Monday, January 23, 2012

See, Here He Lies

See, Here He Lies
I want to die with your name on my lips,
I want to die with thoughts of you playing in my mind,
I want to die lying in the heather of your soul,
I want to die running in your fields of corn,
I want to die walking in your forest of mercy,
With your voice in my ears,
Breathing your perfume,
Shaded under your glory,
Swimming in your ocean,
Grasping your hand, in your embrace,
Saddened no more by this
Most bitter separation.

I want to die with tears in my eyes,
Hearing you address the congregation
“If you seek a lover of Muhammad,
See, here he lies.”
...........................

But Not Yet.
I don't want to die yet. There are too many things to do, you see. Of course whether I get the time to finish it all (mostly writing, sketching and publishing more books), is really isn't up to me. In any event, the question is redundant because when you are writing and sketching about God, the Prophet and Mankind, one lifetime is not enough. You need several lifetimes. No, I am not asking for several lifetimes from God. I am just saying, ya know? 

I Will Be There.
But being the on-top-of-everything kinda guy, I like to plan ahead and would love for the above prose to be engraved on my tombstone. I advise that it be in small-ish font size because otherwise my tombstone would tower over other graves. I leave it to my kin to sort out the details. What? I cannot be expected to plan everything about my funeral. The only thing that I can promise you is that I will be there.

Death Will Come.
People die. That is the way of the world. It has been since the time of Adam and Eve, and it will thus continue until God decides otherwise. So at the end of it all, we are ultimately united by one common fate. Despite all our worldly disputes about money, nationality, race, religion, football clubs and ideology, we all share the same fate. You would think that this would make people more circumspect about judging other people, yes? Unfortunately no. Because we have been programmed to believe that we shall be judged differently according to our religion. But let me share with you a story - Once I was in an assembly of wandering dervishes, and a question was asked of the Shaykh as to who will be inhabiting heaven. And if I recall correctly, this was what the Shaykh said - "It is entirely up to God. Do not presume anything." Then he also added this little teaser, "Do not be surprised if your closest neighbour is the person you hate the most in your life."

Divine Justice & Divine Irony
So be careful in judging anyone in this life. Lest you will be doomed to spend an eternity living next to him (or her). When I think about the most nut-crazy hubris-addicted so-called 'perfect' Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews and Atheists around... and the idea of them being eternal neighbours with their most hated nemesis... Aaah, what Divine Justice (and Divine Irony).

Have a lovely day, sunshine. God bless you always.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam
Love will show the Way

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