In the Name of Allah

by Bänoo Zan / September 25th, 2022

In the name of Allah—
the compassionate—
the merciful—
I shoot you at close range
if you protest bloodshed

In the name of Allah—
the compassionate—
the merciful—
I beat you to death
if you claim your body

In the name of Allah—
the compassionate—
the merciful—
I rape you to teach you chastity

In the name of Allah—
the compassionate—
the merciful—
I torture you so you confess
to crimes you didn’t commit

All I do I do
in the name of Allah—
the compassionate—
the merciful—
and when you turn against Allah
I tear you to pieces as a heretic

In the name of Allah—
the compassionate—
the merciful—
I have turned a god-loving nation against god
so that millions are fitting targets
of my holy wrath

May God save Allah
as I have damned Him
forever

Author’s Note: The poem is written in response to the recent ongoing protests in Iran against murder of a young woman at the hands of the so-callled “morality police.” See: Iran | Today’s latest from Al Jazeera

Bänoo Zan is a poet, librettist, translator, teacher, editor and poetry curator, with more than 250 published poems and poetry-related pieces as well as three books including Songs of Exile and Letters to My Father. She is the founder of Shab-e She’r (Poetry Night), Toronto’s most diverse and brave poetry reading and open mic series (inception: 2012). Her social media links are: LinkedIn; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter. Bänoo, along with Cy Strom, is the co-editor of the poetry anthology: “Woman, Life, Freedom: Poems for the Iranian Revolution.” Deadline for sending poems is March 2024. Find the submission guidelines here: https://guernicaeditions.submittable.com/submit. Read other articles by Bänoo.

This article was posted on Sunday, September 25th, 2022 at 8:02am and is filed under Poetry.