SACRED ARCHERY (AND MY ACTUAL REALITY)

.......................................

Sacred Archery. Traditional archery of the Prophet Muhammad Habibullah (saws) is a sunnah (tradition) highly recommended by the spiritual Masters. Consequently, my archery ambition for my self and Mikhail is celestial... cosmic... heavenly even. But my reality is very much down to earth. He he he. I don't mind, so long as I don't accidentally hurt any of God's creatures (which would include the brown squirrels and birdies that populate my garden and backyard, my next door neighbour's German Shepherd, and any unlucky cat or jogger that may stray too close to my home).

Actually it is quite impossible, because we don't have any arrows, you see... But such deficiencies are only technical issues. We can still practice archery, if we put our heart into it.

He he he.  

Have a lovely day, sunshine. Gonna catch a nap before lunch.

I love Sundays.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE MEANINGS OF AS-SALAMU ALAYKUM & THE GARDEN BEFORE THE GARDEN - The Ramadan Story, Part 17

I don't need your salam! Go awaaay...!!!

The Ego's Salam

As-salamu alaykum!

I am a Muslim!

As-salamu alaykum!

I am about to say something

Rather important and heavy here!

Hey you!

Did you not hear?

I said As-salamu alaykum!

Listen and pay attention to me!

I am about to divulge information

Of great serious-ity!

........................

3 Meanings. People use words in all sorts of different ways, as my brother likes to say. And this is the same regardless of what words they are. My brother was mentioning this yesterday in the context of the greeting most used by the Muslims, which is As-salamu alaykum, meaning (as generally accepted) 'Peace be upon you'. Most people of course knows this, but perhaps we can go a little further. 

This beautiful greeting is recorded in the al-Quran in context of the Angels coming to greet the believers who have successfully endured the trials and tribulation of this life to receive the Pleasure from Allah (s.w.t.) in a number of connected verses of Chapter 13. In the 23rd, the Angels are...

(Saying) : Peace be unto you because ye persevered. Ah, passing sweet will be
the sequel of the (heavenly) Home. (Quran 13:23, Marmaduke Pickthall)

1. The Angelic Affirmation of Human Perseverance, Prophetic Intercession and Divine Compassion. When the Angels thus spoke, the greeting is their affirmation of what has come to pass for you - a celestial garden of joy and pleasure for you. An eternal abode for the patience that you have shown in your devotion, and ultimately, submission to what God had bequeathed you in this world. All the smiles and tears, all the success and failures, all the laughter and sorrow that make up our life, each and every single day we are here. But of course this cannot happen, the Muslims believe, by our efforts alone. Above our struggle is the divine intercessions of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), in answer to which is the unimaginable Mercy and Compassion of Allah (s.w.t.), He Who forever looks upon His creation through His infinite Ocean of Forgiveness.

2. The Beautiful Prayer. And as for us wingless non-Angels? One Grandshaykh describes the greeting as a prayer. And how beautiful is the prayer! - I am greeting you with brotherly love, and looking upon your graceful countenance, I am asking Allah (s.w.t.)... 

"O' my Lord! Let our discourse begin with peace and end with peace!

Grant unto him the peace that only You can give. 

Grant to us in our meeting the brotherly peace that only You can bestow, 

Grant us Your peace for our today and all our tomorrows."

Praying.

Whatever conversation that may transpire after that... be it about personal matters, about work, about money or health, isn't this a good beginning? May we always remember how we began!

3. The Ego's Salam or 'Overcome by the Gravity of the Situation'. And of course, humans are sometimes overcome by the brevity of the occasion - an example is when he/she is a politician / preacher about to begin some important religious or political sermon. Then he/she will say As-salamu alaykum in a heavy, serious and modulated tone... to accentuate that he/she is about to say something really, really important and that you had better pay attention.  He he he. 

My brother's view, and I agree with him, is - Oh come on, just get over yourself, will you? 

Salam to the Perfect World. So to conclude this meandering tale, we reckon that the best way to give salam is with a smile, a skip and a joyful hop, as if the world is perfect, that there is no hate or hubris, and the certainty that the Eternal Garden awaits us at the end of our journey through this world's garden of beautiful souls, inspired by the Inspired Mercy that is Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s). For actually the world is perfect, isn't it? Would Allah (s.w.t.) have given us an imperfect abode, even if it is only temporary?

