Rawda 9

Rawda – 9
“Leaving the Rawda: Not Departing, but Remaining...”
(Returning while leaving a part of yourself there)

How hard it is to part...
If even once your eyes met that serene garden with your heart,
separation is only with the body,
for your soul has already remained there.

You walk away from the Rawda,
but what you leave behind is not merely a greeting;
it is a vow, a surrender, a trace...

“The Heart That Weeps at Departure...”

As your feet turn back,
your heart does not move.

You look once more at the Green Dome...
a little longer... and longer still...
Your eyes are never satisfied,
for neither the eyes nor the heart can be.

For this love is not seen with the eyes,
but with the soul.

As you leave, a prayer rests upon your lips:
“Ya RasulAllah...
How hard it is to be apart from you.
May my Lord, who took me from myself and brought me to you,
grant me to come again—
but this time, having lived by you.”

“In Truth, No One Fully Leaves the Rawda...”

It is only the body that departs from the Rawda,
the soul remains a guest there.

The prayers made in that garden
become echoes in the heart for years to come.

At every dawn, a breeze blowing from the Rawda
whispers softly to you:
“Your heart is here... You are still with us...”

Then you realize,
leaving the Rawda is not truly a departure,
but a trust left behind.

You may leave,
but your tears remain upon the prayer rug.
Your prayers still fall upon the soil,
and your love still takes root in that sacred garden...

“Not Departing, but Remaining...”

When a heart truly loves the Rawda,
there is no separation.

For the one who loves does not leave;
he leaves himself behind.

Thus I am no longer one who departs...

I am a prayer left in the Rawda,
a tear,
a humble member of the ummah...

And I know that with every salawat
I am drawn a step closer to him.

Each morning I awaken with the coolness of the Rawda,
each evening I sleep with longing for it...

Özer Akpınar
Researcher – Historian