IN THE COURT OF THE KING

In the Court of the King

Every day has its night,

Every night has its dawn,

Every thing that is physical

Has its spiritual mirror,

Every effort has its end,

Every end has a beginning,

Every moth has its moment,

Prostrating like a servant

In the Court of the King.

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

The firmness of your stance is important in archery. A certain rigidity is required from your torso down to your waist to the soles of your feet. There is no good aiming and adjusting your aim with your eyes and your arms and hands when you are swaying about like a willow in the wind. So be firm in your footing on this precarious world.

In life however, in the pursuit of truth, a certain flexibility is required. In the opening of the book of the day, in which you will write who and what you are for the next 24 hours, a little fluidity will go a long way to make your story a beautiful one. So be fluid in your reflections.

And if the day is wearing you down, do not be afraid to pause. It is no loss to you if you do so. Speak to your God and tell him your worries and care. Unburden unto Him and let go of your troubles. So be gentle and kind to yourself as God is to you.

There is much sorrow and confusion in the world simply because Mankind often limits God's love, mercy and compassion to what they can themselves conceive in their small and often damaged hearts. So do not put limits to His all-encompassing Mercy and Compassion, and try as best as you can to put none on your own.

Have a lovely Sabbath, sunshine. 

-Notrumi Embun, 9th August 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE SYARIA AND HUDUD, The Prose (Part 1)

The Syaria (The Journey, the Garden and the Fruit)

I saw a journey,

Where I saw you, and I saw myself,

And along the path there were

Beautiful places to rest,

Restful places to ponder God,

As Love, as Life, as the Sustainer

And the Only Nourisher,

I saw goodness and kindness,

Compassion for humanity,

For the birds and the animals,

For even the rocks and water

That filled the mountains and valleys,

And above us in the journey,

Is a constant sky of guiding stars,

As we discover along the many stations,

More and more knowledge of the universe,

But always, subservient in its synchronicity

With the Universal Truth of God...

Thou Most Beautiful, Most Lovely!

And the road on which the journey

Begins and ends...

It was known as the Syaria.

I saw a garden, a paradise,

Wonderous in its colours,

Glorious in its breadth,

As if the Creator Himself

Has taken the trouble 

To paint each petal of flower,

Each pebble in a glistening stream,

With His own beauty and wisdom,
Each creature and creation,
Competing in fierce rivalry,
To best praise God...
Thou Most Compassionate, Utmost in Mercy!

And around the garden stood fences,

White as light, bright as a thousand suns,

And the fences were also known

As the Syaria,

I saw in the blessed garden a fruit,

And the fruit was nourishing,

It was delightful and tasteful

Whatever your taste may be,

It was good for you,

And it was good for me,

The inside of the fruit changes in colour

According to your needs and fancy,

Its texture can be hard or soft,

And according to your need, crumbly or fleshy,
Nourishing you from the beginning to the end,
An assurance from garden of the Almighty...
Thou Most Companionable, Thou Best of Hosts,
Thou Friend of Friends!

And the protective skin of the fruit,
Keeping the flesh pure and pristine,
Shining in the garden like a beacon
Guiding our wavering, floundering conscience,

That too was known as the Syaria.

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

This is a longish tale, so forgive the sinner if he spreads his wings over a couple of postings. But I think it is worthwhile expanding our contemplation a little... Hope you are all having an awesome Ramadan Kareem...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

-Notrumi Embun, 14th July 2014

Hate has no place in Islam
Love will show the Way

HOW CAN A THOUGHT OWN THE THINKER? ... the Furious Question and the Furious Answer!

The Furious Question

How can the thought own the Thinker?

How can the prose own the Poet?

How can the painting own the Painter?

How can the created own the Creator?

How can the sunlight own the Sun?

How can the many own the One?

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

People never say they own God. It is after all, heretical and (even worse), ill-mannered. But by their words and actions, and all those unnecessary comments and postings in the social media, they appear to have made up their mind that God is theirs alone, and those who think and abide to a religious code that is the same with theirs. Our hypocrisy is breath-taking.

