Cook Inside

"Are we to renounce our gods
for the sake of a mad poet?"
Quran (37: 36)

The sun and moon are signs of God.
Unseal and find the book inside.

Listen to the river's gliding song
And you may hear a brook inside.

You too would think the world of her,
If you-­like Qays­-would look inside.

When Gabriel repeated, Read!
Muhammad froze and shook inside.

Muhammad brought the idols down.
Have you-­since then-­looked inside?

Shahid, these pithy words are proof:
For ripeness you must cook inside.

(M. Shahid Alam is professor of economics at Northeastern University, Boston. His recent book, Poverty from the Wealth of Nations was published by Palgrave (2000). Copyright: M. Shahid Alam)

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