Dunya, The Perfect Fascmile

Peace be unto thee, o' Dunya,

If you are transient, You are perfectly transient,

If you are illusory, You are perfectly illusory,

If you are a fascimile, You are the perfect fascimile,

And I shall take you as my beautiful abode,

The Garden before the Garden,

If only for a while.

Also praying.

43 years old, and only just starting to learn how to say As-salamu Alaykum. I am a late-bloomer, what other excuse can I give?

But you will forgive this old sinner, won't you, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

DEATH AND THE DIVINE INTERCESSIONS - karma, trees and this wonderous kaleidoscope of creation...

Death and Divine Intercession

Death is not a veil,

Life is,

And to pass away is

To lift the veil for that

Long-awaited union with

God the All-Beautiful and

Most Desirable above all,

Winning through with the intercessions 

Of Muhammad Habibullah,

The most cherished hope glittering

In the crown of hopes bestowed by God

To humanity, God's Own anointed

Mercy to all the worlds...

......................

There is no better way. No more fitting manner by which we can live this life - with the unbelievable varieties of plants, animals and living beings, all forms of tests, trials and tribulations, an infinite scope of happiness, joy and unadulterated rapture, with all of the vast expanse of humanity, friends, families, peers and lovers... There is no better way to journey through this kaleidoscope of creation, than by preparing oneself for the lifting of the veil that Man calls death.

Hidden in a prophetic quote (that I have used before) is the explanation to this preparatory and transient nature of this world, for God's Beloved, Muhammad (s.a.w.s) once shared that...

"There are no trees in heaven. You must plant them yourselves..."

So may God bless all gardeners, farmers and greenthumbs.

My late mother loved gardening. On the 10th anniversary of her
lifting of the veil last year, we arranged this ornamental water-pail
with bright yellow roses to decorate her maqam.
al fatiha

Have a perfectly nice day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Online Epithet - a practical and convenient solution for a sudden visitation by the Angel of Death

Take the words written below and carve it on my gravestone...

1. I am unimportant

I am unimportant.

You, o'readers, 

Are all that

Is left of

Me.

So say to Him that

You read and

You understood,

And I reminded

You of Him

Beautifully

And with

Sweet,

Lovely

Prose.

For I have been dipping

My quill in an ocean of honey,

And there is nothing

Real and worthy

Left still

Of me.

................

Can someone plan his own epithet on his gravestone? On a random trip down memory lane I found this old prose, recorded some 3 years ago.

But I guess this entire almanac is an epithet of sorts. I find this thought a little morbid, but strangely assuring.

No, don't worry, sunshine. I am not myself planning to die any time soon. But to have an up-to-date epithet is both practical and convenient since we never know when the soul train will come whistling into the station, next stop - the World Hereafter.

Have a lovely weekend, sunshine. Talk to you real soon.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Prophet and the Dragon - heaven is wherever your Beloved is...

Heavenly Dragons & The Prophet's Presence

Only heavenly shoulders will bear your heavenly burden

Only with heavenly eyes can see heavenly dragons.

From heavenly lips you will hear heavenly sermons,

From heavenly books came the heavenly commandments,

With heavenly guidance you may reach the seventh heaven,

But only with his intercession may you reach the Prophet's presence,

.............

Heavenly address. We are told by resourceful and informative sources that there are quite a few heavens up there in the afterlife. And each plot of holy land already has a name written in the deed, and verily your piece of heaven is already yearning for your presence. But it appears that the best heavenly postcode to have is 101, Abu Bakar Avenue, Muhammad Heaven.

Pretentious, presumptuous Sufi attachments perhaps, but for the followers of Muhammad Habibullah, Prophet of God(pbuh), there is no yearning more bittersweet, no desire more complete than to finally be in the presence of the Prophet, Mercy to the Worlds(pbuh). And I reckon they would not care whatever or however the place is called in the Divine Yellow Pages, because it is only in the Prophet's presence will they find their whole true selves and happiness. The perfection of God's heaven is really wherever Muhammad(pbuh) is, you see.

Well, this is what they tell me, anyway.

You will get to see J.R.R. Tolkien's Smaug the Dragon in a couple of year's time
when the third part of 'The Hobbit' will be playing in a cinema near you.
You will not help but feel some empathy for Smaug, because Tolkien's Smaug,
much like our heavenly dragon considers himself exceedingly beautiful and
wise. Because you see, just like Mankind, dragons too have
rather large egos, which means that the Devil has something
to manipulate the dragon with. Just as He has manipulated
Man since the very beginning.

