KNOWLEDGE, LOVE, FORTITUDE, WORDS & BREATH - The Ramadan Story, Part 13

Not Until I Have Returned

Knowledge, don't betray me,

Don't make me believe that I know,

Not when I am often confused,

Wondering if I should stay, loiter or go.

Love, don't deceive me,

Don't make passion to be my guide,

Not when the path to happiness is patience,

Patience to wait and to see what is wrong 

And what is right.

Fortitude, don't forsake me,

Don't leave me when the going gets tough,

Don't leave me to my own vices,

So easily falling when the path gets rough.

Words, don't fail me now,

Don't leave me speechless when I need you most,

Not when there is still many prose to be written,

About God, about the Prophet, 

About the Garden and the Rose.

Breath, don't leave me yet,

Not until I have said what needs to be said,

Not until I have written what needs to be written,

To complete my earthly travel, 

Before finally crumbling in a state of prostration,

Crying out, ya Allah! ya Rasulullah... 

I have returned!

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

When Heche gave me The Hobbit poster last night (see earlier posting, He Hu Never Lets Us Sinners Down...), I was so happy. And I said to her later over the phone, "You know, I not only like this present. I am impressed!"

Even  without seeing her face, I knew she would be smiling extra wide, with a sense of gratification. Gratification because she has always considered me a smart sort of fellow. Which is of course a mistake. For I don't think I am smart at all. For however much knowledge that I have been able to trawl from the ocean of knowledge, I still cannot answer this very simple question about Heche...

Why is she still with me?

After all, I am not rich, I am not good-looking. I am overweight and have serious health issues.  I can be grumpy, especially when I am fasting. And I can be impatient with boring conversation. 

I think until the day that I wheeze out my final sonorous breath, I will still have this question troubling me. 

Oh well, at least then I can get to ask God. He would be able to answer, no doubt. And indeed, while I have the opportunity, I might also bother Him with these burning queries...

Why do You care and love me so?

How are You able to overlook all my sins?

How can You still attend to me when I have often left You?

Who am I that You see that I myself do not see?

I guess what little Knowledge, Love, Fortitude, Words and Breaths I have left shall continue to sustain me until that day. 

So until then, walk with me, sunshine. And forgive me my contratemps, such as they shall be.

wa min Allaha at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

HE HU NEVER LETS US SINNERS DOWN - The Ramadan Story, Part 12

Uh oh. That's a lot of candles!

Numbers. Numbers are important. Especially to God, for it is through bearing witness to His Absolute Oneness and Utter Uniqueness (which is even beyond our bare estimation of what is common and what is unique), that makes you a believer in Him, in our One God. What makes you on the way to be a Muslim (for it is of course a journey), is to bear witness that Muhammad bin Abdullah (s.a.w.s.), is His Messenger.  

Clingy. Numbers are important to me too. Especially yesterday, when I crossed the threshold of 42 into the brand new me of 43 years old. I don't know why, but since hitting 40 I feel like time is accelerating, and I am being flung across the time-space continuum when I am still barely getting over not being a 30-something. Dismayed by the ever increasing numbers of candles on my birthday cake, I am becoming more and more attached to the number One, a.k.a. Allah (s.w.t.), the Most Loving, Most Assuring One. Perhaps not just attached... perhaps even clingy... Oh God! Don't leave me to these distracting and confusing numbers! 

Clingy. You get this way with age. He he he.

One. But numbers can also be good fun (and a good read). For instance, do you know that the number of words that make up The Hobbit bestseller by J.R.R. Tolkien? It is 95,694 words according to Wiki.Answers.Com. And from this same source, I also found out that the number of pages of The Hobbit depends on what edition you have, but they tend to be somewhere in the range of 270 to 330 pages. The reason why I am sharing with you this oh-so-interesting information (wait, wait, don't fall asleep yet!) is because last night Heche gave me my birthday present. It was the entire book printed on a single poster. For a Lord of the Rings acolyte, this is considered Tolkien-nirvana.

You can't read it from this small jpeg, but it's all there... the entire book. The poster is jusr
below 4 feet tall and more than 2 feet wide I reckon. When framed it must be mounted
on a wall in a library. And just when I was thinking of ending my tenancy at the Hermitage in
the Sky, Heche gives me a reason to stay on. There is a library, you see, in the Hermitage.

