If I hate You,……?

By: Abdulaziz Ali Omer

If I hate you, yet you are about to walk into a minefield, I will still warn you to turn back—for it pains me to imagine you lost and in the backrop a grieving father and a good friend in your memory.

If I hate you, I would never ask the sun to stay away from your window. You, too, need its warmth; you, too, must feel winter’s bite.

If I hate you, I will not buy bullets to kill your sons. For I know that somewhere within you a human still stirs—one who may one day awaken, remember me, and save countless children through an initiative of peace.

If I hate you, I cannot stop the pulse of a heart that, one morning, will choose to forgive and t conceal a note of an apology into my bag.

If I hate you, nothing will nprevent me from saying thank you when you lend a hand to someone I love.

If I hate you, and the rain begins to fall, you may still find shelter beside me—and over a cup of coffee, perhaps this sudden meeting will turn hostility into reconciliation.

If I hate you, I do not mind praying for you, for both of us stand in need of mercy.

If I hate you, I will never gloat over your tragedy—for life, to a Muslim, is a test of trials, to be met with gratitude, patience, and compassion.

If I hate you, I cannot ignore that we are twins in smiles and tears, in our brave and ambitious attempts to cross borders toward a dignified life somewhere on the other side of despair.