. (you gathered NOTHING)

And you wondered why it left you empty. (regrets came...you were bewildered)

They told you stories (things taught by people I came across)

And you believed them…

Then waited for the tooth fairy (wishful thinking)

To bring you change. (always in the need to seek meaning)

And yet still you’d give anything (despite repeated failed attempts, you continued)

To make the story real. (to believe in the dunya)

Let it go. (Let DUNYA go. It's only a mean, not objective)

There’s a better story. (Akhirah, the eternal)

That isn’t a story. (a very real ending of it all)

It’s Real. (and eternal)

But in it the hero never dies (eternity)

Or bleeds or cries. (only Dunya feeds you pain & sorrow)

Find the Real version. (go back to Allah)

Memorize it. (zikr of Allah)

Write it on your heart. (surrender your heart to Him)

And then,

Give it to the world to read. (and yet remain in this world, try your best to make it a better place)

Your heart is an open book. (share openly and inspire others to follow the right path)