Dragons! Dragons have gotten some pretty bad rep, but the very first original dragons were heavenly beautiful creatures, splendid in their golden skin and mighty wings. Alas, one ancient dragon was tricked by the Devil to convey him into paradise, where the Accursed One proceeded to conspire and fool the First Couple to partake the forbidden fruit. Because of that single error the dragon lost his limbs, wings and heavenly finery, becoming a loathsome and despised thing, a limbless serpent both hated and feared by mankind... aka the snake.

What a bummer for the poor dragon. And yet how many amongst us who were also attentive listeners to the whispers of the Devil? Quite a few I suspect.

As for the Accursed One(the Devil), he was already cursed, but not by God, but from his very own lips. But perhaps that is an interesting tale for another posting...

The Prophet and the Dragon. A happy treat for a happy day. After all, it is still Ramadhan and the sinner (hurrah!) is finally well.

God bless you, sunshine. Always happy to have your company.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Transfixed by a Vision of Hu - preparing for the inevitable meeting, and how you (yes, you!) are involved.

Transfixed by a Vision of Hu

My spirit is transfixed by you, o’ Vision

Your far-off lighthouse shining like a beacon

For my soul ship adrift far from home

That is by Your side and in Your presence!

My spirit is mystified and besotted by you, o’ Vision

Your love gently washing upon my shore

Like some Heavenly tide raised by

The Full Moon of Muhammad!

Lo, if I could come closer to You!

Lo, if I could fly to You so that neither

Would my head touch the sky

Nor my feet touch the earth!

Then would I know defeat -

Vanquished and consumed,

To cease thinking and being,

To cease being born of

Some fair maiden birth!

…………………..

I am glad I am a confounded sinner. A do-little-good and do-much-bad kinda fella. So people generally don't expect too much of me. Thus, I don't hold it against God Almighty if He (in His Infinite wisdom) also feels the same way. In my Heavenly High School yearbook, I am unlikely to be voted by anyone as The-Soul-Most-Likely-To-Save-The-World. I think God and the Prophet would be well pleased if I am able to save just myself.

But then again, how can I even vouch for myself? I cannot nor do I want to. Coming into my 42nd year of living on this PlanetMTV, I am fairly certain that when the day comes and my deeds are weighed on the holy Mizan (Divine Scale), I will be needing some SERIOUS Divine intervention and mercy...

So I am asking God right now for His Mercy and the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) for his intercession on my behalf, so that there would not be any nasty surprises for me when the time comes when I need help. So no holy excuses like 'there is an awfully long queue for mercy here...' or 'well, our mercy quota is kinda full right now... please try again next time. Oh wait, sorry. there will be no next time...'

So thank you kindly, sunshine, for coming in today. Honest, I am extraordinarily thankful... because when that not-to-be-delayed time comes and Taufiq will be sweating for fear of all his past wickedness coming to roost, I will have to call on you to bear witness that on this day, 17th of July 2012, I wrote this posting asking God for His Everlasting Forgiveness and the Prophet(pbuh) for his prophetic intercessions as God's Own Mercy to the Worlds.

I know you are a generous person and possessing a kindly soul. Just the sort of person that God loves. So your words and testimony to mitigate my malfeasance will go a long way to square me with God... And if you think otherwise, if you think that God shan't care for what you will say... then let me share with you my view - from where I am looking, you are a shining star... and our Most Loving God, is in truth, the Most Attentive to His creation, however high and noble, however low and miserable.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Make It Be! And Make It Be Me! - music, songs and the sufis

Make it be me

I would love to leave this world a song of Thee,

A sonnet or a ballad glorifying Thy utter wonderfulness,

A hard rock or a soft rhythm and blues piece that praises Thee

With heartfelt prose and love-drunk inflections!

And if this is not to be in my life, o' Lord,

How I would thank Thee if Thy could

Make me return to the world as a whisper,

An inspiration borne on the breeze from heaven

To the heart and ears of a songwriter,

And to be able to whisper into his talent,

Write it like this... Compose it like this... Sing it like this...!

I would love to be a song for Thee,

A tearful poem recited for Thee,

In a concert of saints who would

Raise the music to Thy Divine Presence!

If this would make Thee happy,

O' Lord, O' Lover of the Beloved Muhammad,

Make it be!

And make it be me!

..................

