The poem is originally published at Muslim Words. O learners of knowledge! O preservers of knowledge! In the chests of dark oceans, Pearls of crystal I have seen, When a believer strives for ‘ilm Doors of knowledge bang open, When hunger uproots, The nafs’s shackled, Chains locked, Humility bellows, Piety blooms, And the sigh of ‘Love thy ummah’ All – but uproars, O learners of knowledge! O preservers of knowledge! Only then, ‘Ilm serves eternity for the worthy – Ones striving for it are rich whilst destitution… – By Namra Khurshid