Eid al-Fitr

A month of holy deprivation, from

crescent moon, the symbol of Islam,

to crescent moon, when neither

food nor drink may pass the lips of

the faithful, to desecrate the holy month,

till sundown, sharpening the mind,

urging the soul to search its depths to

a finer faith through exemplary worship

and daily comportment hailed as a credit

to the glory of Islam's commands, in

perfect submission.  Ramadan, a time for 

pious introspection, time to re-dedicate 

to a lifetime-worth of obeying the dicta 

of Islam.  Finally, time to remember the 

dead, recite prayers in their memory at 

their gravesides. Alas, increasingly, 

believers leave the land of the living, in

blessed martyrdom as brothers elevate pious

zeal to fulfill The Prophet's abjurations

of an enlightened pacific embrace of

otherness, shouting 'There is no God but Allah'

while increasing the numbers of graves

to be visited and prayed over in duty

to Islam's urging to love one's brother.