There is just something about music that turns something on inside of us. And if I am to leave this world one day, I would love to leave this world a beautiful song for all maidens and laddies in love. They would all be singing or humming me.. in the car, or walking and listening to their iPods. Oh, they will think it is a romantic song about Romeo and Juliet, about Cher and Bono or about Layla and Majnun, when in truth it has always been about you, my Lord! And one day they will know and understand.

Unfortunately I do not have much musical talent. But God can make anything possible, so why not this? And why not me?

And why not you, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Love Already Told Me, But I Disbelieved - Religion, Sufism, Escapism and Our Bold Presumptuous Promises

Love Already Told Me, But I Disbelieved

Love told me, "Be patient..."

Love told me, "Persevere..."

Love told me, "Eat healthy..."

Love told me, "Go to the gym..."

Love told me this and Love

Told me so many other things,

But did I listen?

Never...

So I was brought down,

My stature lowered,

My station left down low,

My wealth and my health

Waiting for a better tomorrow,

And then Love came to me in the night

And said, "Will you NOW then listen to me?"

Thus I replied, "Give me my pen that I might write 'Yes',

Give me my face that I might prostrate before Thee,

Give me my hands that I might do charity,

Give me the Sun that I might know where is West,

Give me my veil that I might hide my piety,

Give me my health that I might do all this

When now I know that all that

You've ever wished for me

Was for my best.

..................

TWO AIMS. The spiritual path of the Sufis has two aims, to address our heavenly endeavours and our worldly enterprises. Because you know, unless you are packing it in, and retiring from your job to become a full-time paid-up member of the Path, you still gotta eat, sleep and work to provide a living for those whom you are responsible for.

What is the point if you are learned in the transcendental truths and knowledgeable in the history of the Saints when you are not well? You have to take care of yourself, sunshine - in all aspects of your life, health, wealth and worldly knowledge, that you might contribute to society as an upstanding citizen, and nevermind your most Sufi-esque pretension.

Otherwise, for all these 'meaningful' and 'profound' expositions on love, truths and mercies, your faith and your 'sufism' would become nothing but a form of escapism. And I know, masyaAllah, how I know that there is so much promise in you.

Believe me. For I am not lying. For I too was there on the Day of Promises when we each made our bold presumptuous promises to our One Loving God. And we promised each other before Him that we shall look out for one another, and to remind one another. So here I am, reminding you. And reminding myself too. God bless.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Angels Making Rain, The Return of the Haze and Super Dads

Making Rain

The Angels of God on their heavenly steed,

Stomped and stomped upon the clouds,

Galloping across the sky,

From one horizon

To the other...

Until finally the clouds broke,

The thunder rumbled

And the rain fell.

..............

Morning Rain. It rained earlier this morning. After one week of no rain and return of the Sumatran haze to my country, it was a sweet but alas, short relief. The rain cleared the haze a little, although it is still there outside, a blurry pall hanging in the air and Man's heart.

Haze. Kuala Lumpur, in which the sinner makes his home has the intrinsic geographical condition as a natural catchment of water and air (and haze). Today however the worst affected area is in Kuala Selangor and Port Klang, at the west coast of Malaysia and nearest to the source of the haze in the island of Sumatra across the Straits of Melaka.

It was really bad a couple of days ago. Today however the API (air pollutant index)
is gradually falling and only a few spots in peninsular Malaysia are the API unhealthy.
You can check the daily API at www.doe.gov.my

Father's Day. Well, I am told that it is my day today, Father's Day. Mikhail called me early in the morning and wished me to have a good one. He says he is sorry because the day came to him as a surprise, and he has not bought me anything. Hehehe.

On behalf of all fathers, I must say I am touched by the idea of our own 'global' day to celebrate our awesomeness and natural good looks. But we are alright without it. When people come up to us and say happy father's day, we don't know how to react sometimes. We don't know where to turn and what words to say in reply. Because, I don't know about the rest of the dads on earth, but I always feel inadequate to my purpose as a father. Just as how Adam perhaps felt when he first heard Eve nonchalantly saying to him, all those many eons ago... "Guess what? I think I have got a bun in the oven! You are gonna be a father..." And never being able to live up to the expectations of our children, who in the beginning, will think us Superman, but later will find out that their dear old dad is just that... dear old dad. Not Superman, not Iron Man.

But never mind... because you can still call us Super Dad.

Hehehe.

God bless you, and Happy Father's day!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way.

