Away So Away

Away So Away

by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

Gone are the days

When we hand in hand,

Went for walks;

And sat on the river bank.

At the time of twilight,

We saw the flocks of birds,

Flying to their nests,

And we dreamt of our little home.

I don't know

Where she has suddenly gone.

There is nobody at the river now,

Those walks are no more,

That life has ended.

Those times are gone now.

I cannot find her;

She has gone away, so away. 

(3) THE PAIN OF LOVE

Author: Rizwan Ahmed Memon

It was August 16, 2014. I woke up early in the morning and decided to go to my father’s grave to pray for him. As I prayed, I saw a very old man, walking with a stick. He was going to the grave of his wife Sophiya, who had died just two days ago. As he approached the grave, he burst into tears and cried out, “Why did you leave me? Take me with you.” His love for his wife was so obvious from his pain.

I had seen them together since my childhood. They often went to the city on a donkey cart. Their house was by the graveyard, and Sophiya often brought her buffaloes to graze. My mother told me that my father used to call Sophiya his sister. Her village was near our town. My father used to sell clothes in different villages; that is how he met Sophiya. She was a poor, but brave woman. She wasn’t born into a Muslim family. Sophiya had fallen in love with a Muslim man named Raheem Bukhsh.

Sophiya did everything for her love. She left her home, parents, and her religion. She became Muslim and married Raheem. After becoming Muslim, her name was changed. She was named Islaam. They were very poor, but their happiness was not dependent on wealth. Their love was pure and without reserve. Raheem didn’t work much. It was Islaam who managed to support the house by selling milk. They had five children: three sons and two daughters.

I still remember how she often complained about her daughters-in-law and said they didn’t treat her well. One of her sons died in a road accident. Her son’s sudden death upset her and Raheem so much. After many years, they recovered from the pain of the death of their young son. Islaam and her husband decided to sell their buffaloes and make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

After they had arrived back to Pakistan, Islaam came to our house and told us about the pilgrimage. Islaam and her husband had become very old, and they could not make ends meet. Islaam took food from other people to satiate the hunger in their stomachs.

For years, they survived this way. On Eids, Islaam used to come and say, “Happy Eid.” In 2014, on Eid-u-Fiter, the Eid which comes after Ramadan, she came to see us. I met her. I didn’t know it was her last Eid. That day, she became seriously ill. She was taken to the hospital. She was in the hospital for three days, but her health didn’t improve. The doctors said she would not survive. Her husband took her home in the hope that she would survive, no matter what the doctors said, but she could not survive any more.

The love and life of Islaam have always inspired me. She sacrificed everything for her husband and always remained by his side through thick and thin. Old Raheem is also ill, and suffering from the pain of separation from his beloved wife. I often find Raheem weeping on his wife’s grave. Everything that we have in this world will not be with us forever. We, too, will leave this world. Sometimes the pain of love makes life, and sometimes it takes one’s life. In life having someone who loves us truly is a gift from God. A man is mortal. One day, everybody has to leave this world. The only way we can be in someone’s heart is through love. Islaam and Raheem Bukhsh’s life story will always be in my mind and heart.

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Respond to the story:

Who burst into tears on Islaam’s grave and what did they say?

How had Islaam married Rahim Bukhsh?

Why was their love so strong?

Have you ever seen any couple whose love story is like Islaam’s?

What is the central message of this story?

How does this story effect your life?

Through the Window of My Room

Through the Window of My Room

by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

Through the window of my room

I saw the world.

I knew the pain of homelessness,

And saw the hard work of the shoemaker on the footpath.

The window of my room was like the TV,

Through which I peered into the world.

I saw the punctuality of the traffic police,

And the regularity of schoolchildren.

Years passed; things had changed.

The schoolchildren had become tall,

And that green tree, which once looked a plant,

Grew and looked so huge and beautiful.

Oh, that beggar -- he always came

In the evening and in the morning.

I had seen innocence in his eyes;

Through the window of my room.

And that pot seller

On his wheel barrow had four children.

He has always remained simple,

Honest, and good to others.

My window showed me how the world runs.

The window and I have also turned old.

The glass in the window and the glasses on my eyes

Are not so clear now.

The rains, the winds have affected them.

The time has changed us all.

The world has changed,

The window has changed -- my eyes have changed.

With the Passage of Time

With the Passage of Time

by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

Things change,

Men change,

With the passage of time.

Sometimes become good, sometimes bad.

Some reach adulthood form childhood,

Some reach old age from adulthood.

Changes come in every thing

With the passage of time.

Some friends leave,

And some new come.

Some trees are cut,

Some seeds are sowed.

Some men die,

Some are born.

Some goals are achieved,

Some goals are made.

Some wounds are healed,

Some are caused.

At some places sun sets,

And at some places it rises.

Some crops are harvested,

And some fields are plowed.

This game, this business goes on

With the passage of time.

Some students pass out,

Some come for admissions.

We have come,

And we will be gone.

This way the system goes on

With the passage of time.

Days have come and gone,

Nights have come and gone.

Experiencing, Living, and learning

Experiencing, Living, and learning

by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

High spirit

Makes you do anything.

Pure thoughts

Give you fine feelings.

High hopes

Breathe soul in your body.

Clear goals

Provide you a compass.

Good books

Bring you guidance 

Good teachers

Educate you.

Good health

Is your true wealth.

Good friends

Bring more life in your life.

Old mistakes

Make you cautious in present.

Past regrets

Waste your time.

Just move a head

Experiencing,

Living,

And learning.

Enough

Enough

by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

A smile

Can bring

Happiness.

A word

Can heal

Wounds.

A touch

Can give

Life.

A flame
Can remove

Darkness.

A prayer

Can change

Fate.

One thing

With love

Is enough.

Why Do You --

Why Do You --

by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

Why do you

Keep tantalizing me?

This rudeness, this coldness

Causes me great pain.

And it breaks my heart.

Why do you

Not understand

The love I have for you?

The oceans can dry,

The mountains can fall down,

But my love can never decrease for you.

So, please do not keep me apart.

Why do you not believe

When they tell you

That you have found the love

Which everyone is searching for.

An endless love, true in all ways,

Pure and perfect.

Wasn't I the one

Who you had waited for?