Poem: Wedding Night

Wedding Night of a Muslim Woman

My secret locked, a tale untold,
The only key, within your hand,
Too sacred for them to behold,
Too pure for them to understand.

Tonight I tell that tale to you,
An open book for you to read,
Your book, I yearn to read it too,
And share each breath, your every need.

Gone the lonesome years, weeks, days,
For now our hearts have taken flight,
You look at me with longing gaze,
And I, at you with shy delight.

Love me; love all that I am,
Cherish me as precious treasure,
Teach me with gentle guiding hand
Endlessly seeking His pleasure.

Poem By Fatima Barkatulla

This poem is from Sisters Magazine

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What did your wedding night mean to you? I wrote this a few days ago and tried to capture the feelings one has after ones wedding: that evening when for the first time I prayed with my husband, and spent my first hours with him. My wedding day and the early days or weeks after marriage were the dearest days of my life to me. Alhamdulillah since then Allah has given us even more depth to our relationship and has given us wonderful days too, but those early weeks, they are unique. And for a girl from a religious family, who had worn her hijab from the age of 9, it was a totally new experience. Alhamdulillah for the blessings of this life which give us a glimpse as to how wonderful the blessings of the next life might be...

Explanation of the poem: (just to prevent any misunderstandings!)

Well, actually it is about the beauty of Muslim Marriage in general, not just my own personal experience. And it is about how the Wedding Night is the first time that a Muslim couple get to really understand each other's personalities.

"A secret locked" is supposed to mean, a Muslim woman's beauty, which she has kept under her physical hijab, "A tale untold" is supposed to mean her personality which she has kept reserved with her inner hijab which is her sense of modesty.

"The only key within your hand": means that the only person who has access to see her and to get to know her is her husband. The next two lines mean that the people around her, men and women who don't understand hijab, can't see the purity in it and are not allowed to see the precious nature of the Muslim women beneath.

"Tonight I tell that tale to you" is meant to mean: that tonight the Muslim woman is able to freely express her personality and tell her life-story to someone at last who really is interested and wants to hear.

The "open book" meaning the story of her life, her biography so far. And the next lines: That she too longs to understand her new husband and where he has been, what he has done and what experiences have made him who he is.

"For now our hearts have taken flight" means that it is on the Wedding Night that Allah puts true love between your hearts, as you get to spend more time with each other.

"You look at me with longing gaze, And I at you with shy delight", well, there I tried to capture the fact that now the couple can freely look at each other.

The last four verses contain the message that a Muslim woman has for her husband about their marriage to come: to love her and all the good in her, to cherish her and value her, to correct her gently if she needs correcting, to teach her with wisdom, bearing in mind that their life is all about seeking Allah's pleasure.

My intention for writing it was

1. A sheer sense of creativity,

2. To show to those people who think that the way a Muslim woman is outside her home: (reserved and covered), is backward, extreme, oppressive - that actually, because she reserves herself and covers herself, her Wedding Night is that much more beautiful for her.

3.To give people an insight into how beautiful marriage is for those who have kept themselves chaste, as opposed to those who have casual relationships and don't reserve themselves with the opposite sex and freely mix with them.

Basically good PR for Muslim marriage!