in each heart

Painting by Chidinma Nnoli, “A Poetry of Discarded Feelings / Things (III)”

“When God said, ‘My hands are yours,’ I saw that I could heal any creature in this world;
I saw that the divine beauty in each heart
is the root of all time
and space.

I was once a sleeping ocean
and in a dream became
jealous of a pond.

A penny can be eyed in the street
and a war can break out
over it amongst
the poor.

Until we know that God lives in us
and we can see Him
there,

a great poverty
we suffer.”
- Rabia of Basra (c. 717-801)