WHEN WE FORGET, WE FALTER - remembering God and His Goodness

When the One

How happy am I to be sad,

When the One to make me happy is You.

How healthy am I to be ill,

When the One to heal me is You.

How joyful is my broken heart,

When the One to mend it is You.

How wise am I to be foolish,

When the One to teach me is You.

How contented am I to be lost,

When the One looking for me is You.

How victorious am I to be defeated,

When the One to conquer me is You.

How unworried am I to be broken,

When the One to pick up my broken pieces is You.

How beautiful am I in my plainness,

When the One to blush my cheeks,

To comb my hair, to hold my hand

And lift my veil Is You 

And none but You...

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

When we forget, we falter. Someone told me a little while back that we make mistakes, we commit sin unto ourselves and others, simply when we forget. We forget that behind every sadness and happiness, success and failures, calamities and joyous surprises, behind the veil of our supposed knowledge and certain ignorance, there is none there but God Almighty. So we overreact. We lose our balance. We do an 'oopsie'.

The Beautiful Symmetry. When the truth of it all is that there is only Hu (meaning He), who is none other than God Himself planning the ebb and rise of our fortunes, our birth, marriage, work, illness, children and death. If we remember this, surely there is nothing to despair for us, once we realise we are nothing in His Loving Embrace... so that we might finally see the beautiful symmetry of His Works, the infinite beauty of His Creation, and the unimaginable mercy of His Compassion.

Have a wonderful Eidil Adha, sunshine. Don't forget. Try to remember. And if you see me falter (as I surely will!), help me and remind me of His Goodness.

Our greeting of peace unto the Prophet Muhammad (saws), his noble family and companions ,and unto the saints for the sinners... alive and living in the grave.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

DRESSED FOR THE MERCY OCEANS - the ego, pious fools and sinners

Dressed for the Mercy Oceans

It is best to dress less 

For a swim in the Mercy Oceans.

So leave your pantaloons of presumptions,

Take off your turban of knowledge,

Unbuckle your belt of pretensions,

Drop your robes of speculations

On the Mercy Oceans' sandy beach,

And leave your veneer of piety

Along with the rest 

Of the disguises

That you have

Gained

Through

All your years of study,

Then follow me,

Unmasked as you truly are,

A journeyman, a sinner.

After all, think about it...

What use for anyone is the Mercy Oceans

If not for Mercy's dispensation?

And who is the guest of the Forgiver

If not for us, the sinners

Seeking to be forgiven?

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

Naked before Mercy. Shed what you think you know. Dispense with the dress of knowledge and enter the Ocean of Knowledge untouched as a newborn. In the realm of Mercy, there is nothing you can hide, for why would you want to hide what you need cleansing and redemption of? And really, who are we trying to kid? ... as if God doesn't know already all our misdeeds and miscalculations, all our secret pacts with our ego as we excuse and justify our selfish wants.

It is not easy, this thing we are talking about. In a way, it would be easier for us to peel away our skin then to peel away the layers of hubris that make up what we are. Were it as simple as undressing, you would see a lot more people in society, walking in public, dressed as required by Adab (good manners) but bare naked of their egos... 

Good Intentions. The truth is that the human ego was created by God to be very durable, and this world was created perfectly for the ego. In our little triumphs, our ego extols our own successes, while in failures, our ego blames fate or some convenient others. And greater is the tribulations for those who seek to do good, rather than be a channel for good - It is a fine but important distinction, and graphically described in the famous phrase - "The road to hell is paved with good intentions", and "May God save us from pious fools." Such is our end, when our ego, disguised as righteousness, hijacks our life and what little good that we hope to achieve. May Allah (s.w.t.) save us from our own self-deception!

Submission to the True Good that is the True God. The road to the Mercy Oceans is one paved with submission. For we have set aside the cloak of our own presumption of knowing anything at all. It is not good intentions that drive us to seek the Mercy Oceans. It is actually necessity, our thirst for comfort and assurance, our hunger for understanding and forgiveness that compels us towards its divine waters. And good intentions? Just like our egos, we must forsake our petty good intentions, and give goodness its due to the True Origin and Dispenser of Goodness, Allah (s.w.t.) and His own anointed Mercy to all the Worlds, Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s.).  

And We have not sent you, (o' Muhammad), except as a mercy to the worlds(Quran 21:107)

The delicate questions of our ego, good intentions and submission are all difficult propositions to deal with even for the most saintly ones among us. But God knows us in our best and in our worst. And I think God is only asking that we try. And beyond our faulty and inconsistent efforts for God and His Goodness, ...is His Mercy.

Which brings us back to the Mercy Oceans.

Care for a swim, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

SHAYKHS SIGHTED AT MERCY OCEANS! - swimming at the risk of your ego...

The world, our world, is built on perception. So I reckon it is good that we perceive the world through the best lens available. And the best is the lens of the heart, for when you see with your heart, in which is enthroned the virtues of love, compassion, understanding, empathy and wisdom, you will see not a world of chaos. Instead, you will realise a world that is ringed by oceans upon oceans of the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate One, which you may call the Mercy Oceans. Indeed, that is the title of a book which goes highly recommended for the aspirants of the heart.

Who is the Master of the Mercy Oceans? Why, it is none other than the Most Beloved of Allah (s.w.t.) Himself, being our Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.). And who are the dwellers of the Mercy Oceans? It is the Prophets of God, the blessed family of Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s.), his Companions (r.a.) and the Saints, being the souls of the blessed Friends of God, who are conveniently referred to as the Shaykhs or Mursheeds. 

Wow... The Mercy Oceans sounds really crowded! But the truth is the number of Shaykhs in residence, although more than commonly known, is actually rather small in comparison to the vast billions of humanity that have been born (and will be born). And yet, if you would but dip a tentative toe into its waters, I have no doubt that there is a true Shaykh swimming in the vicinity. It is not coincidental at all, in fact, it is a miracle of sorts... A fated meeting between the mureed (student) and the Mursheed / Shaykh (Master) long planned in the Divine Scheme of things.

Where is everybody, little Nemo?

There is nothing to fear in the Mercy Oceans, no sharks, barracudas or anything like that. But  as I said, there are Shaykhs loitering about, but they will only pose danger to your ego, not you. 

So why wait any longer, sunshine? The beach at the Mercy Oceans is open 24/7, 365 days of the year. And sinners are especially welcomed. And no prior swimming ability required.

Trust me. He he he.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way