Under Your Feet

In the beginning of my life, mother
I relied on you, so you held me close to you
When I was learning how to walk you were on the other end catching me
When I had problems, you were always walking beside to me
Forgive me when I allowed you to cry,
I didn’t realize that when I was in pain,
You held me in your eyes

As you raised me to be me, you grew too
Under your feet is paradise growing as beautifully as you do
Your womb will always be my true home
When you gave me siblings, you knew it was ‘cause I was alone
You carried us for 9 months and when those 9 months were gone
You couldn’t wait to carry us again, this time in your arms
Any other human being would become withdrawn,
–but not you,
You’d wake up in the middle of the nights, up until dawn
Just to feed us when we cried a little bit
Sometimes you’d be up all day long, with no time to sit
And in the end we call you names, or say “I hate you”
Ya ummi forgive me if I’ve ever hurt you!!

Ya Ummi! (O my mother!)
Forgive me when I allowed you to cry,
I didn’t realize that when I was in pain,
You held me in your eyes
And as you raised me to be me, you grew too
Under your feet is paradise growing as beautifully as you do

You had my first words memorized,
My first steps idolized
My first fall- a tragedy
My first cold- an agony
When you punished me, it was as if you were punishing yourself
You always put us first, before you even thought of your own health
And in the end we moan and groan about why you can’t be like the other mothers
Ya ummi forgive me when I complained! for you are incomparable to any other!

Ya Ummi!
Forgive me when I allowed you to cry,
I didn’t realize that when I was in pain,
You held me in your eyes
And as you raised me to be me, you grew too
Under your feet is paradise growing as beautifully as you do

I remember when we went hungry you put food in our mouths first
Ya rabbi forgive me when my mother asked me for a glass of water and I cursed!
When I cried at night, you wiped down my tears
You are my moonlight, the light that escaped me from my fears
When you yelled at me and I slammed the door
Why did you apologize to me when you knew it was my fault?
Damn this arrogance that I had within me! Ya ummi please forgive me!

Ya Ummi!
Forgive me when I allowed you to cry,
I didn’t realize that when I was in pain,
You held me in your eyes
And as you raised me to be me, you grew too
Under your feet is paradise growing as beautifully as you do

And today as you sit coughing in bed
I can’t bear to see you like this,
Can’t even kiss your burning head
All the regret and pain of me hurting you is rushing to my heart
How can I ever live without you when you were there from the start?
You knew me more than I knew myself
And yet I always used to deny that you knew how I felt
I hold your hands tightly before your last moments of departure
Seeing you ill, weak, and exhausted is torture
And still if I gave up the whole world for you
If I ripped apart the big sky blue
Along with the stars, planets and the moon
If I asked Allah to grant you health soon
If I asked Allah to regain your soul for you
Nothing can add up to what a child does compared to what his mother will do.

Ya Ummi!
Forgive me when I allowed you to cry,
I didn’t realize that when I was in pain,
You held me in your eyes
And as you raised me to be me, you grew too
Under your feet is paradise growing as beautifully as you do

Ya Ibnee! (O my son!)
When you were in pain, the bleeds were in me
I held you inside of my heart
For if you were in my eyes, the tears would push you out
As you grew, each stage of your face was recollected at mind
And all the wrong doings you’ve done have been left behind
You were never held in my eyes as you thought
You ARE my eyes and the rose of my heart
Forgive me my son if I have ever wronged you
I want you to know that I will always love you

Ya Ummi!
Inna lillahi, wa inna illahi raji’oon
May Allah protect over you, grant mercy upon you ameen
I might have lived my whole life thinking I knew me
But you’re the only human who saw all that I couldn’t see

—-


And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the command), “Show gratitude to Me and to thy parents: to Me is (thy final) Goal. [31:14]
We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, “O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favour which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam.” [46:15]


But (there is one) who says to his parents, “Fie on you! Do ye hold out the promise to me that I shall be raised up, even though generations have passed before me (without rising again)?” And they two seek Allah’s aid, (and rebuke the son): “Woe to thee! Have faith! for the promise of Allah is true.” But he says, “This is nothing but tales of the ancients!” [46:17]

Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. [17:23]

And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: “My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.” [17:24]

It was narrated by Abu Hurairah (Radiallah ‘anhu) that a man came to the Prophet (sallahu ‘alayhi wa salaam) and asked him, ‘Who is to be close to my friendship?’ The Prophet (pbuh) answered: Your mother, your mother, your mother, then your father, then the one closest to your kinship, and the one after.

Abu Huraira (radiallah ‘anhu) reported Prophet Muhammad (sallahu ‘alayhi wa salaam) as saying: Let him be humbled into dust; let him be humbled into dust. It was said: God’s Messenger, who is he? He said: He who sees either of his parents during their old age or he sees both of them, but he does not enter Paradise (because he has been undutiful to them). (Muslim)

While we were with Prophet Muhammad of God (salahu ‘alayhi wa salaam). A man of Banu Salmah came to Him and said: Apostle of God is there any kindness left that I can do to my parents after their death? He replied: Yes, you can invoke blessings on them, forgiveness for them, carry out their final instructions after their death, join ties of relationship which are dependent on them, and honour their friends. (Abu Dawood)

A man came to the Prophet (sallahu ‘alayhi wa salaam) and asked him for permission to join a military expedition. The Prophet (sallahu ‘alayhi wa salaam) asked him if he had a mother, and when he replied that he had, he said, “Stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet.” (Ahmad)