An Apology from Muslims to Humanity – A Poem

Sorry for the architecture in Spain and Al-Hambra palace. (Photo: Ramzy Baroud)

By Amir Darwish

We are sorry for everything that we done to contribute to humanity’s suffering

Sorry for algebra and the letter X

Sorry for all the words we throw at you; amber, candy, chemistry, cotton, giraffe, hazard, jar, jasmine, jumper, lemon, lime, lilac, oranges, sofa, scarlet, spinach, talisman, tangerine, tariff, traffic, tulips, mattress (yes mattress) and the massage you enjoy on it: we are sorry for all of these.

Sorry that we replaced alcohol with coffee for the enlightenment philosophers.

Speaking of hot drinks,
We are sorry for the cappuccino the Turks introduced

Sorry for the black Arabian race horses,
For the clock
For math
For parachutes

Abdul in the US is sorry for what so and so did, he does not know him, but he is sorry anyway

Sorry that we accompanied Columbus in his journey to the States

And sorry for the Arab man with him, who was the first to touch the coast and shout ‘Honolulu’ to name the place after him

Sorry for the architecture in Spain and Al-Hambra palace

We apologise for the churches in Seville with their stars of David at the top that we built with our hands

We say sorry for every number you use in your daily life from 0 to trillion

We are sorry Obama,
We do not know Osama
We have never met him

Sorry for mercury chloride that heals wounds, please give us some as the guilt of initiating all of the above has grown a wound as big as this earth

Sorry for the guitar that used by Moriscos in Spain to ease their pain when kicked out of their homes

Sorry for the hookah as you sip on its lips and gaze into the moon hearing the Arabian nay relaxingly

Sorry for cryptanalysis and the ability to analyze information systems
To think what is at the heart of the heart of the heart and bring it to the world

Sorry for painting Granada white to evade social hierarchy

Sorry for the Arabian Nights’ stories

Every time we see a star, we remember to be sorry for astronomy

We are sorry that Mo Farah claimed Asylum here and went to become the British champion of the world

Sorry for non-representational art
Pattern and surface decoration

We are sorry for all the food we brought over from tuna
To chicken tikka masala
Hummus
Falafel
Apricot
Donnar chicken kebab right up to the Shawrma roll and don’t forget the couscous

If we forgot to apologize for something, never mind, we are sorry for it without even knowing it

Most of all we are sorry for Rumi’s love poems,

And we desperately echo one of them to you
Oh Beloved
Take me
Liberate my soul
Fill me with your love and
Release me from the two worlds
If I set my heart on anything but you
Let fire burn me from inside

Oh Beloved,
Take away what I want
Take away what I do
Take away what I need
Take away everything
That takes me from you
Please forgive us

We are sorry and cannot be sorry enough today.

– Amir Darwish contributed this poem to PalestineChronicle.com.

(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered 501(c)3 organization, thus, all donations are tax deductible.)
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11 Comments

  1. Wonderfully done, Amir Darwish; I thank you for writing it and to the Palestine Chronicle for publishing it.

  2. why should they even think of an apology oh yes that is the irony.
    5th cenbtury Moors (as arabs were called then ) and left
    tto the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe and the world all the great things they enjoy today, agriculture, olives grapes etc,art designTHE GEOMETRY OF DESIGN,NUMBERS,,math,architecture,science, poetry, healing system, history is made by men who want their story to be told their way ro giv e them power
    this means perverting th truth and intense lying for generation after generation.
    IT TAKES HIGH LEVEL MARKETING TO PERVERT THE TRUTH,ITS MiND CONTROL AND MOST PEOPLE ARE SO ILL INFORMED THEY ACCEPT THE PERVERSION, most donot question and seek to know

  3. And sorry for Al-manakh, the weather (almanac) and that is now ruined by all (your?) industrial pollution, and, above all, sorry for the whole alphabet that we started, and is now in all your libraries, and for the city-state concept which a Cana’anite, Cadmus (q-d-m), took to establish Tiba (Thebes) in Greece, and which you now say is the beginning of your democracy. Sorry for all we made and that you took from the “cradle of civilization.”

  4. Did the Muslims really give us all these things? Or, did the Muslims uncover/discover what God had already given?
    Worth a mention is the great Mughal civilisation ushered in by Babur and Akbar, one of the greatest in history.
    We need to remember also that Aurangzeb, an Islamic fundamentalist, precipitated the downfall of that same civilisation.
    Good and bad is in us all, we must help each other bring out the good and rejoice in each others victories.
    Alongside Rumi we must mention Kabir, Kayyam, Nanak and the great souls fom all paths.

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