By Hisham Zoubeir

"Where we go, you cannot follow.

What we must do, you must steer clear of.

Whom we are, you shall not become.

For those who have sought the truth, we find it.

For those who have suffered, we fight for.

For we are the ones who have not suffered,

and have not sought the truth.

In their name, do we go."

"The sun's light shines on my face

As I see the dawn arise over the horizon.

I realise that it is time, to pay reverence

To my sovereign Lord.

I see the rays of the light come through the clouds

And I see a new land before my eyes;

Far different than the one I saw

In the day past. + more

I cannot imagine how it was different before

Only that it was

And so was I.

For both I and the land

Have experienced a rebirth.

A new life, as the sun arose,

And we arose

From our slumber.

Thank the Almighty

For the gift of life."

"I have the spirit within me.

How strong it is, I do not know.

But I know that it is of a type of glory

I have never before experienced.

It is the type that can deliver a man

Into the depths of evil in this world

Or raise his entire civilisation

Into the skies above.

It is a noble glory.

It cannot be taken by another man.

It cannot be broken

By an outside force.

It cannot be shaken

By the external.

But, and this is unfortunate;

It can have all of these done

By myself."

"Tell me people, how should I identify my nationality?

I am neither Emirati nor English, neither Egyptian nor Sudani.

But I carry the blood of them all.

Does it matter? We are all one family.

Tell me people, how should I identify my faith?

I am not Christian nor Jew, but I am not Sunni nor Shia,

not Hanbali nor Ibadite.

Does it matter?

I hail only from where I am. I follow only that which

I believe to be true.

And I am a Muslim."