The Heavenly Dragon, The Heart Shield and Zulfiqar the Renowned!

In Islam, in the name of Ali, the Cousin and Companion of the Prophet, Consort to our Lady Fatima az-Zahra, the 4th Rightly-guided Caliph, and He who wields the two-bladed sword Zulfiqar, there is no hate. Not even in times of war. In times of war, a high banner of chivalry is raised - it is named The Futuwat.

The shield is shaped like the spiritual heart for therein God has established the Throne for He Who Shall Sit On It. And it is also shaped thus because the enemy of hate is Love. And we take shelter in God and the Prophet(pbuh), The Loving and the Beloved from the whispers of hate, envy, pride and hubris fashioned from the black fires and furnaces of the Enemy, the Devil himself. As we also take shelter from his legions of Djinn armies and the traitorous Ego that works within us. Amen.

The wielder of the sword and the shield is symbolized in the form of the dragon, which in the deeper lore of Islam is a heavenly creature, before he was tricked by the Devil. And the dragon is crowned with the pointed hat of the Naqshbandis and turban cloth of royal purple, the tail of which is fluttering in the wind. There is always a breeze, you see, because wherever this particular dragon goes, so does the salawat (hymns and songs of praise for the Prophet). And the salawat calls the wind, which in the deeper lore of Islam is also a creature and creation of God. Blessed be all of God's heavenly creatures.

The sword shaped like the renowned Zulfiqar is held downwards in the dragon’s claws as a token of peace to Man, but it is unsheathed because iron and particularly sharpened iron is a semboyan (signal) to the Djinns that are ever lurking near to beware and to not trespass upon us. It works. Sometimes.

I like to explain things. I like things when they are just so... at their proper places, and properly named, properly posed. Like ending this posting in the very same way I have done for many, many moons…

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

A Cherubim and the Guardian Angels - a pictorial history of angels part 2

What are YOU looking at?

The Little Cherubim
I caught a cherubim taking aim
With her little bow and arrow!

I caught a cherubim
But it was a she not a him!

How can this be?
How can this be?
I wondered,

Until one grey-beard came and put
My angelic knowledge to shame…

That angels are simply neither
A mister or a dame.
...............

I like Angels. Whether they come to us in the form of man or in the glittering beads and vapour of water flying down a majestic waterfall. Here are some of my earlier sketches, already posted previously but re-shared because this sinner is having a lazy Saturday. Hehehe.

God bless the heraldic wings of Gabriel - Friend of Muhammad the praise-worthy one! God bless the administering eyes of Mikhail - Custodian of worldly blessing! God bless the soothing calm for Man's sorrow, coming from the heavenly balm of Artiya'il the compassionate!

Angels make a good advertising board, if  you can distract him long enough
for a co-conspirator to dab your slogan on their wings.   

There are Arch Angels, mighty heralds of God. But others are less
glamorous ones that attend to the smaller things in life,
like the gentle blossoming of a flower.

Angels are everywhere. A particularly gigantic angel was there
high above the skies of France, observing the frantic dog-fights between
the bi-planes of the Luftwaffe and the RAF in 1918.

Generally all angels love babies and toddlers. Yeah... easy when they don't
have to put them to sleep and clean their poop. But they keep an eye
on us whenever they can. Guardian Angels have a sadder story. These
heavenly creatures are created and destined for each one of us. And as we
grow old and do stupid and foolish things, they become distant, forced away
by the cloud of errors that we smoke out of our ego-chimney. 

Let's find time to clean our ego-chimney, sunshine. For even if we cannot see or hear them, if our ego-chimney is cleaner and emit less smoke and smog, our Guardian Angels will come nearer to us, attracted as creatures of light(Nur) to the Nur of our own heart. And surely then, we would sense their nearness...

Have a happy Sabbath.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

God's Divine Devices & Denominations - love's proxy on Earth

Even in the darkest labyrinth, Love can light your path.

Divine Device and Denomination

O' Love, be with me always

And leave me not alone with myself

And my capricious ego.

And if I cannot see You, O' Love...

Then let me rest in the goodwill of my friends,

Let me sit beneath the shade of my family tree,

Let me seek solace in the company of good deeds

And good thoughts of my kin past, present and future,

Let me take comfort in the kindness of a stranger,

Let me be happy in the smile of a kindly acquaintance,

Let me be guided by the wise and inspired master,

Let me be guarded in the wisdom of those with patience,

Let me take shelter in you, o’ God, o’ Prophet,

In whatever divine device and denomination

You have chosen to express

Your Love, Mercy and

Compassion.

