Mothers lose sleep for the child to dream while also abstaining from food so that the infant could be fed— Jaihoon’s poetic tribute to mothers

She served me
Until this day
Her love: the sun
Mine: a ray

She lost sleep
For me to dream
She left food
For me to be fed

Of mind and body
She suffered
Her love grew
As she carried

I kicked her bosom
When an infant
Yet she stroked me
Without being hesitant

She inspired my legs:
Taught me to walk
Every word I pronounced:
Listening to her talk

‘Hasbi Rabbi’
She sang in my ears;
‘Noor Muhammad’
Shone all these years

All my acts of worship
Are but under her feet
Not two, but three worlds
I need to show her respect

If this son were
To enter paradise
The warmth of her feet
Be the cause

Her prayers for me:
Sincere than my own
She bore much pain
To see me grown

The pleasure of my Lord
Is in doing for her good

Even as I laid in her womb
Or be buried in the tomb:

She will continue to pour love
And pray for me forever

If His Mercy is the entrance:
She is the key to my paradise!

2005. Edited 2022