Poem for a Prime Minister
(Dedicated to My Mentor Dr Akbar Ahmed)
By Ejaz Rahim
Islamabad, Pakistan
One marvels at Jesus Christ’s
Timeless achievements
Even though he possessed
no worldly power
That was bequeathed instead
To Caesars of his time
But while today their mention
Leaves us unmoved
Jesus still lives on
In every living heart
like stalks of golden grain
Surviving bouts of rain
I sometimes wonder
How Jesus Christ would figure
were he a woman
Instead of being a man
And the answer came
On Friday the fifteenth
Of March, 2019
From Christchurch where
Worshippers were liquidated
With lethal gunfire
In a pair of mosques
Perhaps he would resemble
JacindaArdern
Like the sun resembles a lantern
Prime Minister of her country
The home of kiwis but also
Christ’s own habitation
Whose one dream
And only passion
Was for human dignity
To shine forever
Prime Minister, your presence,
Overtures and demeanor
Were like balms
Healing our sores
We mourners began to sway
Like an array of palms
In springtime breezes
Reaching our shores
When your parliament
Commenced its memorial session
With Koranic verses
Promising divine blessings
To those torn by grief
Who turn to God
With unwavering patience
And when Bilal’s prayer-call
Was lofted toward high heaven
In your realm
I simply bowed my head
Thousands of miles away
And began my day
Uttering the Pater Noster
To myself:
Our Father in Heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name
Thy Kingdom come
On earth as in heaven
Give us this day
Our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those
Who trespass against us
Lead us not into temptation
And deliver us from wrong
You, enlightened leader
Of a lighthouse land
Have melted
Not just hearts
Frozen with pain
But also blown away
Ancient ice mountains
With a warm breath
You have lit
Interfaith’s lamp
With unfaltering pluck
And proved to the hilt
That peace can be built
On flowing springs of love
And compassion’s water wells
Your one trump card
Of transparent tenderness
Has triumphed over
Hatred’s many trumpets.
(Ejaz Rahim is one of the most prominent public intellectuals and poets of Pakistan. He has served in such prominent posts as Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and Cabinet Secretary to the Government of Pakistan)
Back to Pakistanlink Homepage