One But Any Number and Beyond Infinity. We had my (second) birthday dinner at my neighbourhood Mamak (Indian-Muslim) restaurant which is well known more for its location and service than its food or drink (I am being honest here). It is a bare spartan establishment, but I have had many a cuppa there and for this birthday I just wanted something friendly and familiar. So myself, Heche, Fifi, Efa and Kamarul purchased some food from the Ramadan Bazaar and enjoyed a cheerful break-fast there, thanks to the flexible interpretation of the no-outside-food rule by Iqbal the manager. So you see, the number 6 made me very happy yesterday too. For God is indeed the One, but when it comes to blessings, His measure is any number and beyond infinity.

HU. Allah (s.w.t.) is Hu (He). And Hu is He Hu never lets us down... masyaAllah, even if I am just a dog barking at the door of the Master.

Woof Woof!

That is sinner talk to mean "Right now I am simply happy. Thank you."

I was alone in the rain. Then You came and said You were my Friend.

Have a lovely day today, sunshine, and while you are at it, have a nice life too. For only God can truly compensate you for finding a place in your heart for an incorrigible sinner like me. Woof woof!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Gaining the Universe by Giving - life, love and the mystery of devotion

The More I Love, The More I Have

I give you all my love,

All my affection and my confidence,

All my yearning and my desire,

All my giving I give to you,

And all my receiving

I wait from you.

I give you all my love,

All my ambition and worldly aspiration,

All my smiles and outer reflection,

All my fears and outer illusion,

All my mirrors, my music, my words,

All the truths that I have learned

From the Congress of the Birds.

I give you all my love,

All my hopes, my sorrows and tears,

All my garden and all its trees,

The root, the trunk, the leaves, the flowers and fruit,

The ruby-like berries ripe under the hovering eaves.

Yet my life I devote to God.

So strange how the more I have for God

The more I have for you…

 ……………………………………………….

I have a new receptionist in the office. He rejoices from the East Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. His body is festooned with tattoos, but nothing warlike at all. In fact he is one of the most soft-spoken young man I have ever known. He doesn't raise his voice, in fact he barely raises his eyes, averting my curious gaze. He makes me feel ashamed of my own lack of discretion and deference. As he is a little shy, I will call him Clark.

Early this week, he shared with me a story. (He said) One day, a saint was to marry his betrothed. And the saint said unto her - "I give you all my love. My life, I give to Allah..."

I used the same yarn on Heche. She replied that it is impossible for me to give her ALL my love because I already have a son. But I think she is (rarely so, but this time) wrong.  

For I truly believe with all the core of this sinner's heart than the more you love, the more you have love to give. And when it is God and His Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) to whom you devote your life... alhamdulillah... the recompense and reward for you and those whom you love is as wide as Allah's Mercy Ocean.

Unimaginably wonderful. Mystifying in its breadth. As subtle as a raindrop. Awe-inspiring as a Cosmic Storm. And even more than that.

Don't you agree, sunshine? Thank you for agreeing...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF A WOOKIE - Mikhail, Gungi and Emina...

299. Learn to Listen

You must learn

To listen

To your children.

For though

They may be the one

Asking the questions,

In truth, it is you,

Who is also learning.

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

My son, Mikhail is 9 years old now. And I guess like all children he is both curious and self-absorbed, both habitual and arbitrary, both learning and forgetting, resting and playing, and sometimes doing such contrary actions all together in a single moment. Sometimes he appears to be the kindest angel, while at times he can be overborne by impatience and confusion in a world where the adults say one thing, but do the exact opposite sometimes. I think it is tough being a kid, sorting out all the mixed signals we adults transmit in our daily lives.

When he is sleeping, I too get confused. I know Mikhail is Mikhail, but I when I gaze at him also know that he is me. And that a part of me and my kin is inside him. An epoch of previous lives making up part of what we and our children are. And I wonder sometimes, how shall we account compared to our ancestors, both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly?

But what is beautiful and ugly anyhow? A young wookie may not be everyone's idea of the ultimate expression of beauty, but to Mikhail he certainly is. "But Gungi is sooo... cute, Papa!" My son exclaims. 

"Cuter even than Emina (Mikhail's malay-turkish cousin)?" I enquired. 

