THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. ENTRIES WILL NO LONGER BE ACCEPTED.

Darul Qur’an wal Itrah is pleased to present its annual Light of the Qur’an Poetry Competition.

The aim of the competition is to encourage reflection on Qur’anic verses and values to inspire personal development. Poetry can facilitate both the reflective process and the expression of Qur’anic ideals in beautiful and powerful ways. Moreover, we believe that there is a vast amount of creative potential within the community; we hope that a poetry competition will nurture and direct creative talent to promote the light and beauty of the Qur’anic message.

Competition Rules

The Light of the Qur’an Poetry Competition, 2019, is open to all ages. The themes and age brackets for the competition are as detailed below:

• Age 7 – 10 years:  Allah Loves Me
• Age 11 – 14 years: You Inspire Me
• Age 15 – 18 years: Who am I?
• Age 19 + years: Beauty in the Darkness

Please note that the above themes do not have to be used as the titles of the poems submitted. Rather, they serve as a general theme.

Qur’anic verses are provided to inspire ideas and reflections with regards to each theme. These can be viewed by clicking on each of the catogeries above. Poems are NOT expected to be commentaries or explanations of the verses.

Submission Rules

• All poems must be original works and written in English by the participant himself/herself.
• All poems must be typed.
• All poems must have a title.
• Maximum length of poems should be approximately 100 lines, excluding the title.
• Poems must be submitted via email to darulquran@hujjat.org.
• Please indicate clearly in your email, the name of the participant, age and title of the poem.
• Participants are permitted to submit only one poem. Multiple entries will not be accepted.
• The competition is open to UK residents ONLY.

The deadline for all poetry submissions is 24 November, 2019.

Judging Criteria

Poems will be judged on:

1. Depth, clarity and creativity of thoughts and ideas
2. Use of poetic devices (eg. imagery, personification, metaphor, assonance, euphony, rhyme)
   The use of poetic devices will be reflected in the way the sound, meaning, imagery and arrangement of the words comes through in the poem. Please note that the poems will not be judged according to the number of poetic devices used, but rather how the devices are used to convey the meaning and message of the poem in an effective and powerful way.

The judges will mark each poem according to the above criteria. Decisions made by the judges in determining the winning entries will be final.

Awards Presentation and Prizes

A winner and a runner-up will be selected from each category. Cash prizes will be awarded to all winners and runners-up at the Light upon Light Darul Qur’an programme held at the Hussaini Islamic Centre on 20 December, 2019.