..................

This is how I normally fall from the
peak into the valley.

I do not know about you, but I myself have never ever seen God. Oh, I have heard a lot about Him, and like most controversial personalities, there are those who adore Him (most believers) and there are those who abhor Him (such as they are). Neither of both groups have actually seen God, yet they hold very strong and passionate views about Him.

I would like to confess that I adore God 24/7, but my feelings towards Him are sometimes ambivalent, and has its peaks and valleys. Sometimes the peaks appear to reach so high that I can imagine hearing Angels and Saints singing His praise. At other times my valleys are so far down that I can almost smell the crackling black flames of Hades. It does not smell good.

So I am stuck with this world and the proxies of Divine devices and denomination - they can be people and events, things which strike my heart as bearing some beautiful favour and grace from God. Mostly they are my family and friends, but goodness can (and has) come from strangers and unexpected sources. Help and assistance can come from a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist or a Jew. Even an Atheist and Agnostic, funnily enough. God has so much to give you that He will use all necessary means to get to you. So if a stranger knocks on the door of your heart, do not be afraid. Give the greetings of peace and invite the stranger in.

Give the greetings of peace and invite the stranger in.

Have a lovely Monday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Sinner and the Angels - a pictorial history

My earlier Angels had clear faces on them. Nowadays their faces tend
not to be discernible, in keeping with ancient depictions of Angels. 

I have been drawing Angels for the longest time. Below are some of the sketches, some are quite old, while others are pretty new. The older ones tend to be without any story attached, while the recent ones are normally related to some story I wish to share with you. I believe that all have been posted earlier in this Almanac. But I hope you will enjoy them nonetheless...

Angels are awesome. But you wouldn't want them to be shooting at you
with their bows and arrows of light.

Sometimes my Angels are dutiful servants in a heavenly bureaucracy  

At other times, they are just little sparks of light seen through a little girl's eyes.

Angels are also bearers of correspondences. Postmen, if you will,
between our contemplation and the Divine Mirror. (Click on picture if words are unclear)

I would like to blame Angels for my fatness. I have to blame someone...

Angels of course, do not make mistakes. If there are accidents involving Angels
you would be smart to suspect that the 'accident' is intentional.

This is a trick question, I think. Be careful how you answer the Angel.

Thank you for dropping in, sunshine. May your Guardian Angels be near you always.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Revisiting a Love Undiminished - The Prince Part 8

Postscript 04.04.2012 - My google stats revealed that a couple of readers have been recently reading the posting below, which was in fact posted way back in July 2011. Curious, I clicked the posting entitled "A Love Undiminished by any Ebbing of the Tide, by any Sunrise or Setting of the Sun." I do not know why, but when I re-read this entry, I cannot but think of Shaykh Raja Ashman Ibni Sultan Azlan Shah (Ku Ash) who just passed away last Friday. Perhaps, if you read it, you too will come to the same gut feeling. It doesn't matter to me if you are a Muslim, a Sufi or a Mureed of Ku Ash. If you have lost someone dear recently, and if you are wondering what are they exactly up to now, the posting below has some interesting answers to the questions that is troubling our sad hearts - Has our dearly departed forgotten us? Do they even care about us anymore? Can they see us? Can they hear us? What do they gossip about up there? (Please feel free to disagree, sunshine. After all, this is just an almanac of a sinner)...

A Love Undiminished by any Ebbing of the Tide, by any Sunrise or Setting of the Sun.

THE PROPHET'S SAYING. There is an old hadis (saying) of the Prophet who was said to have once advised his restless flock, “Rest when you have passed away”. Maybe I am a fool, and perhaps I have not lived long enough to grow weary, but I am not sure I want so much rest after I have died. This is why.

HEAVENLY PROMISES. A whole lot of heavenly bling and pleasure have been promised to us by God Most Generous if we just say our scripts right, don’t bump into the furniture and act as decent humans while we are still alive. And the ability of God Most Awesome to surprise and impress us, I have no doubt. But this is the problem. God has been too successful.

EARLY MORNING CONTEMPLATION IN AN INDIAN RESTAURANT. From the moment I wake up each freakin’ day, I feel good. I taste the fresh air, I hear the incomprehensible Indian (Tamil) song blarring in this restaurant, and I see the early morning birds (golfers, health nuts etc…) walking in for a cuppa after or before their strenuous activities. All these things fill me with contentment. I have the whole wide world to experience, and I have people to share it with. Good, kind and loving people. How will heaven be any better?