"Of course, Papa!"

Oh well then.

Listening in was Heche, and she unhelpfully interjected, "Do you know, Mika, we used to have a belief that pregnant woman who always looks at a particular person during her pregnancy, her baby will probably turn out looking like that person?" Mika's eyes widened, "Really?"

Heche, "Yes, reaaally..."

"In that case, when I have a wife, I am going to lock her up in a room with three types of food (Don't ask me why...) and hang pictures of Gungi all on the wall! Then I will have a baby that looks like a mini-Wookie! Yea!"

Heche laughed and simply commented, "I cannot wait to see how your wife will react to your plan, Mika."

Life is full of laughter and wisdom. And the ever-engaging personality of a 9-year old and his strange ideal of human (Wookie?) beauty.

alhamdulillah, sunshine!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Janda Baik, The District of Virtuous Widows and Divorcees - a short road trip

Good morning, sunshine. Alas,  no sunshine here this morning as an overcast sky hides the Sun and its life-giving light. It has been raining here for weeks on end, and I cannot now recall a day when it didn't rain. And we are not getting the mild cozy sort of morning drizzle nowadays, but a series of evening rainstorms that is lively enough to cause landslides and uproot trees. Not to mention making potholes all along the affected roads. More work for the municipal councils, I guess.

But yesterday I managed to visit the small hillside district of Janda Baik (literally meaning Virtuous Widows / Divorcees). I guess this is my fav spot to run away from the urban rat race, and even though we were there only for a couple of hours, it certainly did my spirit a whole lot of wonderful. It was the rivers, the trees, the flowers and the food that did it for me. In the company of Heche and friends (none of them being widows or divorcees nor too virtuous. He he he) , we made our way to the small villages and took some pictures. I hope you like them...

5. The Eye III

I shall never be ready

For Thee, o’ Lord!

I shall be caught in Thy clutches

Like a deer surprised in the forest,

Like a fish

Entangled in the net,

Like a bride seeing her groom for the first time,

And gasping shyly, “Oh, Lord!”

Forever regretting she had ever

Questioned the match!

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

The union between the Lover (aka Allah) and the loved (aka you) is a union without any fear or risk of separation. No widows, widowers or divorcees in the spiritual union will add to the (sadly) long list of divorces and separations of the wholly mortal nature. For once God has entered your life, there is no more separation, and the only uncertainty lies wholly in the limitations of our ilmu (knowledge) and adab (good manners) towards our Maker... 

Have a lovely day, sunshine. And a good beginning of your working week.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Mika's Memento - travel and sadness through the gates of love

1. A good land

Wherever you may go, Mikhail

However far you may journey,

Because you bring me with you,

The land to which your feet takes you,

Will, with my blessing,

Always be a good land.

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

Tomorrow morning, Mikhail is leaving on a jetplane on a trip to the U.S. of A. He will be visiting his mother's family in Bismarck, North Dakota (the only state in the Union with a falling population) after making a short side-visit to Disneyland LA.

I am not sending him off at the airport tomorrow, but promised him that I shall be waiting for him when he returns in a couple of weeks. I hate airport goodbyes, and the drive home alone would be torture, ya know?

I took him out for a couple of hours today. I wanted it to be just me and him, but after a while, I decided to call Heche. I was becoming a little quiet thinking of him leaving and Heche would provide the infotainment to deal with Mr. 'Chatterbox' Mikhail.

We managed to take some pictures before we finally dropped him off at Gina's place in the afternoon. Pictures always tell stories, if you listen to them carefully enough...

No, this is not just a Lego Han Solo. This is a memento of love.
It came with a Star Wars Universe book of Lego memorabilia.
Mikhail will be taking the book on flight, so I get to keep Han Solo.
I get my way because I am the father. he he he

Lookin' Good!

What do you do with a pair of chopsticks?
Stick 'em up your nose of course!

I didn't feel like writing at all today. But it is sometimes good to share a little sadness. Because someone extremely smart once told me...

22. The Gates of Love

Love is not all joy.

It is also to learn how to cry.

So disdain not sadness,

For of all the gates of the House,

It is through Love

That sadness enters

And departs.

