ODE: "WHO IS HE OR WHAT IS IT?" BY MUHAMMAD MERCURIAL

One powerful Being,

or should we say more than one,

created the universe.

We do not even know if it is He or it is It.

He is referred to as God,

but He has been in existence long before the origin of that word.

Muslims call it Allah,

but He has been in existence before the creation of the tribe whose language birthed the word Allah.

Christians call Him Jehovah,

yet He has been in existence before the emergence of Christ Himself.

Traditionalists call It Eledumare,

but He has been in existence before Orunmila.

Who is it, or who is He really?

This dates back to before the existence of religion.

What is it?

There must be an atom of presence

during the creation of the world,

but no eye is sharp enough to see it

before it leaves.

Some say He is full of lightning.

All lightning comes with transparency.

It—or He—can be referred to as the Creator of lightning, covered in darkness.

His darkness is not evil, but concealment.

No one knows Its real name

before the emergence of religion.

No one knows Its real name.

Before the creation of the heavens,

no one knows where He stays.

What It looks like is only conceived.

Why?

Some say He created humans in His own image,

but He does not use any human sustenance.

Is it really so?

He has witnessed thousands of centuries,

before the existence of the creators of numerical systems.

Why is He scarce?

Why is it that no one knows Its real name?

Because this power does not want familiarity.

Because scarcity creates hunger to know more.

Because its presence would erase arguments from the world

and make it less interesting.

What if this power is creating something else,

because it wants the freedom to be everywhere at every time, incognito?

What if this power is the calm breeze you enjoyed a few days ago?

What if this power was the poor girl you looked down upon?

What if this power was the one inside the divine message you scrolled past?

What if this power once lived inside the girl whose heart you broke?

What if this power is inside the guy you looked at and said, “empty vessel”?

You judge this power in him based on his present, not his future.

What if this power is the one you dismiss because of appearance, silence, or lack?

What if this power is everywhere, yet recognized nowhere?

And what if the reason it hides is not because it is far…

but because your eyes were never trained to recognize infinity in disguise?

So maybe it was never absent.

Maybe it was never hidden.

Maybe it was always here…

waiting for you to see without naming it.

© Muhammad Mercurial

- Nigeria 

The poem WHO IS HE OR WHAT IS IT? reflects on the mystery of the supreme power that created the universe. The speaker questions the different names given to God by various religions, emphasizing that this power existed before religion, language, and humanity itself. The poem presents the Creator as unknowable and beyond human understanding.

The poet also describes this power as hidden and mysterious, using images like darkness and lightning to show its invisible nature. Through several rhetorical questions, the poem creates a philosophical tone that encourages readers to think deeply about existence and spirituality.

In the final part, the poem suggests that the divine presence may exist in ordinary people and everyday experiences. It challenges readers not to judge others by appearance or condition, concluding that the power has always been present, waiting to be recognized beyond names and physical forms.