sacrifice

This feast of sacrifice,

Someone said:

Only six cows remain

in all of Gaza.

Perhaps a few dozen sheep.

Eid Al-Adha¹

a day of

shedding an animal’s blood

to remember

the testing of Ismael and Abraham,

a day of offering

meat to the poor–

dividing it among neighbors

A festive occasion for a new toy, or

in her case– a pair of sandals

bought by her father that morning.

She was so happy to put them on!

One among nine beloved souls– torn

by another US-made missile.

Her father said:

She was really happy with her new Eid sandals.

Her neighbor said:

We have no animal to sacrifice.

We have only ourselves.

Tossing and turning, I thought:

What do we even call such evil

that turns children into meat?

We are being tested.

But our eyes are closed.

1. In Islamic tradition, the udhiyah honours the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God. As Abraham attempts to slay Ishmael, either the knife is turned over in his hand or copper appears on Ishmael to prevent the death and God tells Abraham that he has fulfilled the command. Unlike in the Bible, there is no mention in the Qur’an of an animal (ram) replacing the boy; rather he is replaced with a ‘great sacrifice’ (dhibḥin ʿaẓīm).^[8] ↩︎