C. N. MILEHAMAdelantado de la Poesía

Breathe

Breathe cover

Single · 16 October 2026

Listen on Spotify ↗

About the song

Breathe grew directly from my experiences with VA medical care and panic attacks in 2025 and 2026. My wife, María Lorena Rodríguez—Lore—helped me through frightening moments with a hand on my back and her reassurance to breathe.

The song follows three conditions of the nafs: the self drawn toward destructive impulses, the self-reproaching conscience, and the soul at peace. From the first breath to the last, every breath is another chance to return to what matters.

For My Fellow Veterans

If you are struggling with anxiety, panic attacks, depression, overwhelming emotions, or thoughts of suicide, please reach out. In the United States call 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Veterans Crisis Line confidential chat ↗.

Original lyrics

Breathe As your vision tunnels Surrounded by the grey Hands on the back and they tell you Just breathe Take a breath Breathe in Breathe out Breathe When you’ve fallen to your knees And your heart might explode Hand on the back she tells you It’ll be ok It’ll be alright That first breath of life, animation At the end, our rattling exhalation As the soul sprints home Just breathe Take a breath Breathe in Breathe out Breathe an-nafs al-ammāra an-nafs al-ammāra my ego, it leads me to the abyss I look at the gap and I gasp an-nafs al-lawwāma an-nafs al-lawwāma the wince, the near miss an-nafs al-muṭma’inna an-nafs al-muṭma’inna God, please grant me that breath Of peace Just breathe Take a breath Breathe in Breathe out Breathe Looking up into her sweet eyes of blue green Soft with kindness, spark of the divine I always feel cherished, always seen I remember it’s all about the soul refined And her hand on my back She tells me it’ll be ok It’s going to be alright take a breath Breathe in, breathe out First breath in to the last breath out Between the first breath and the last Every breath is a return an-nafs al-muṭma’inna Bring me home Just breathe Take a breath Breathe in Breathe out Breathe an-nafs al-muṭma’inna an-nafs al-muṭma’inna Just breathe

Cover art credits

C. N. Mileham · Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina · 2010

Cover artwork credits

C. N. Mileham · Blue Ridge Parkway · 2010

Nafs in Islamic and Sufi thought

Nafs can mean self, ego or soul, depending on context. In Sufi spiritual psychology, the transformation of the nafs is part of the spiritual journey. The song invokes three states described in the Qur’an; some Sufi traditions describe additional stages.

An-nafs al-ammāra (Qur’an 12:53): the self that urges wrongdoing. An-nafs al-lawwāma (75:2): the self-reproaching conscience. An-nafs al-muṭma’inna (89:27–30): the tranquil soul at peace with God.

These are spiritual images of inner struggle, not clinical explanations for panic attacks. The song also grows from the loving support of my wife, María Lorena Rodríguez.