O Mawlaana! Sheikh Ibrahim                

My heart is bleeding

For your love

My heart is bleeding,

My Tears flowing

Down my cheeks,

Making me swim in an oasis

Of sadness, 

My heart is bleeding!

Around my chest,

A Hot lake took hold

Of my jugular vein

 And left my gaze navigating

In a furnace-like labyrinth                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

  For you, O! Sheikh Ibrahim,

 Wisdom reincarnated

You taught us that veils were

Tantamount to punishment,

You lifted them for us and in unison

We chanted: BEHOLD and Lo!

Majestic is His Name and

Wide His Kingdom!

 I will nolens volens torch paradise`s delights,       

And the waves of your Fayda will cool down

The blazing fire for your flock to camp in

You taught us never to worship Allah

 For the fear of the latter

Nor for the craving of the former

O! Pole of sainthood,

You surpassed the ABDAAL

 In your tender childhood

O! Ankha, Wisdom`s mighty bird

Shake your thousand and one feathers

To lead the procession,

For you know no recession in your ascension,

WHILE STILL IN THE CRADLE

 You were enthroned by the MAFAATIHUL

KOUNOUZ,

 All saints pledged allegiance to you,

You inherited Tijani`s staff

Jailaanis authority, Shazuli` blessedness,

O! Abou Ishaaq, you are all in one!

Halladj` Fana is but a stammering of a novice

For you were never overtaken by a mystical fit

O master of the sober Sufis

Who drank up the seas

And yet ask for more,

Lucky you! Your spiritual station is beyond coveting,

The godly Skiredj kissed your palm

And said: if Tijani were a priceless ring

You are, O! Lucky one, its shining gem

You delivered to us the secrets

Of the Salaatul faatih

Henceforth, neither the mountains,

Nor the valleys could curb our pace,

Known to us were the alleys

Leading to the sealed Enclave of the Hadra!

 O! Gate of the city of knowledge,

You annihilated our servitude

O Barham!

Our heart has become the seat

of love`s symptoms

We dread life`s fast,

Yea!  We pray, yea! We fast;

But we only find our eyes` coolness

When contemplating your face.

You are the sealed nectar`s cup bearer

 From which a drop is sufficient to gain an eternal shiver,

Yaa Saakhil khawmi!

Do not leave us empty handed,

The accursed one is ever active,

Temptations are ever branded

As fascinating decoys to divert our course,

We, sons of the hereafter,    

 Aim to write a golden chapter

In the Fayda`s Roadmap!

 But I long for my beloved ones

 Said Ahmad the first

As for the second, he whispered

Your name to his companions,

Peace to the unknown one said He

Seen on earth, envied upon in the hereafter

But only known to his creator!

I long for your Face, O beloved!

 You emptied my lower self

Of its carnal shelf

Because you are the lords` straight channel

Because you are the Prophet`s true kernel

Because you are the Holy Soul!

Because you are the Soul as a whole

Then heal my heart for you are my fever

Seal my heart and all my ties do sever 

 For after being spellbound by your beauty

I suffered aphasia, all my past loves buried in

Remembrance`s forgotten cemetery,

I ached for not meeting you

As an adult when I heard mum and

Dad narrate the glory of your high deeds,

You brought hope to the four corners of the world,

The Divine gnosis, the philosophers stone of old,

 Is a common coin to black, yellow and white because of you;

Kotokolis and Dogumba look after each other

They meet up five times a day;

Hausas are at peace with their inner selves

And with the Yorubas;

 They race to measure who loves the Lord

The most,

Who fears the Lord the most

Who knows the Book the best!

Now that I know how timeless you are

I reckon that you are the sun which never sets,

Now that I know how you quenched mankind`s thirst

I will sing your merits till my dying day.

                   Sheikh Ahmad Boukar Niang