Fatima was the most important of Prophet Muhammad’s children. Here are poems from the forthcoming book: Fatima’s Touch, Poems and Stories of the Prophet’s Daughter, White Cloud Press, Ashland, OR.2017 by Tamam Kahn. The introduction is in Untold:

If her elder sisters have been eclipsed by history, the youngest, Fatima, lived in the spotlight. The hadith offers collected stories of her childhood, marriage, family, and alliances. History has saved both her words and those of her father speaking to her. After Khadija’s death, Muhammad leaned on her for support; later she was given the curious and weighty title, “Umm Abi-ha,” which translates as “the mother of her father.” She became a symbol of protection in the culture of Islam. The open hand, a defining symbol of protection for Muslim women, is called “The Hand of Fatima.”

Five poems on Fatima in the spring 2016 issue of “Knot Magazine”

http://www.knotlitmagazine.com/#!tamam-kahn-/c1rsb

Silver Hand

The Hand of Fatima

We forget the face

but wear the silver hand,

forget the look

of a lighthouse,

but recall the beam;

witness being lifted

on clear digits of light.

We concede

her rescuing face.

Like her father’s,

we say.But we cannot

see either one.

Ya falak!

We swim as stars

in orbit round his

daughter, a lamp

of whispered mercy.

When she extends

her hand, we are

met in unforgettable

touch.

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Wild Honey of adab

Was there ever a better gesture for us than this? The way

Muhammad gets up when Fatima enters the room

and takes her hand to kiss it, then indicates his seat to her.

At her house, she reciprocates. Each garland of respect

reveals the wild honey of adab;

inflorescent meadows spreading out, scented

with grace. Since we know the sting of a shrug,

how kindness can pivot and leave the room without a glance—

become the Bee Keeper. Stretch toward the buzz of others,

watch over each hive as the honey bees waggle.

Move slow, bee veil lowered. Honor the queen,

and hand a sweet jar to everyone you meet.

Notes:

Adab: (Arabic) important principle of refined behavior politeness, and doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason

Waggle dance is a term used in beekeeping and ethnology for a particular figure- eight movement of the honey bee, communicating the direction of food.

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GLORY: Source: Fatima, Daughter of Muhammad, Christopher Paul Clohessy. Gorgias Press, 2009, pp. 168-173. Corrections: shear is sheer; stars marking galaxies is star-marked galaxies.

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Shine

[one sentence sonnet, after Robert Frost “The silken Tent”]

The shining happened every day, in tent

and hut, in all the rooms, and while the breeze

would linger, Zahra’s glow, all white, relent-

lessly lit each scene with light that squeezed

out dark— she sparked delight, a living pole

star— lighthouse beaming, pointing toward

each heart as if to soothe and bleach the soul

of doubt as noon-prayer yellow sang a chord,

a citrine gem; that sound showed women bound

in Zahra’s golden ties of love and thought,

a unity of sound went round and round

and reddened as the sun passed through the taut

line of the earth— red stayed in land and air;

while Zahra’s face shone conscious and aware.

This description of Prophet Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima Zahra, and her “glowing,” comes from historical material known as “hadith.” Source: Fatima, Daughter of Muhammad, Christopher Paul Clohessy. Gorgias Press, 2009, p. 94. (Ibn Babuya – Shia hadith) <> <> “Squeezed” replaces “ease” as an end-word in Frost’s sonnet.