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

Don't you agree, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

You Are Never Too Old To Make Friends - intimacy with the Friend of Friends, aka God

...or too young or too dead. Here is Mikhail making friends with my grand aunt
on my late mother's side of the family. al fatiha

172. Layla II

Grey skies and smiles,

Bent boughs and swaying willows,

Falling leaves and morning showers,

Wile away my happy hours,

And leave me in no doubt,

That He made them all, friends and foes…

Just for me.

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

We never know how things will end up, do we? Oh, we may surmise and contemplate according to our wisdom (or stupidity), but it's really up to fate and ultimately God.

Some of the most unexpected friends can show up with
a halo above their heads...

I am happy that I have not come across nor made many foes / enemies in my life. Certainly not the nemesis or great conspirator of biblical proportions.

Of friends, I can only wonder how God disposes and disperses them across the world. For in my life I reckon that I have been given more than my fair share of sparkling souls masked in the mortal skin of 'a friend'.

Freshly minted husband and wife -
Syed Khaled and Sherry Fifi

When I started going out with Heche, I was a little apprehensive of clicking into her clique of friends, for they are all a good 13 years younger than me. And while I always try to be friendly, I never truly considered the chance that I can actually be friends with them, such is the divide between our two generations that I perceived. And to make a confession here, I think although I have always been kind, the kindness is layered with a tinge of condescending overtone on my part - "These bucks and nubile young things! Ah... so much yet for them to learn and go through!"

But experience teaches us and make us unlearn our stupidity. For the truth is the young sometimes have a lot to teach us. And there are those amongst them who have gone through much more than we have and have something to offer and share with us, if we would only stop riding on our so-called wisdom earned through our age.

For at this juncture, I am STILL learning. And one of the most important lesson I have gained this year is this - We are never too old to make friends. I am not gonna let my age stand in the way of God's generosity towards me... For now I know that The Lord of Muhammad(pbuh) and God the Friend of Friends still have many, many more friends to bless my life with now and further down the road.

Alhamdulillah...(God be praised!)

Ah... the impertinent energy of youth!
How wonderful God made us, sunshine... do you recall?

Have a restful Sunday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Love is Trouble... but it is a Beautiful Trouble - love and marriage in Perlis part 2

Love is like the rumbling thunder in the overcast skies of your heart.
"Uh Oh... sounds like trouble." your heart confides. And yes, it is
trouble, but it is a beautiful trouble.

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

1. While sipping coffee
While sipping coffee,
I was distracted by 
The veil of angels
That man call rainfall.

The curtain fall of
A billion angels
Plummeting earthbound,
As they cry out,
“Mercy is coming down!
Mercy is coming down!”

A few noticed me,
And they smiled
As they greeted me,
“Hi, Taufiq! Hi, Taufiq!
Do not listen to the whispering one!”
.............

Update - The Wedding Prep in Perlis. The above prose was recorded in early 2009. I am pretty sure I was sitting somewhere and it was raining, as it is right now here in Kangar, Perlis. Heche and Efa is at the bride's house, no doubt keeping the lovely girl's emotion steady and calm amidst the hustle and bustle of the wedding prep. Fifi is the eldest daughter, you see, and this wedding is the very first for her family. Nervous hearts all around. And now it is RAINING! Oh no... what will happen to the just-raised canopies and tents? But the rain is not too heavy (which by Malaysian standards means that it is not in the risk of uprooting 120 years old tropical trees), so we are hoping for the best.

As you have read in the earlier post this morning (and if you haven't, why haven't you?? Click Here), the marriage is of Fifi (Malay-Malay) with Syed Khaled (Arab Malay), and things are just getting interesting. I am here also with Kamarul, and it has been made clear to us that although we are friends with both bride and groom, that for today and tomorrow, we are with the bride's host and should, under no circumstances, 'act' as if we are with the groom's entourage... He he he. Boy, people sure get competitive at weddings! Not that Khaled will miss us, as he has about 100 strong already here or arriving soon. With the open invitation to the whole kampung (village), family and friends of Fifi, they anticipate more than 300 guests for today's Aqad (Muslim wedding ceremony), and about 700 tomorrow afternoon's official reception.

Love & Marriage. As we are in the topic of rain, love and marriage (which goes together like a horse and carriage, as the song aptly says), here is another prose recorded around the same time in 2009. It was written in the throes of passion for a human being called Heche. We have been to many, many weddings since, a few of my friends' but mostly hers. And as the rain falls more heavily today, I am wondering to myself, "When will our turn come?"

