Upon My Shoulders Sits A Bird Poem by Mohammad Younus

Upon my shoulder sits a bird,
Whose name is Divine Ecstasy.
Invisible to the eye,
Yet felt deeply within my heart,
His breath ever-present.

He whispers relentlessly,
Secretly using my soul's own ears.
He is my closest companion,
The source of my existence.

Without a single voice or form,
He designs every shape mysteriously.
My divine eye sees him in the darkest shadows,
Manifesting himself subtly.

I am locked in eternal battle with my nafs,
Clashes raging deep within,
Furious yet without sound.
The hardest part is not the fighting,
But the feeling that respite is elusive,
Unless victory over internal foes is achieved.

This war, without bloody casualties,
Claims its victims within the mind.
Peace accords with my wicked nafs are but dreams.
Each assault by the nafs is an opportunity
To learn new tactics to defeat this hidden enemy.

Thus, I have vowed:
Whatever mental munitions my nafs has in store,
I will defy its deadly schemes, as I am born to live,
And one day, it shall be my nafs, who will be
The first to die.

MyKoul