Red Heifer and Red Sulphur, Grand Nature and Beautiful Gesture - the Jihad, the Ego and You

14. And a Quiet Day it was
I set sail on Mercy’s Ocean,
And a quiet day it was,
With nets spun of golden thread,
And the wind behind us,
We headed west.

Fear would have filled me
As blackness rose to greet us,
Until my look-out cried,
“Look to the stern!”
And I glanced back to see
That we had the Sun in tow
Like a kite in the sky.



.
The above prose is what you may call a GRAND prose. Befitting perhaps for a mystic commencing his quest for the holy grail, the red sulphur and maybe even the red heifer.

THE GRAND JIHAD. But really, that great struggle, that GRANDEST OF JIHAD (Jihad ul-Akbar) is not very grand really. Certainly not in the way dreamt by arm-chair generals and warrior priests…

6. War
The war with the Ego is not the clash of great armies,
It is a war of small firefights and drive-by shootings.
And if the absence of a great battle disappoints you
Verily, the first skirmish is already lost!

MUNDANE DAILY STRUGGLE. It is the daily struggle between your heart and your ego, between your mind and your nafs (desires)… Should I have that extra teaspoon of sugar? It’s a Saturday anyways, I am sure no handicap would be wanting the parking space!... I could pay him today, but really, the bank is so far away. Oh never mind, I will just do it tomorrow… or maybe the day after that. So you see, really mundane and boring struggle. The path is not intended for those desiring recognition. Each strand of hair on your body must desire the opposite... anonymity, silence and nothingness, and without pretensions... (The way is not easy. Whoever said it was?)

2. Permission To Be Good, Ya Sayeedi! II
If you desire to make grand gestures,
Join an opera company.

Here, it is toil!
Mundane grind!
Day after day after day!

Allah! Rasulullah!
Give us joy
In our anonymity,
Though the world
May call us
Boring old farts!

BUT BEAUTY… has its own reasons and passions. And to deny the beauty of the path is also to deny an essence of the journey. And God has never attracted mankind with the ugly and deceitful, which is repugnant to us. Always He has sent someone of beautiful passions, to speak words of beauty and call upon us to do beautiful deeds of charity and love. This is the way of all faiths. A prose was recorded of such a man...

4. The Roadbuilder
I build roads,
Not walls.
For my message
Is peace,
Not war.

I grow roses
Not weeds,
For my message
Is beauty,
Not deceit.

SO I BELIEVE THAT…. there shall always be a place for beauty in the path. Such beauty may be grand and awe-inspiring, such as the Sun in a sinner's poem. But other beauty may be manifested more subtly, like the shy smile of your young niece. Or the sight of your son making friends with a stray cat.

Have a nice Monday, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

If you are curious for related postings on jihad just search 'jihad' in the searchbox on top right corner. There are about 8 previous write-ups.
Poems - And a Quiet Day it was is from Chapter 23 entitled ‘My Lord has Answered me’ (Mar 2007) War is from Chapter 19 entitled ‘Tiramesu’ (circa 2006)
The Roadbuilder is from Chapter 17 entitled ‘East of Albion’ (circa January 2006)
Permission To Be Good, Ya Sayeedi! II is from Chapter 5 entitled ‘The Profane & the Profound’ (circa September 2004)