An Apology from Muslims to Humanity – A Poem

Feb 9 2015 / 9:38 pm

By Amir Darwish
We are sorry for everything that we done to contribute to humanity’s suffering
Sorry for algebra and the letter X
Sorry for all the words we throw at you; amber, candy, chemistry, cotton, giraffe, hazard, jar, jasmine, jumper, lemon, lime, lilac, oranges, sofa, scarlet, spinach, talisman, tangerine, tariff, traffic, tulips, mattress (yes mattress) and the massage you enjoy on it: we are sorry for all of these.
Sorry that we replaced alcohol with coffee for the enlightenment philosophers.
Speaking of hot drinks,
We are sorry for the cappuccino the Turks introduced
Sorry for the black Arabian race horses,
For the clock
For math
For parachutes
Abdul in the US is sorry for what so and so did, he does not know him, but he is sorry anyway
Sorry that we accompanied Columbus in his journey to the States
And sorry for the Arab man with him, who was the first to touch the coast and shout ‘Honolulu’ to name the place after him
Sorry for the architecture in Spain and Al-Hambra palace
We apologise for the churches in Seville with their stars of David at the top that we built with our hands
We say sorry for every number you use in your daily life from 0 to trillion
We are sorry Obama,
We do not know Osama
We have never met him
Sorry for mercury chloride that heals wounds, please give us some as the guilt of initiating all of the above has grown a wound as big as this earth
Sorry for the guitar that used by Moriscos in Spain to ease their pain when kicked out of their homes
Sorry for the hookah as you sip on its lips and gaze into the moon hearing the Arabian nay relaxingly
Sorry for cryptanalysis and the ability to analyze information systems
To think what is at the heart of the heart of the heart and bring it to the world
Sorry for painting Granada white to evade social hierarchy
Sorry for the Arabian Nights’ stories
Every time we see a star, we remember to be sorry for astronomy
We are sorry that Mo Farah claimed Asylum here and went to become the British champion of the world
Sorry for non-representational art
Pattern and surface decoration
We are sorry for all the food we brought over from tuna
To chicken tikka masala
Hummus
Falafel
Apricot
Donnar chicken kebab right up to the Shawrma roll and don’t forget the couscous
If we forgot to apologize for something, never mind, we are sorry for it without even knowing it
Most of all we are sorry for Rumi’s love poems,
And we desperately echo one of them to you
Oh Beloved
Take me
Liberate my soul
Fill me with your love and
Release me from the two worlds
If I set my heart on anything but you
Let fire burn me from inside
Oh Beloved,
Take away what I want
Take away what I do
Take away what I need
Take away everything
That takes me from you
Please forgive us
We are sorry and cannot be sorry enough today.
- Amir Darwish contributed this poem to PalestineChronicle.com.