Grand Ma's Nazam
Grand Ma Zahrah used
to gather her grand children around her and sing for them Nazams in
Arabic as well
as Malay. As a lad with many other occupations, those sessions, I remember
can be terribly long.
Not that she didn't have a beautiful voice. On the contrary, she was
a famous Quran reciter
called upon to grace many an occasion with her voice. In the
village, she was fondly
known as "Cik Ah lagu", "she who is versatile with the
voice". It's
just that the original composers has a penchant for verbosity -
or so I thought then.
Grand Ma passed away
at a ripe old age. She was over 90. With her passing, a significant
chapter in my family's
history ended. She represented an era when life was, in my
mind, a lot
simpler, or should I say "clearer"- where the meaning and form of
existence was
better understood and accepted. It was from her lips that I
heard the command
"Awwaluddin Makrifatullah", "the purpose of
existence is the attainment
of knowledge of the Self".
At times, I can feel
her presence. And looking out of my office window and scanning
the modern Kuala
Lumpur skyline, I wonder how Grand Ma would fit in this
modern age. And at
this thought, the memory of the Nazam sittings
comes to my mind and
puts a smile on my face. If there is a
single word that can
best describe the composure of
this unique soul,
it would be "certainty".
Grand Ma would do
OK !
Here's a Malay version
of a "short" Nazam that she used to sing in Arabic.
It's called "Abda"
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Dengan Rahim berkekalan dalam Ihsan Segala puji awal akhir
Malik Allah
Kemudian salawat serta
salam berkekalan
Atas waris serta sahabat
dan yang ikut
Kemudian itu engkau
ketahui wajib makrifat
Allah Maujud lagi Qadim
lagi Baqa
Yang berdiri, yang
terkaya, Esa, Hidup
Yang mendengar, yang
melihat, yang berkata
Kuasa, berkehendak
dan mendengar dan melihat
Harus bagi Allah dengan
kurnia lagi adil
Allah menyuruh segala
nabi yang cerdik
Harus bagi nabi apa
yang datang bagi manusia
Ismat (?) nabi wajib
seperti malaikat
Yang mustahil lawan
tiap-tiap sifat wajib
Dua puluh lima nabi
jadi akan rasul
Nabi Adam, Idris dan
nabi Nuh
Lut, Ismail, nabi Ishak,
nabi Yaakob
Shuaib, Harun, Musa,
Yasigh, Zulkifli
Ilyas, Yunus, Zakaria,
Yahya
Atas anbiya serta waris
rahmat salam
Malaikat tiada emak,
bapa dan datuk
Wajib kenal sepuluh
malaikat mula Jibrail
Munkar, Nakir, Raqib,
Atid menyurat amal
Wajib kenal empat kitab
yang mulia
Kitab Zabur akan Daud,
Injil Isa
Nama Suhuf akan Ibrahim
dengan Musa
Tiap-tiap hukum yang
datang oleh Rasul
Iman kita akan kiamat
itu wajib
Satu khotimah (?) ketinggalan
iktikad wajib
Nabi kita nama Muhammad
Allah bangkit
Tuan Abdullah anak
Mutallib bapa nabi
Ibu nabi Siti Aminah
bangsa Zuhri
Peranak nabi negeri
Mekah yang lebih aman
Turun wahyu umur nabi
empat puluh tahun
Anak nabi semuanya
tujuh orang
Pertama Kassim, kedua
Abdullah anak jantan
Ketiga Ibrahim anak
nabi yang pada jariah (?)
Anak yang lain semuanya
pada Khodijah
Anak nabi yang perempuan
empat orang
SitiFatimah yang zuhri
lakinya Ali
Siti Zainab, Siti Rokiah
anak nabi
Tinggal sembilan isteri
nabi masa wafatnya
Siti Aishah, Siti Hafsah,
Siti Saudah
Siti Hindun, Siti Zainab
juwairiyah (?)
Memak (?) nabi Sayyidina
Abbas, Saiyyidina Hamzah
Dahulu daripada berpindah
nabi berjalan
Setelah berjalan Nabi
mikraj ke langit tujuh
Tidak bertapa (?) tidak
berhingga (?) telah difardhu
Disuruh persampaikan
ummat khabar mikraj
Abu Bakar boleh habuan
kemenangan
Iktiqad ini sangat
pendek lagi sempan (?)
Syeikh Marzukhi yang
mengarang Nazam ini
Segala puji bagi Allah,
Selawat kemudian
Atas waris serta sahabat
tiap-tiap guru
Aku pohon akan Tuhan
ikhlas amal
Lima puluh tujuh satar
Nazam diketahui
Aku nama Nazam ini
Akidah awam
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"Albert's Son" by Andrew Wyeth