Lights of Yearning: In Praise of the Most Praised ﷺ

Title: Lights of Yearning: In Praise of the Most Praised ﷺ
Author: Walid Lounès Bouzerar/Foreword by H.E. Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
ISBN: 9780994810700
Publisher: Lounès Press

A forty-piece collection of poetry & prose by Walid Lounès Bouzerar in praise of the Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Foreword: H.E. Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi.
“In our time,” one poet has exclaimed, “it is impossible to write religious poems!” Walid Lounès Bouzerar has proved the error of this comment. He has written a book of remarkable devotional poems in praise of the Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of Prophetsﷺ. He uses rhythmic repetition of the Prophet's sacred namesﷺ to generate a flowing evocation of the Beloved of Allahﷺ stretching over sixty pages.
I marvel again how a poet can find new ways to present traditional material to excite a new generation of readers and reciters, as surely, these poems will not only be read, they will be sung. Brother Walid has produced a collection in which the beauty of his poetic language lives up (if this was possible) to the beauty of its subject, Muhammadﷺ.

"The celebration of our liege-lord Muhammad ﷺ (an Arabic term for "most Praiseworthy and Honored"), the last and final door left open between creation and the Almighty King of kings, is truly the most beneficial of all spiritual endeavors and the soul of worship as enjoined in the Quranic verse: "Verily Allah and His angels do bless the Prophet; O you who believe, do also bless him and greet him with abundant salutations!" It is the healing of hearts and the refreshment of souls, without which hearts and souls cannot survive. We were all created, as human beings, with natural and instinctive love for Muhammad, the best of our species and purest servant of our Creator in all creation ﷺ. All the prophets asked to belong to the community of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ - the last of the worshipful communities - but such honor was granted only to the Prophet Jesus. May this fragrant book of verses filled with the best yearning, meticulously written by a student of the Sufi Path in its most authentic and genuine form, help all seekers of good faith on the way to safety and to the everlasting meeting with the Beloved."

Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad Influential Islamic scholar, religious leader, author, and Arabic translator of classical Islamic Texts Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

“In our time,” one poet has exclaimed, “it is impossible to write religious poems!” Walid Lounès Bouzerar has proved the error of this comment. He has written a book of remarkable devotional poems in praise of the Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of Prophets ﷺ. He uses rhythmic repetition of the Prophet's sacred names ﷺ to generate a flowing evocation of the Beloved of Allah ﷺ stretching over sixty pages.
The book begins with verses highlighting the benefits of Bismillāh ir-Raḥmān ir-Raḥīm and its spiritual power to transform and heal people's lives both here and hereafter. So Lights of Yearning quickly and recurrently places Allah Almighty in high reverence above all. The poems go on to show the excellent qualities of Muhammad that made him the Beloved of Allah ﷺ, that enabled the Prophet ﷺ, through Allah's Grace, to transform cut-throats into Saints. The poems celebrate his celestial love, his connection with the whole universe and with each human soul, his virtuous actions that inspired his followers (men and women) to worship Allah.
At a key moment in the collection, a poem dedicated to the wisdom and truth of Lā Ilāha Illā Allāh appears, balancing the first poem of Bismillāh ir-Raḥmān ir-Raḥīm. In this way, the book can be read like a Ḏikr with Ṣalawāts, strengthened with interjections that assert the predominance and authority of Allah, the One Creator. The poems are written in a variety of styles, from statement-and-response, like a dialogue, to use of rhyme and repetition, with references to names, incidents and characters in the life of Muhammad ﷺ; short-line poems in a more modern, contemporary form to longer-line pieces in a discursive style. This diversity suggests how everything, in every way, is praising the One Most Praised ﷺ. I marvel again how a poet can find new ways to present traditional material to excite a new generation of readers and reciters, as surely, these poems will not only be read, they will be sung. Brother Walid has produced a collection in which the beauty of his poetic language lives up (if this was possible) to the beauty of its subject, Muhammad ﷺ.

Paul Abdul Wadud Sutherland Canadian-British award-winning Sufi poet and author of 'Poems on the Life of the Prophet Muhammadﷺ' Lincolnshire, England