Ya Leil

I don’t chase the light anymore,

I let it find me when I’m still.

There are truths that only whisper

When the mind learns how to kneel.

I unlearn what fear has taught me,

I dissolve, but I remain.

In the space between the heartbeat

I remember why I came.

Ya laylu, khudhni ilā dhātī

ḥaythu lā khawfa, lā aqni‘ah

Ya laylu, anā sirru najātī

bayna nāri ash-shawqi wal-ḥaqīqah)

I don’t need your promise spoken,

I can read it in your breath.

Every ending hides a doorway,

Every silence isn’t death.

Touch me where the past dissolves,

Where desire turns to sight.

I’m not falling into darkness,

I’m just learning how to see at night.

Ya laylu, khudhni ilā dhātī

ḥaythu lā khawfa, lā aqni‘ah

Ya laylu, anā sirru najātī

bayna nāri ash-shawqi wal-ḥaqīqah)

If I disappear, don’t look for me in form.

I’ll be in the rhythm.

I’ll be in the knowing.

I’ll be… free.