Ramadan 1440/2019: Black Muslims Reflect on the Qur’an – Juz’ 7

By Rasheeda Plenty

 

The Invitation

– Inspired by the seventh juz’ of the Qur’an that contains the last part of Surah al-Ma’idah (from verse 82) and the first part of Surah al-An’am (to verse 110).

 

Whether by a table spread, a house

meant to raise mankind, whether the house is distant,

whether the feast’s host unseen, whether alone or

in a throng, whether the good are few,

when God opens your eyes, you must see.

 

The grain and fruit pit do not split themselves;

the soul does not lower itself back into its body

after sleep. The dawn, when it comes, is called.

The stars, rain, shoot of every plant, your breath

its every in-between, the living from the dead, all

called. We are not selves by any means but God.

 

The invitation comes each day, so eat

when God feeds you. Believe and task

your souls with Good. Take what God has sent

–whether fish or bread or manna, a message

in a man; it is yours.

 

Witness, revere Him with your life, be a sign.

Praise Him who makes darkness and light, who

feeds and is not fed, who is God in heaven and

on the earth.

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Rasheeda Plenty holds an MFA in Poetry from University of Michigan Ann Arbor and graduated in the first class from Zaytuna College. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and child.