by Ankur Barua
O my Lord –
In the autumn of my life I pine for the verdant gardens of Agra
Nourished by these delightful waters of your abundant Yamuna
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
In these tumultuous times it is your still voice I seek to hear
You will not burden my contrite soul beyond what it can bear1
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
Numerous waves have crashed on this city from the Lodis2 to the Mutiny3
You sit on your resplendent throne that endures from eternity to eternity4
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
From the broken ramparts of this old fort5 I lament the land’s plight
In its many hidden niches I discern glimmers of your divine light6
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
Breathe your word into my silence and pour your melody into my singing
In this great hardship it is to my one protector that I direct all my longing7
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
Beyond these ephemeral kingdoms you remain the Lord of the city of victory8
Protect me from the torment of the great fire at the end of my earthly journey
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
The whole world has responded to your great question: “Am I not your Lord?”9
Through the subterranean spaces of my soul it continues to strike a clear chord
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
You are the king of the world10 at whose durbar I stand today patiently
Begging for your benevolence “allahu akbar” I declare again humbly
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
From the masjid11 I measure the monsoon meandering through the mofussil
Across the hinterlands of Hindustan to my heavy heart your peace you instil
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
These flowers bloom and decay beside the mausoleum in marble with minarets12
You are the light upon light that shimmers through the world’s passing vignettes13
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
From my ivory tower I have uttered many academic pomposities
In your great mercy set them ablaze today in a bonfire of vanities!
O Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.
1. Qur’ān 2:286.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lodi_dynasty
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857
4. Qur’ān 7:54.
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agra_Fort
6. Qur’ān 24:35.
7. Qu’rān 94:8.
8. An allusion to Fatehpur Sikri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatehpur_Sikri
9. Qur’ān 7:172.
10. An allusion to the meaning of the name “Shah Jahan”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan.
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Mosque,_Agra
12. More prosaically: the Taj Mahal.
13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jali#/media/File:Akbar_tomb_2.jpg
Cover image: Prashant Gautam https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-angle-shot-of-taj-mahal-through-tree-branches-5465323/
Ankur Barua is University Senior Lecturer in Hindu Studies at Cambridge University. He read Theology and Religious Studies at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge. His primary research interests are Vedantic Hindu philosophical theology and Indo-Islamic styles of sociality.
Project Noon 
One response to “Zikr: The Allusions of Agra’s Assertions”
It is really a form of Zikr to seek guidance from our creator while we see signs of the creator spread around us in space and time.
Dr Barua has brought before us beauty of the place and linked it with the Creator of this universe through beautiful expression.
I am thinking the repeated phrase :
( Allah – your supreme strength is sufficient for this servant.)
also can be given a reference,possibly Quran 3:173.
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