1
HAJAR
By Ninie G. Syarikin
Each time I remember you
My eyes are drowned in tears
Truly, I know how you feel
For the love of a child.
Hajar, Hajar, Hajar!
Repeatedly, I would call your name
from time to time,
if I need your strength
in being a mother
when I feel weak.
"Why are you abandoning us
in the middle of this nowhere?
Don't you love us?"
So asked Hajar,
staring in confusion at her husband,
Prophet Ibrahim, Alaihissalam.
"It's Allah's command,"
replied he stoically,
looking away from his fragile wife,
hiding his sorrow
at leaving his long-awaited child.
Hajar grasped her breath silently.
Wiping her tears with the edge of cloth,
in which she carried her baby,
she steeled her voice:
"Then, Allah will provide."
Looking at his tiny son
for the last time,
and touching his wife's hair hurriedly,
Prophet Ibrahim uttered:
"Allah be with you."
He turned away immediately,
then took his leave,
without ever looking back.
Hajar felt the pang,
but tried to bear it.
Then,
caressing her baby's head,
she said to him
as if that little lad understood:
"Your father loves you, Ismail.
You be a good boy,
and he'll come back for us."
What else could she do,
except try to pump in hope,
surrender to the will of Allah?
And try to be strong for
her own flesh and blood.
Hajar, Hajar, Hajar!
So brave a woman, you are!
So courageous a mother.
Each time I remember you
Tears are flooding my eyes
Truly, I know how you feel
For the love of a child.
In the absence of the father,
the mother protects
and feeds the child.
How honorable!
How noble!!
Oh, don't I know it?
Don't I know it?
From Safa to Marwah
Under the burning sun
In the heat of the desert
Oh, Hajar!
You ran seven rounds to and fro,
tirelessly.
Searching for water
for your beloved son, Ismail.
How honorable!
How noble!!
Each time
Nun!
You saw a pool of cool water
on the other hill;
and yet, each time,
you were deceived
by the mirage.
No water, no oasis,
but heat and thirst.
Yet, you persevered,
only for the sake of your son,
until finally rewarded
with the lasting zamzam well.
Allahu Akbar,God is Great!
Indeed, He is Ar-Rahman,Ar-Rahim,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful!
So, now!
It is in your memory, ya, Hajar!
I have come from the other side
of the earth, to tread your path.
It is for your love of little Ismail,
that I love mine unconditionally.
That I never waver from
my motherhood duties,
though often I do get weak.
Oh, Hajar!
Here, I am, together with
other mothers in the world;
with common bond of sisterhood,
following your path,
reflecting on your devotion,
striving to produce
strong and pious sons,
like your beloved Ismail,
to continue guarding and
preserving the House of Allah!
Hajar, Hajar, Hajar!
Repeatedly, would I call your name
from time to time,
whenever I need your strength
in being a mother.
Oh, Hajar!
Here, I am, together with
fathers and sons of the world;
with shared love of brotherhood,
treading your path.
Feeling it with our bare feet
step by step.
Wishing and praying from
the depth of our hearts,
to be blessed with
courageous and righteous daughters
like yourself,
to continue bearing
powerful generations on this earth,
all for the sake of Allah.
Hajar, oh, Hajar!
Each time I remember you
Tears well up in my eyes
Truly, I know how you feel
For the love of a child.
NGS
Washington, DC, Monday, December 7, 1998
GLOSSARY:
1. Hajar: Prophet Ibrahim's second wife who bore his first son, Ismail.
Before Hajar became his wife, she had been Ibrahim's first wife's, Sarah,
maid. But since the couple could not have a child, Sarah let her husband
marry Hajar in order to obtain a child. 14 years after Ismail was born,
Sarah gave birth to Ishaq (Isaac) who later also became a prophet.
2. Alaihissalam: On him (the Prophet), peace.
3. Safa and Marwah: Two hills where Hajar ran to and fro in search of water
for her infant, Ismail.
4. Nun: An expression in Indonesian and Malay languages to point
something very far.
5. Zamzam: A well rewarded to Hajar and Ismail after Hajar ran to and fro in
search of water for her baby Ismail, when they were left in the desert. It is
about 150 meter southeast of the Ka’bah.