KNOT Magazine
Fall Issue 2022
Tamam Kahn
"Fatima Sequence"
1. Scent
Prophet Muhammad’s wives asked him, “Why do you like Fatima so much?”
He replied: “…Fatima smells like the scent of paradise. The smell of the prophets
is quince, of the houri is myrtle, and of the angels is rose. Fatima has the smell of
quince, myrtle, and rose.”1
Three kinds of beautiful,
the best of heaven; blurred
devotion’s details meet
Muhammad’s love of
Women, prayer and
the perfumes-of-existence…2
and the whole world’s
neighborhood smells sweet.
Inhaling Quince —
urgent as sunrise,
honeyed tonic, golden;
seeded and re-seeded
by love-struck words
in each Revelation.
Myrtle: will grow
only if a woman plants it.
Let’s say, Adam
carried the flowers
from paradise to soothe
the grief of expulsion.
Let’s say, Eve
dug in the roots,
propagated, cultivated.
Rose: linked to the transparency
of angels, their wings. Washing
with rosewater, we may
become reflective, angelic.
Now introduce the smell
of goats and sweat,
of camel-dung, piss and dust:
seventh century stink.
Cover it with the kiss
of fragrance that is Fatima;
that smell of
Quince, Myrtle, and Rose—
all at once.
houri—female heavenly being known for large eyes, like a young gazelle. 1 Ansari, Encyclopedia of Fatima Al-Zahra, vol. 20, p. 527. 2 Schimmel, And Muhammad is His Messenger, “God has made dear to me from your world women and fragrance, and the joy of my eyes is in prayer.” p. 51.myrtle—Skinner, Myths and legends … p. 51. “To the Persians, Jews and Arabs, myrtle was a symbol of paradise. In biblical stories, Adam chose to take the myrtle plant when he was expelled from the Garden of Eden.” P. 51.
2. While She Sleeps
It was a hot day. Umm Ayman looked in the window and saw
Fatima asleep, with the millstone spinning, the cradle holding Husayn rocking itself, and a hand raised in praise. She went to the Prophet and told him what she saw. “Who was grinding, rocking, praising?” She asked. He laughed and told her the names of three angels.1
One grinds. One praises God. One rocks Husayn.
Uplifted gesture in the air— what’s this?
Two angels brought by Gabriel— one mills
the grain for Fatima, one gestures praise.
You see it and you don’t. Not flesh and blood,
nor anything like that. Transparent hands.
Who rocks Husayn? What fingertips can nudge
The cradle? In the room his mother sleeps,
exhausted, fasting, ripe for angel aid.
Her grindstone turns, as if it were a top
and bread could make itself. Who rocks Husayn?
A touch so light, the child smiles in his sleep.
The outside world is still, the stems of thoughts
lay tucked inside, while Gabriel bends down
to stroke his cheek, his heart-shaped face. Don’t ask
Who rocks Husayn? That little cup of love.
Umm Ayman is a long-time family servant or “client.” She was present at the birth of Muhammad. Husayn is Fatima’s youngest son.Ansārī, Encyclopedia of Fatima Zahra, Vol 17, pp. 119, 120. Al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, book 9, vol. 92, #446. Muslim, The English Translations of Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, #1701.
3. Gift of Prayer
Daughter Fatima and her husband Ali endured great poverty. They asked Muhammad for assistance after modest prosperity was beginning to transform the community. The Prophet said: Shall I tell you what is better than what you ask? Some words of praise Angel Gabriel taught me. Say them each thirty-three times. 1
Shyly, she asks her father for some aid.
Her hands are sore from pulling rope –
the blisters she will soak
and bind, then grind the grain. She wants a maid.
But what if history reads this wrong? Instead
she asks him for a wisdom taste
that Names-of-God may grace
ten-thousand actions and the blessings spread.
Forget the maid. His words can give a hand.
Each Sacred Name contains a light.
