Poetry and translation from Malay by Isa Kamari
Essence of Beauty
Fresh with the caress of dew,
Fragrant with the scent of rose,
Joyous with the chirping of birds,
Invigorating with a hearty breakfast,
Captivating with a painted sunrise,
Cheery with a calm soul,
Solid with a clear mind,
Clear with the demands of responsibility,
Firm with steps to work,
Blessed with the dedication to make a living,
Earnest with the utterance of In the Name of God,
Dependent on the destiny of efforts,
Submitted in consistent devotion,
Echoed with His Beautiful Names,
God is Beauty and loves the beautiful,
Reveals the face of His Benevolence,
Expresses the layers of His Majesty,
So, everything returns as beautiful things,
To His Beneficence and Mercy.
Alone
Life is lonesome
In cold nights like this,
when family could not understand,
I no longer cry
while reading the Qur'an.
The Original Mantra
The original mantra came down from heaven,
Following the sin of having a will,
Bestowed with freedom of choice,
Taught the Word and Names of everything.
The ordained natural mould
Does not change.
We are Adam, venerated,
To whom the angels bow.
We are Adam, vile,
Befriended by the Devil till the end of Time,
Who destroys the earth
With hands that have wants,
With souls that are free to act,
Betray and rebel,
Self-sufficient and disobedient.
The original and revered Word and Names
We sully with despicable acts,
We taint with wild thoughts.
The natural mould handed down from prophets
We smash in arrogance.
Alas, the original mantra from Adam
Is conditioned by political and social norms
To suit its locale,
The abode of each people,
That is perfected and purified
by The Mercy of the Worlds.
The spring that flows from heaven,
Has freedom to worship as its undercurrent,
Envied by the angels.
The ultimate pleasure is to
Return the freedom to
The Owner of the Eternal Mantra.
O Believers!
Do not die
Except in a state of total submission.
Prostration
Dirtied hands feel the heat,
Palms on the earth
Next to the forehead.
My heart is grounded,
Asking for mercy.
The cool pouring of Love and forgiveness.
Intimacy
I pick up grains of sand
On my journey home,
No longer unfamiliar,
Though dirtied and bitter.
I wash with prayer and zikr,
The last accompaniment
To brighten the impending grave-pit.
Descending from the peak,
Wishing for a clear spring
At the foot of the hill,
To submerge
My entire soul in You.
*zikr—remembrance
Gift
I realise:
The palpitations in my chest
Are not the flow of my breath,
But a gust of Your mercy.
The stirrings of love
Do not arise from my soul,
But from Your grace.
My complete surrender is
Just Your Embrace.
Mirror of Revelation
O my soul breeze,
I want to gaze at Your face
By the mirror of revelation.
Your whispers
Stir the base of my heart in tenderness.
Longing for the original song—
Without rhythm and melody,
Only silent whispers,
One in ecstasy,
Longing sustains existence:
Existence in perpetual longing.
The self is broken to pieces by doubt.
O my soul breezes
To return to One,
Obliterate in Light.
Isa Kamari has written 12 novels, 3 collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, a book of essays on Singapore Malay poetry, a collection of theatre scripts and lyrics of 3 music albums, all in Malay. His novels have been translated into English, Turkish, Urdu, Arabic, Indonesian, Jawi, Russian, French, Spanish, Korean, Azerbaijan and Mandarin. Several of his essays and selected poems have been translated into English. Isa was conferred the S.E.A Write Award from Thailand (2006), the Singapore Cultural Medallion (2007), the Anugerah Tun Seri Lanang (2009) from the Singapore Malay Language Council, and the Mastera Literary Award (2018) from Brunei Darussalam.
He obtained a BArch (Hons) from the National University of Singapore in 1989, an MPhil (Malay Letters) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2008 and is currently pursuing a PhD programme at the Academy of Islamic Studies, Univeristi Malaya. His area of research is on the problem of alienation and the practice of firasat (spiritual intuition) in selected Singapore Malay novels.
The Lost Mantras is a collection that blends spirituality, Malay cultural heritage, and universal human experience. First published as part of Menyap Cinta (Love Greetings, 2022, Nuha Books KL), these poems are like a bridge between mysticism and everyday life, where traditional images (betel, jasmine, kris[1], oil lamps, setanjak[2]) are woven with Qur’anic echoes, prayers, and existential questioning. The collection carries a Sufi resonance—always circling back to longing, humility, surrender, and beauty as signs of God. The poems are not only lyrical but also function as cultural memory: they preserve Malay traditions, communal practices, and village life, while situating them in a cosmic framework of faith, sin, and redemption. The use of Malay customs, rituals, and objects is powerful: it asserts that spirituality is not abstract but embedded in heritage. This makes the collection uniquely Southeast Asian despite its universal in appeal.
[1]A dagger
[2] Malay headgear
PLEASE NOTE: ARTICLES CAN ONLY BE REPRODUCED IN OTHER SITES WITH DUE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BORDERLESS JOURNAL
Click here to access Wild Winds: The Borderless Anthology of Poems
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