Two Poems
DANIEL ABDAL-HAYY MOORE
A Scientist Walked Into A Wall
A scientist walked into a
wall and broke his nose
A theologian walked into a
wall and
became the wall
A saint saw no wall at
all
He saw only Allah on
both sides of the
wall he saw not at all
and the rising and the
falling like a
galloping horse’s back
and the circular seasons
descending and ascending
like the throbs in a
bloodstream
and the fish in it swimming
oceanward
Only Allah
I was born in a hospital in
Alameda California
Only Allah
I had this face I
have even now
Only Allah
The lights crisscrossed
this way and that
Only Allah
My parents loved each other
and showed affection
Only Allah
I drew pictures on
construction paper
Only Allah
The door swung open and
I went through it
Only Allah
Sat as a Buddhist
facing a wall
Only Allah
Wrote Dawn Visions on a
trip to Mexico
Only Allah
San Francisco
1964
Only Allah
Angel Gabriel
stood up in a tree
Only Allah
The Floating Lotus
Magic Opera Company
Only Allah
A Sufi shaykh’s deputy in an
attic room in Berkeley
Only Allah
Shaykh ibn al-Habib
in Meknes Morocco
Only Allah
Clouds rolled away
and keep rolling away
Only Allah
Drove with five others
in a Peugeot in Algeria
Only Allah
Met saints of Allah there Hajj Isa
ben Hajj Isa and Hajj Isa
Only Allah
Married Malika in a
burst of light
Only Allah
Came to Philadelphia
where Bawa’s gaze covers us
Only Allah
The Deen of Islam a garden
with living vegetation
Only Allah
Shaping us into
alchemical human beings
Only Allah
Cancer zamzam hemp oil
wheat grass
Only Allah
The Door of Light
with a Dark Door inside it
Only Allah
The Door of Dark
with a Light Door inside it
Only Allah
Being here for a moment
going on forever
Only Allah
La ilaha illa Allah
Muhammad Rasulullah
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore (born in 1940 in Oakland, California and died in 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, rahimahullah) had his first book of poems, Dawn Visions, published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books, San Francisco, in 1964, and the second in 1972, Burnt Heart/Ode to the War Dead. He created and directed The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company in Berkeley, California in the late 60s, and presented two major productions, The Walls Are Running Blood and Bliss Apocalypse.
He became a Sufi Muslim in 1970, performed the Hajj in 1972, and lived and traveled throughout Morocco, Spain, Algeria and Nigeria, landing in California and publishing The Desert is the Only Way Out and Chronicles of Akhira in the early 80s (Zilzal Press).
Residing in Philadelphia since 1990, in 1996 he published The Ramadan Sonnets (Jusoor/City Lights), and in 2002, The Blind Beekeeper (Jusoor/Syracuse University Press). He has been the major editor for a number of works, including The Burdah of Shaykh Busiri, translated by Hamza Yusuf, and the poetry of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Munir Akash. He has been poetry editor for Seasons Journal, Islamica Magazine, a 2010 translation by Munir Akash of State of Siege by Mahmoud Darwish (Syracuse University Press), and The Prayer of the Oppressed by Imam Muhammad Nasir al-Dar’i, translated by Hamza Yusuf (Sandala).
In 2011, 2012 and 2014, he was a winner of the Nazim Hikmet Prize for Poetry. In 2013, he won an American Book Award, and in 2013 and 2014, he was listed among The 500 Most Influential Muslims for his poetry.
Sabr Tooth Tiger Magazine, Issue no. 2: Mystics & Saints. 6x9 paperback, 196 pages.
Contributors:
2026 CLARION POETRY PRIZE
Kale Hensley (Grand Prize Winner), Syed Hashmi (Runner-Up), Sam Beal (Runner-Up)
POETRY
Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, D.W. Baker, Kara Barlow, e.l. biddle, Cat Brogan, Linda Bryant-Davis, Joseph Byrd, Halliday Carpender, Sophie Cornwell, Stephan Crown-Weber, Tony DiCarlo, Jané Dowd, Bart Edelman, Elliot, Beatriz F. Fernandez, Gretchen Gale, Charisse Gendron, Z.H. Gill, Ewen Glass, Fernando Jerez, Victor Kamhazi, Justin Karcher, Kristin Lueke, Merlin June Mack, Pip McGough, Mark J. Mitchell, KG Newman, Lisa Perkins, Patrick T. Reardon, jw summerisle, Skye Tarshis, François Tristan L'Hermite, Hanna Webster, Payson Whitwell, Rachael A. Zubal-Ruggieri
FICTION
Jer Hayes, Allen Kesten, Jamie LeFort, Christina Rauh Fishburne & Charlie Rauh, Taylor Thornburg, Fiona Vigo Marshall
CREATIVE NONFICTION
JH Lucas, latrell "lala" novali, Gina Twardosz
VISUAL ART
Edena Alvarado, Julieta Beltrán Lazo, Aubrienne Bergeron, Arch Budzar, Ashley Czajkowski, Lattea Falco, Zander Fieschko, Sarah Goodermuth, Hannah Greteman, Catie Hernandez, Kaitlyn “Thu” Hettinger, Sophia Huang, Jowonder, Martina McAteer, Mina Mond, Brigid O'Neil, Diana Story, Sydney Strickland, Émile Sylvain, Angel Teeth
Issue no. 2 is expected to release in June 2026. Please note that copies are printed-to-order and can take up to one month to be delivered.