Farewell

This is the farewell you hope will not be your last. This is the farewell that puts contentment in your heart. This is the farewell that shoots sadness through your soul. This is the farewell that sends tears down your face. This is the farewell that makes you at one with those around you. This is the farewell when you think of what is above you. This is the farewell that makes you shudder with what’s below you. This is the farewell that makes you forget all your daily struggles. This is the farewell that connects you to what you are.

Blending with the crowds. All moving the same way. Some jogging. Some striding. Some some slow and thoughtful. Infants are carried. The fragile cared for. All with one purpose.

Birds fly over, flocking to this sacred place. Their sounds add to the miraculous peace in this  overcrowded space.

Some read from a book. Some read from their heart. Others clasping hands, lest they are lost in the crowds. All are beseeching in their many languages. All are there with one common goal.

White marble gleaming beneath your feet. Causing a sweet ache as you take step after step. The tightness in your throat makes you gulp as hope filled whispers escape you ‘Oh Lord please forgive me’. The weight of your mistakes falls upon your shoulders and you wonder to yourself ‘Oh why did I do it?’.
You carry on your circles on a road with no visible end in sight  Yet you feel yourself coming home, feel the rightness of your purpose.

You are conscious of your number as you pass the blessed stone.’Allah is the greatest.’

You think of those who trod this path before you. Courageous and determined to claim God’s favour. Their feet moving through sand.  The desert sun causing sweat to mingle with their tears. Modern comforts make it easier, but you wonder, is it really better?

As you reach the number seven, you know the end is near . The tears fall in ernest, you will soon be leaving. The prayers become more urgent and you beg with all your heart. You wish to leave this place purged of all blackness to feel pure, ready for a new start. But as you thread out and away, through the crowds, you cannot help but whisper “I miss you, please oh God, let me come back here someday.”