—from Arabic qiblah
, “that which is placed
opposite” (OED)
To Muslims it means a number of things:
the point toward which they turn in prayer
(Mecca now but once Jerusalem);
that side of a mosque thus oriented;
the sacred direction itself.
To me, impiously adopting it,
the word denotes quite simply you:
the one toward whom, whenever love’s azan
comes floating to my fervent ear,
I pivot, kneel, and address my orison.
Ben Downing’s first book of poems is The
Calligraphy Shop (Zoo Press).