On Finding the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Dante’s “Inferno”
By Omar Sakr
I lift him out, whole and perfect.
Said told me he would be here, chained by Dante
To the eighth circle of hell, bettered only by the devil himself.
The Paris Review recapped this canto in 2014, saying
Read along! This week: Mohammed torn asunder.
And so he was, again, “cleft from chin to colon.” In summary
We are assured this is a marvelous mangling.
I cannot abide (t)his pain. I have taken him out,
Wounding the text, the ancient imagining,
And write myself into it so asunder I tear,
Guts and shit spilling down my legs. Omar,
Foolish provocateur, no prophet, but sower
Of schism and scandal, yes, he belongs here. Now
Do not use his name if you do not love him: use mine.
