(To my friend Suhaila, whose steadfast principled stand
against injustice, and whose patience in defending the
oppressed, defy description.)
Suhaila, spare yourself blame and reproach—
not every wise soul is granted understanding.
You are not at fault for trusting in goodness,
for possessing a nature that sees equality in creation, not rank.
Nor is it your fault that your maternal uncles are ruthless,
believing the best of humankind are those who dominate and
prevail.
I spoke as I did through lived experience,
and the finest experience is that which sharpens the mind.
For we are a people who saw the sun rise,
even as they drew veils to conceal it.
We committed no crime in their cities,
yet in ours they burned even the dry base of the palm frond.
They destroyed and plundered after they killed,
then divided the land—stealing, usurping.
And when we ask for the justification of a massacre,
how a child, barely crawling, could be burned alive,
Yvette replies: “You are frightening us.
We write—or erase—what has been written.¹
The corners of the earth belong to us;
we rule those who refuse our rule.
Accept, and we shall make you slaves.
Refuse, and we will unleash our wrath.
Even God we once claimed as an ally—
and when we raged, look who was crucified.”
Spare yourself, Suhaila, the counsel offered to the Anglo-
Saxon;
they will not recognize justice, whether it arrives or departs.
Descendants of Cain—in nature and in flesh—
even a dog is purer than their vaunted lineage.
From us they borrowed religion and philosophy,
then claimed them as Europe’s own—no surprise there.
After falsifying the history of the victor,
they returned to sell us the dregs of their culture.
We are the ones who began history,
and we will end history—and the Books.²
From the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates the alphabet
emerged;
without it, nothing spoken or written would endure.
With our invention of zero, all sciences were born—
yet we claimed no triumph.
They will demolish their own houses with their own hands;
how can the fire-starter be safe from the flames?
Any people who march without a creed
are doomed, even if they linger on earth for ages.
Wait, Suhaila—no tears, no grief.
Tomorrow a generation will rise to set things right.
A generation that finds dignity in a guarded home,
that sees the dust upon its threshold as gold.
It will not be bought cheaply by ornament,
nor accept a foreigner as its ruler.
Tomorrow, Suhaila, we will fold things as they first unfolded,
returning to the land what was stolen from it.
We are the roots, breaking through the earth by will;
they are the remnants of an autumn— withered, gathered, fit
only for firewood.
Abdul-Haq
13/1/2026
Notes
¹ Yvette Cooper, UK Home Secretary, who designated the
Friends of Palestine as a terrorist organization.
² A reference to Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History.