But a thought can possess a thinker, actually - this occurs when you forget that you are owned by God, and not the other way around. Then easily, your thoughts of religious piety, spiritual authority and divine knowledge POSSESSES you, turning love into pretensions, turning faith into a dress that you can put on and take off according to your whim. And of course, it turns your knowledge into blind hubris. This is worse than any demonic possession. Because this 'evil' is subtle and cunning, hiding behind your best and noble intentions... Seek help, o' saints and sinners! Seek shelter in God Almighty o' mankind, whether you are clothed as a Jew, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, an Agnostic, a Trekkie, an Atheist or just another poor dumb schmuck like me!

But dumb or not, I was given the answer to The Furious Question...

The Furious Answer

I am a passing thought in the mind of the Thinker,

I am a prose written by the Poet,

I am the painting painted by the Painter,

I am created by the Creator,

I am a light from the Sun,

One of many, from the Only Real One!

I am the question asked by the Questioner,

Thus, I am the answer given by the Answerer!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

- Notrumi Embun, 18th June 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

UN AMOUR INFINI (ENDLESS LOVE) - God, Love Songs and the Petri Dish

By logic, endless love comes only through endless waiting.
But you need not wait so long.
Read on and have hope!

His Alone

Give up the ghost 

For any description

Beginning with "Most..."

Never and Forever is He,

Endless and Eternal is He,

Absolute and Permanent is He,

Any claim of ours to the contrary

Is plain human boast.

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

In the Beginning. I have always wondered what some words actually mean. Words whose meaning suggests a never-ending character such as 'never', 'forever', 'endless' or 'permanent', Even a word such as "absolute". After all, what is the standard of 'absolute'? For 'absolute' also suggests a condition or character which is beyond reproach or questioning. And the same goes also to phrases beginning with 'most' such as 'most beautiful', 'most wise' etc.

Petri Dish. The truth of the matter is such words are really meaningless when applied to our human condition, and to the reality of this world we inhabit. For we are unable to ascertain with certainty what these words are, ...after all, who among us have actually experienced or observed eternity or even permanence? Long before eternity ends, you, your children and grandchilden, your one thousandth future generation  have all perished. You cannot observe eternity in the petri dish of human limitations. By their very meaning these words are beyond human observation and all we can do is really, only speculate.

Infinity in a petri dish? Oh, I think not...

Love Songs. It is also interesting that such words adorn our love songs, that prose and rhymes which extols our love for one another, especially the romance between a man and a woman. But in the case of love songs, letters and poems, the repeated allusions to 'our infinite love', 'our eternal devotion, 'or unchanging feelings' for a man or a woman is not speculation. When the singer sings his eternal love for the maiden, he is actually singing a promise and a vow couched as a fact. 

He he he. Oh, the things we do and say for our amour... 

I love this song. Often, it makes me think of God and the Prophet.
As you can see in the album cover, hairstyles and fashion come and go...
but His Love truly is eternal and endless.

Whether you are in love and trying to guess at the 'endless depth' of a woman, or whether you are a quantum physicist trying to understand the 'infinite gravity' of a black hole, I think we should be pretty honest to ourselves here and stop suggesting that we can encompass the endless and the infinite. Or that we can even begin to imagine what never and forever means. Our mind is simply not built that way, framed as it is within our vast but still very much limited intellect.

Where God Continues...

Where endless and eternity ends,

Where never and forever expires,

Where absolute and permanence stops,

That is where my Lord and Love continues...

And continues... and

Continues...

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

Better and Better. I have not found love nor science to be dulled if I am able to experience both through God Almighty. Actually, I have found love to be more meaningful, passionate and real. And I have found the accumulation of scientific knowledge far more exciting and thrilling, Because both roads are leading me to Him...

Naught that I turn to that the path does not wind its way inevitably towards Allah (swt). And the brightest lamp shining in the celestial sky, lighting our travel is His beloved Nabi Muhammad (saw).

Notrumi, 15th April 2014.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE HAND OF FATE - take the hand and make your fate

Love Regardless

If love didn't wake you up this morning,

Let love put you to sleep in the evening,

If love did not begin your conversation,

Let love still be its conclusion,

And if you began everything with love,

In prayer, leisure, work or play,

Then by God, let love end them all the same way!

With love, through love, in the Name of Love,

That is God and no one else 

To whom you turn and pray!