16. Like the rain

Whenever I look at you,

I am blessed by God,

Whenever I sit beside you,

I am blessed by God,

Whenever you smile,

And whenever you frown,

In that and all, I am blessed.

Whatever you say,

Whatever you don’t say,

Whatever you do, and

Whatever you don’t do,

I am blessed by God.

Like the rain,

You simply happened.

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

Good things ought not to be delayed, people say. So I am asking the Angels of the Rain to tender my application to God and His Prophet(pbuh) to hurry things up up there. Pray for us, sunshine.

I think there is a traffic jam of marriages destined to happen up there
in heaven. I hope the Angels will sort out the bottle neck and unclog
the matrimonial congestion. 

And to conclude, this is the ending of the collection of prose entitled 'Just between You and Me', more than 3 long years ago...

wa min Allah at-Taufiq

25th February 2009

There is only God, and naught but God,

And by my skin that hides my soul,

And by the bones that bear my body,

And by the fire of my ego, and the crowning throne

That is the heart to be possessed by my Him,

Muhammad Habibullah al-Mustafa,

Abu Arwah, the most perfect Rose

In the Garden of my Lord’s creation, it is He! It is He

That is the Messenger of God!

All Glory to God!

All Praise!

All Thought!

All Love!

All Life!

All me!

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

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

I Go Die Now - A diabolical posting in celebration of Womanhood and Humour

29. Humour is my salvation

Humour is my salvation,

Laughter my salve,

Wit is the cooling breeze

That calms my trembling hand

Already upon the hilt

Of my sword.

God bless humour, and

Humorous men.

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

When God created Eve from Adam's left rib, God replaced it
with a funny bone - Because God knows how men would survive women
without a sense of humour...

You do not know love if you have not had the temptation of slicing your own head off to escape from the complaints and criticisms that issues forth from the loving lips of your beloved. You need a little sense of humour to get through any relationship. Don't you agree, sunshine?

And you do not know love if you have not complained to her, "But you treat your friends so differently. You ARE different when you are with you friends. I do not want to criticize you, my love, but you can be awfully touchy and sensitive when you are alone with me." 

And you do not know love if you have not heard her reply, "You get ALL of me, even the parts that my friends may find nauseating (read sentimental) or intolerable (read just mental). You should feel honoured really."

Heche sent me a text message just a couple of minutes ago, and this is what it read, "Its my birthday. No posting for me. I go die now!!"

Oops.

So this is the posting. I hope she is pleased and decides to reassess her firm decision to 'go die now'. Perhaps this posting is not as how Heche would like it to be, but that is the cross she must bear to be with someone as indiscreet as me. After all, no one but an indiscreet rogue would post a private message on his public blog for the world to read. And perhaps that is why I greatly esteem Heche for her apparent and hidden charms(to use the words of Elinor from Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibilities). Because she too needs a sense of humour to be with me. 

I have been spending these last couple of days nursing a silent sorrow for Ku Ash. All my friends have, bereft as they are from the calming-inspiring presence of the Master. But perhaps it is time to let a little sun ray of humour into our world. For life indeed must go on, with its eternal mix of joy and sadness, laughter and tears... Happy birthday, sweetums.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Sarcasm is from the Devil
Irony is from God
Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

At the Vocabulary Junction in the Forest of Our Wild Imagination

Forest river, near Janda Baik village, Pahang.

8. Ah, a Woman

Fragile and soft,

Yielding

But ever so

Commanding.

Heche's Abridged Complaint

I was sitting with Heche one day where she was complaining about not having enough self-confidence. I commiserated with her like any gentleman would, until her conversation winded down to "You know... I felt...umm. I felt like... umm...I was like errr..." I interrupted her vocabulary stalemate and commented tartly, "Yes, yes, I know. But do YOU know how lucky you are? If your mastery of the English language is better, can you imagine the sort of despairing prose you can be verbalizing right now? Don't you agree that sometimes it is GOOD not to be able to find the right words...?"

She threw a tissue box at me.

In the Forest of Our Wild Imagination

But really, when you think about it, isn't it good sometimes to be not so imaginative? I myself have a rather vivid imagination, and although I enjoy it, I will confide something with you here - My imagination has led me to some pretty dark places that I wish I have never ever known...