DIVINE EXPECTATIONS. I have certain expectations. It has been my experience with both mortals and immortals, that we cannot experience life and love without some form of attachments and expectations (in spite of the most Sufi pretensions of detachment). Indeed, God, Who has been most prolific in telling us Who and What He truly is, has Himself asked (nay... pleaded to) us to seek Him and His aid in all things. So really, if I do have expectations of the Compassionate and Loving nature of God, it is all His fault. “Call upon Me,” He says to me. “By My beautiful Names, the Most Compassionate, and Most Merciful.” So I call upon Him that way. As per instructions.

PHYSICAL REST. So back to my earlier remark about heavenly rest. I will accept that after Taufiq has snuffed it, there may be no physical stress anymore. I shan't need to sleep, perhaps. I don't have to work, or exercise or generally wear myself out to the bone. Upon death, when my complete soul is returned to me, and I have finally graduated into the Realm of the Heart, is there really anything I would physically need? The Laws of Physics and our need for physical work and rest ends when we are finally lowered into the awaiting embrace of the earth. Thereafter, really, there is no horizon to the Writ of Love, and all things become possible.


SPIRITUAL WORK. But the point here is that I do not expect to stop my spiritual work. If you wanna call it work that is. For in my short life here as a mortal, I have found many things strange, enchanting and wonderful. But nothing comes close, indeed nothing matters really other than Love. It is through the window of Love that I look out and see the immense glorious beauty that is this world and its inhabitants. My family, my friends, my love and my son. If my temporal stay is permanently cut short now, and I am transported to the Here After, really, would my concerns and attachments change?

SOME THINGS CANNOT CHANGE. No, I would still love and care for those I have ‘left behind’. Assume I do get to heaven (okay, assume very, very hard, please), I will be in daily congress with the Arch Angels, with Saints and the Saintly, the Prophets and of course, with Muhammad Habibullah and his Most Beloved, aka God Himself. Face to face, heart to heart, why should I now stop caring and loving my beloved family and friends? I imagine spending so much time observing and conspiring nefarious plans to bring those that I have left behind to a state of greater and greater spiritual strength and beauty. I would be knocking on God’s door endlessly, I would be trailing the Prophet daily and habitually I would be bothering the Angels in their duties, ALL for the purpose of advancing the success and salvation of my people, my nation and my kin. And what begins with my family, my friends, my neighbours would necessarily encompass the whole of humanity. After all, I have been through it all. So I KNOW how tough life can be sometimes. But I have also been granted the sight to see just how enormously wonderful, beautiful and magical this world can be, if only we would but listen to the music of our conscience and the voices of the Universe. Together they are weaving a loving spell in our lives.

MERCY TO THE WORLDS AND THE PROPHETIC INTERCESSIONS. So this is me. A poor dumb sinner, but even I can feel this way. How do you think the Prophet FELT and IS feeling at this very moment? Has he forgotten his people? Has he forgotten what he felt when he was walking the sandy dunes of Arabia all those long years ago, calling unto people to Love and Wisdom and to reject Hate and Ignorance? Has he forgotten how to love? Has He forgotten us? Has Muhammad, Habibullah, Mercy of the World, Most Beloved of Creation forgotten you and I?

LOVE UNDIMINISHED. You know the answer already. Such is the nature and attributes of God and His Beloved, that the answer to all such questions shall always be a vehement no / nyet / no-way-ho-zay. Ask the ant, ask the Sun, ask the trees and ask yourself. We are held, as one nation, between the Sun and the Moon, between Ahad and Ahmad – Who are in Truth, Love Personified, Love Defined, Love Undiminished by any ebbing of the tide, by any sunrise or setting of the Sun in our short life.

This writing wearies me. Writing the Truth often wears me out. And it simply makes the yearning to finally say hi to God and His Prophet all the more melancholic, but even more sweet. How lucky I am. How lucky we all are, sunshine. AND IF my idea of Heaven is not the same as yours, so what? We, you and I, we are 70% water after all, and water mixes well with water. Such are the signs that God has left in us to remind ourselves that we are nothing if not brothers and sisters, united in the worship of the One God.

Have a thoughtful Sabbath, my friends.

Pax Taufiqa.