My name is Jannat
It is not Janet
Or Ja-nat
Or Ja-nut
Or Jeannette
My name is Jannat
I have been told the pronunciation sits
foreign on the tongue
But if you can teach yourself to say
supercalifragilisticexpialidoscious
Then you can easily say Jannat – which
is 12 syllables less mind you
My name which is given to me by my
mother and father
My name which is mentioned 77 times
in The Holy Qur’an
My name which is the true destination
for anyone
Jannat. Paradise.
A beautiful sound.
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Jannat Rashad
I wrote this poem in a moment of reflection when I realised I was beginning to introduce myself as Jay instead of Jannat, that I wouldn’t even tell people my name is Jannat. It was a slap in the face and I realised I was doing my name an injustice. This poem is a reminder to myself, of myself.