But I guess this is part of life - We don't always end up where we want to end up. And perhaps that is why our attachments to God and good conscience are like bread crumbs we leave behind. So even if we get lost in the Forest of our Wild Imagination, we can still find our way back out...

Alhamdulillah, I see the Sun again!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Marriage is Surplus to My Requirements - the King said...

I received this wedding invite a couple of days back. The invitation is from my oldest buddy who has been an active participant of the story, 'Taufiq, His Life' for more than 24 years.

It all began more than a year ago, when I started noticing that this friend has been spending an awful lot of time with a girl. "Is there anything going on with you two?" I tactfully asked. My friend answered in the negative. It's totally platonic he said. Then he went on the attack and said, "The problem with you is that you cannot even entertain the idea of being close friends with a woman without getting romantically entangled."

Six months down the road, again I inquired, "Are YOU sure there is nothing going on?" To which my friend said, "Bro, I am happy. You know me... Marriage is surplus to my requirements." Oh. Okay.

In early December he called me and Heche, "Let's meet up, I have some important news." So we had lunch at our favourite roast duck joint in Bangsar. "Since you guys have been awfully meddlesome about my relationships, I have gotta tell you that me and Pea (for that is the girl's nickname) are getting serious." 

Two weeks after that, King (for that is my friend's nickname) confided that they are unofficially engaged and will have the engagement ceremony in February, which proceeded well according to his postmortem. The wedding is now set for next month. Very fast? I blame it all on King's pent-up tension and pressure of 41 years of bachelorhood.

The cards are designed and printed in Jakarta, Indonesia. Way cheaper there, it seems.

I love weddings. Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Love Square

This afternoon, Heche made an interesting comment.

"I see you dedicated a song to the Prophet in your blog. Do you know that I LOVE that song and thought that it was the perfect song for a wedding reception. The bride walking up the aisle... etc. But I see I must come second place to the Prophet. And it is not even a love triangle if you count God. It is a love square! For you it's always gonna be God, Prophet, and me somewhere far down the line..."

We laughed about it as if it was true!

Later in the afternoon, I needed to get new glasses (My first bifocals. Yup... sad but true), so at the appointed time I called Heche. No answer. I called her 6 times and still no answer. "See..!" I grumpily thought to myself, "... This is why you come in third place. Because God is ALWAYS waiting for my call."

Hehehe. But that is kinda the truth. God is always waiting for us (in an active and not passive way). God may grant or withhold what we are asking for, but He will listen to us nonetheless, any time, any day.

Have a lovely Sabbath, sunshine. If you come across Heche, please tell her that I am waiting. I need new glasses!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Love is a Mystery to Me, So I Sought Her in the Library

Love Among the Books

Love is a mystery to me,

So I sought her in the library,

Under the section of Fiction,

I found all of her anger,

Sorrow and despair

Were but a temporary state.

“I am not always this way,” she said.

Under the section of Current Affairs,

I found books and books about me,

And often it is about love and hope,

But sometimes the story is very sad,

To which I must answer her

And say, “I am sorry.

My bad".

Under the section of History,

I read about her birth, her childhood,

Her family and friends,

Thus she found me there, and said,

“May our own history never end.”

Under the section of Humour,

I found her funnier

Than Karl Marx,

Her slapsticks more hilarious

Than Spinoza,

And her laughter more musical

Than Gershwin.

Under the section of Literature

I found her as Lizzie

In Pride and Prejudice,

As Marianne to tame willful Willoughby,

As Layla being courted by Majnun,

Wracked by love, overwrought by jealousy.

To which she fussed, “Jealous… ME?”

Under the section of Poetry

She found my soul there,

Hard at work, scribbling prose

Of God, Prophet and Love,

And she demanded,

“Where am I in all of this?”

To which I said,

“Why, love, in the kiss…”

She paused for a bit, biting her lip

Before firmly summing up,

“Damn the kiss, write something about ME!”

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

Heche says I don’t write much about her. That even when I do, it is in the passing, a minor point before I tear away into the stratosphere.

So I will stop here before I go any further.

For those celebrating love on Valentine’s, I wish you many happy kisses. For those celebrating love each and every day, you have my utter admiration....

Wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way