Afternoon In Arafat Poem by Syed Ahmed Shah

Allah, return to me
That ambrosial afternoon of Arafat…

In the heart of the desert
A roaring conflagration
Of stones of passion
And bodies of clay…

Funeral pyres
A million delusions
Fly upwards in the wind
Like burning tufts of dry grass…

The scented melody of zephyr
A stream of serene silence…


The Sun goes down
And an enchanting afternoon
Gradually disappears like melting ice
From the plains of Arafat…

Like a dying echo
Silence finally descends
On the Valley of Mercy…

It is Sunset in Arafat…

© Syed Ahmed Shah, Bokultol, Guwahati