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

God has created the world with love, and filled it with infinite means and causes by which love may be displayed. This is very, very good. But this also means that this world is filled with many, many trials and tribulations, doubts, errors and corruption that will test your love. As this sinner recorded almost 10 years ago in a prose about our Beloved God Almighty...

55. Love Test

I am He who heals all wounds

I am He who cherishes the afflicted

I am He whom you claim to love

What is love if it is not tested?

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

So don't worry if you start something with love, only for it falls over the side into unlove and regret. You are still alive after all, and it is still in your hands to determine the contents of your destiny.

Love Test 2

O' My servants...

In My hand is the fate of all things,

So take My hand and have no fear

To lose everything that you hold dear!

For am I not the one you must hold dearest...?

Above and beyond any other?

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

We need not face up to the conniving enemy, our ego and hubris all alone. We need not be looking for God by our own little knowledge and caprice. For in the Hand of God are all His Prophets and Saints... So wherever you will find these holy souls, verily you will find Him. 

We seek support always in this and all our undertaking, from the Seal of the Prophets himself, Muhammad Sayyidina Safiyullah (s.a.w.s.) (the Intimate of God).

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE CENTRE OF THE CENTRE -

How wide the centre white line appear to be when you get smaller!
Here is the manifestation of an ego under control.
(someone else's ego, that is. Not mine!)

Where is the Centre of the Centre?

You and I,

We are walking the Path,

And the best and the safest line

Is straight down the middle,

But the middle way,

The centre of the Path

Is a strange place indeed.

Because the smaller we get,

The more we can adjust our line

To a better middle,

A more centre err... centre.

And since there is no end as to how small we can be,

Then there is in truth no end as to how centre we can be

As we walk along the Path,

So be not like those who have judge themselves as 

Being perfectly centred!

For they are likely to judge and condemn those

Who are not along their line of

Walking, thinking, praying and living.

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

The Secrets of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) After all, sunshine, true perfection (that is beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals) is the remit of Allah (s.w.t.) alone, and if there is created perfection to be reflected upon, then I reckon the owner of such perfection is the Beloved of Allah (s.w.t.), our Prophet Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s.). And even such prophetic perfection we are only just beginning to understand. For such is the completeness and continuity of His blessings and powers granted unto his blessed person by the Almighty God that they increase with each measure, as if there is any man or angel created who is capable of measuring the gifts of Allah (s.w.t.) to His Chosen One... 

Ya Rabbi, the secrets of Your Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) is 

Yours to keep secret and disclose as You will!

Standing on the Edge of the Precipice. Let us leave the crazy loony murdering fanatics to the madness of their dogma, whether they call themselves Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists or Atheists. For they have taken a bit of knowledge, but have lost control of their ego, growing bigger and bigger until the Path appears so small, tight and narrow that they are standing upon the edge of the Path...

71. One Path, But Wide II (Or Angels In Hardhats)

You say the Path is straight and lo, so narrow!

But perhaps it is simply because you are standing on its edge?

 ..........................

And this is why, I guess, that the Saints and Shaykhs have time and time again admonished the mureeds (students), "Try to be nothing!". 

He he he. Easier said than done, of course. But what is life without a challenge? What is life without a journey? If anything, God the All-Loving doesn't want His creation to get bored with easy quests and easy-peasy tests...

55. Love Test

I am He who heals all wounds

I am He who cherishes the afflicted

I am He whom you claim to love

What is love if it is not tested?

I am writing this as a sinner, still wandering about the X and Y axis, looking for the centre of the graph, the Sublime Zero where naught occurs but by the Will of Allah the One. But I am thankful that at least I know our centre... our own beloved Prophet, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.). The way is there along the path of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah (traditions) of the Habibullah (s.a.w.s.). Can you see it in the horizons of your soul?

May you be safe in your journey, sunshine. Please leave some clues and signs in your wake and I will follow your breadcrumbs out of the witch's forest. 

The same old story for me. All over the X and Y planes...
Help! 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

ISLAM & THE HEART OF MUHAMMAD - The Ramadan Story, Part 21

For Your Sake

Tell Me that I am the One,

And that you shall love Me forever,

Tell me that I am the One,

And that you shall leave Me never,

Tell Me this,

And do as I tell you to do,

Not for My sake,

But in truth, 

For you.