He’s bringing them that night:
Subhan Allah, al-hamdu’lillah, and
Allahu akbar – syllables that ring,
sing open every lock, that key
to realms that angels see
and hear. The words, the tongue, the shimmering.
Subhan Allah, al-hamdu’lillah, Allahu akbar are litanies of praise still used in the Islamic world. Quote from: Ibn Sa‘d, The Women of Medina, pp. 17-19. Al-Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. IV, book 53, #344, vol. VIII, book 75, #330.
5. Within the Cloak
For many followers of Islam, “the cloak” is a well-known story, marking Fatima and her family as chosen ones, closest to the Prophet. Muhammad sits and invites his family to join him, then praises them. “These are the people of my house, most worthy and deserving.” 1
He drew his family close, under the woolen cloak.
His men saw daughter, husband, children —
how the little boys sat on his knees. A family
covered with his cloth. His men imagined —
we imagine now — the dream inside that wrap
the wool from Yemen with the scent of him,
enclosing those he loved, his relatives: Ali, the boys
and Fatima, his daughter, with a daughter in her womb.2
Did this scene mean he loved his family — loved his kin
more than he did his umma, any of his men,
more than the ones who yearned toward him?
Only one cloak, how could it cover them?
But they thought small. Muhammad’s cloak expands to cover all.
umma – Islamic community, implies closeness. Umm is Arabic for mother. 1 Suyuti, Musnad Fatimah, #163, 164. 2 Although his granddaughters are not mentioned here or in any account of this story, included is the youngest, Umm Kulthum, not yet born. It is possible Fatima was pregnant with her 4th child, Umm Kulthum, aka: Zaynab as-Surghra. “She was born when her grandfather was alive.” (No exact dates are given.) Ansari, Encyclopedia of Fatima al-Zahra vol. V, p. 389.
4. Request: a pantoum
Visitors and members of the community in Medina would wait until it was Muhammad’s wife, Aisha’s day to be with the Prophet, then they would visit him in her room and make offerings. This became a point of irritation to the other wives. Then they (the wives) called Fatima, and sent her to the Messenger of Allah to say: “Your wives ask you for fairness regarding (Aisha) the daughter of Abu Bakr.” 1
The wives make a request:
Since gifts are offered on her day,
Find out: Aisha ranks as best?
Seems fairness was tossed away.
Since gifts are offered on her day,
good will is wearing thin.
Seems FAIRNESS was tossed away,
one shouts, to fill me in.
Good will is wearing thin,
I, Fatima, am at her door,
she nods to let me in.
I’m their ambassador.
I, Fatima, am at her door,
ask father: Is it fair?
I’m their ambassador!
He smiles, she gives a stare.
Ask father: Is it fair?
Do you love what I love?
he smiles. She gives a stare.
Oh, yes! They’re hand in glove.
Do you love what I love?
He tells me: love this woman
Oh, yes! They’re hand in glove.
I bite my tongue. Reply? I’ve none.
He tells me: love this woman
with father— I’m aligned.
I bite my tongue. Reply? I’ve none.
Seems neutral ground is hard to find.
With father— I’m aligned.
Found out: Aisha ranks as best.
Seems neutral ground is hard to find
when wives make a request.
1 Bukhari, Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. III, book 47, #755. Ibn Sa’d, The Women of Medina, vol. VIII. p. 123-126.
Encyclopedia of Canonical Hadith, G.H.A. Juynboll, p. 197, “Don’t you love who I love?”
Tamam Kahn is author of Untold: A History of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad,
Monkfish Press, 2010, winner of an International Book Award, 2011. This is a prose
biography with 70 poems, called a “prosimetrum,” Tamam was invited by the Royal
Ministry of Morocco to read her poetry, and attended their symposium in Marrakesh
in 2009. She has just completed a manuscript of poems about Fatima, daughter of
Prophet Muhammad. She recently read from this at Poet’s House in NYC for The
Wide Shore, A Journal of Global Women’s Poetry. Tamam has been awarded writing
residencies at Ragdale Foundation and Jentel Artist Residency.