The People of The Boxes - Dawud Wharnsby Ali

There were once some people who all saw their lives like empty boxes.

They looked all around the world, collecting up the things they liked.

They filled their lives and empty boxes with the goodies that they gathered

And they all felt in control, content, and they all felt alright.

Then they climbed inside their boxes and they settled with their trinkets.

They neither looked, nor learned much more and closed their lids up tight.

Once they’d fastened up their boxes they smiled there inside,and they all thought in their darkness that the world was clear and bright.

But the world is not a box.

There’s no lid, no doors, no cardboard flaps or locks,

and everything in nature from the clouds to the rocks is a piece of the puzzle of the purpose of mankind.

It's a piece of the peace of Islam.


Along came a wondering wise man whispering such words of truth,who stumbled on these boxes, so separate side by side.

He knocked upon the first one saying, “Please come out and feel the day.”

An answer came from deep within, “You’re not of us please go away.”

He approached the second box and tapped thrice on the lid saying,

“Peace to you inside, shall I show you a new way?

”Someone peeked out from a crack and said,

“You may just have a point,but it’s so comfy in my box, in my box here

I will stay.


”But the world is not a box.

There’s no lid, no doors, no cardboard flaps or locks,and everything in nature from the clouds to the rocks is a piece of the puzzle of the purpose of mankind.

It's a piece of the peace of Islam.

He stood before the final box, a hiding face peeked out to him,

and much to his surprise, he said

“I recognize those eyes!I see you and you see me so why not come out and be free?

Faith and flowers wilt and die if they are hidden from the sky!`

Cause the world is not a box.

There’s no lid, no doors, no cardboard flaps or locks,and everything in nature from the clouds to the rocks is a piece of the puzzle of the purpose of mankind.

It's a piece of the peace of Islam.”

Now centuries lie between all the prophets and you and I

Civilizations are born and die each and every day.

We see good and bad and happy-sad and mad mistakeswe wish we hadn’t made in our attempt to try and live up to their way.

But if we hide ourselves away, afraid to grow and learn,we might wake up in the flames of the ignorance that burns,and we’ll never be much more than only casualties of warin a struggle we can’t win if we have no faith to begin.

We’ve got to tip the lid and let some sunlight in,

`Cause the world is not a box.

There’s no lid, no doors, no cardboard flaps or locks,and everything in nature from the clouds to the rocks is a piece of the puzzle of the purpose of mankind.

It's a piece of the peace of Islam.