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The Call Of His Voice
A story of forbidden love centuries ago
This painting by Jean-Léon Gerôme is named “The Muezzin”. In Islamic faith, this man who is chosen for having a particularly skilled voice, which is used for calling to prayer.
I’d hear him five times a day,
echoing against the dried up walls
of the citadel.
His voice reached every ear,
melodic and deep,
reciting prayer as we turned to
our holy land.
I’d always stop and listen.
In the beginning,
his words pushed me
to search for introspection,
for the safety
of the one who is high above.
Religion would save me;
bring me
and
my broken desires to a better place,
to eternity,
in whatever form possible.
But then,
something changed.
From devotion and piety,
all of a sudden,
my mind would flash with images of
a deep voice
coming from a very human form,
and not
a godly…
