Author Archives: alishanzaidi

Around the new year, I exchanged Happy New Year messages with all my family and friends, and then as an after thought wrote this poem Tashveesh in Urdu to share with them. Click on the link to read the poem … Continue reading →

Irteqa I wrote this poem to underline my rejection of the superficial Sufism that pervades Islamic thinking, following in the wake of Plato’s metaphysical rejection of the material world. Although the strands of Sufi thinking predate Plato and can be … Continue reading →

This poem highlights the fundamental problems associated with Islamic Sharia thinking. Music, poetry, philosophy, performing arts such as dance and drama, sculpture, painting, free thinking, etc., are all either declared outright ‘haram’, or are ostracized and regarded with distaste and … Continue reading →

This poem is a scathing criticism of the practice of hiding women’s faces and bodies in a head-to-foot burqa which disables them physically, and socially. The culture which promotes this garb reflects the inability of its practitioners to join the … Continue reading →

Hijab This poem of mine invites women to give up wearing the hijab and to join the mainstream of life with the rest of humanity. But it is not really the piece of scarf itself over their heads which is … Continue reading →

Ferdaus This poem is a eulogy to the uniqueness and rare miracle of Planet Earth. It is the only habitable place in the Universe, and as such the only known paradise for life, including all human life. Those who yearn … Continue reading →

Ittela’ This poem of mine emphasizes the nature of this universe which is pulsating with ‘information’ (or ittela’). A grain of salt for example contains a tremendous amount of information. The vastnesses of the Universe are filled with unimaginable information. … Continue reading →

This is a brief poem in lament of the crisis that has gripped this part of the world, with the hope that one day its dislocated people will be able to return to their homes in peace. Suria