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

Allah (s.w.t.) is asking us to avoid certain things, because He knows best of all what is bad for us. And Allah (s.w.t.) encourages us to do certain things, because there is no one better who knows what is good for us and pleasing to Him.

I

Islam & the Heart of Muhammad. And because He loves us so, Allah (s.w.t.) does not allow us to wander into danger without clear and apparent warning and cautions. This is true in how we treat our body, how we treat our family, our friends and our neighbours. And such is the completeness of the Islam that God has bestowed upon humanity, that Allah (s.w.t.) even posts danger signs along the neglectful or abusive way in which we order our society, our economy and the natural world. All this He does through His Love for His Beloved, Muhammad Habibullah Sayyidina Sa'dullah (s.a.w.s). 

And if you wonder how vast is the expanse of the Heart of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), look up to the night sky and ask its billion stars, for they will testify the truth that even this entire Universe cannot encompass the Heart of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), for only God knows the true reality of His Beloved. 

His Pleasure. This morning, being the 1st of Syawal, I wish all my readers a wonderful Eid and pray that Allah (s.w.t.) bestows upon you such blessings and grace as is His pleasure to give from His Infinite Ocean of Mercy.

Ask. For if you do not know that Allah (s.w.t.) derives His pleasure in bestowing His gifts to you, then sadly, you do not know Him at all. You need only turn to Him, following the shadowless path of His Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) the best that you can, and ask - Asking for forgiveness, hope, salvation and love in this world and in the hereafter. 

Surely, God shall not reject you.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

FRIENDSHIP OF THE COLLECTOR & THE COMPANION - The Ramadan Story, Part 19

The Collector & the Companion

Mr. A: Who are you?

Mr. B: I am a collector.

Mr. A: What do you collect?

Mr. B: I collect stories and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Mr. A: Where did you come from?

Mr. B: I am from the future.

Mr. A: How did you get here?

Mr. B: I neither walked nor strayed here,

It is you who have come to me from the past.

Mr. A: I have? Well, Alhamdulillah!

Mr. B: Indeed... Alhamdulillah!

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

A Rose of Infinite Petals. I spent some time after iftar this evening with an old, old friend. He isn't actually very old, but whenever I talk to him, he makes me feel young again, because almost inevitably without fail, he would trot out a story of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) that I have not heard before. I would just sit there contented as his words fall over me like a refreshing spring water, as the story of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) unfolds yet again like a rose of infinite petals, told with the passion of an enthusiastic storyteller...

46. The Turban and the Nightingales

There are folds in the Prophet’s turban

Like unto petals of a fragrant rose

Before any nightingale sang in heaven

Muhammad was Allah’s first prose.

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

Falling for a Friend (again). It has been perhaps more than one decade since I first met my old friend. And even then, I found him brilliant, beautiful and with a wonderful sense of irony. Not for him was the same old script of theology and religion. He is one who has helped to shape my life with love and companionship, enriching my understanding of Muhammad and His Islam. and the serious and often hilarious tales of the Companions and the Saints, making them more human and approachable, yet even more divine and lovely. It would not be overestimating our chance meet tonight to say that I have fallen in love with my friend all over again, and with his Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.). Of course, my friend did not time-travel from the past, but his words are weighed with centuries of contemplation of Muhammad. Perhaps, it is not his centuries we are talking about, but then again, there is nothing really new under the Sun, and there is nothing wrong in borrowed wisdom.

207. The Waiting II

Muhammad is waiting under the Lote Tree,

Sitting under the shade of My Mercy,

Resting his back on the trunk of My Support,

Tasting the fruits of My Generosity,

Taking delight in the manifestation of My Beauty.

Attended to by the Best of Hosts,

He is already in the Best of Company,

Yet his gaze returns to thee,

Asking, “Join me! Join me!”

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

And yes, it is his Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), as I have my Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), our idea and concept of the Beloved of God being absolutely personal and distinct to ourselves, according to our milestone in our individual lives. What ties us in common is our love for the Prophet (s.a.w.s.), and the only difference being the eagerness by which we race to learn more about Muhammad's (s.a.w.s.) Prophetic mission, and how better to please the Prophet (s.a.w.s.). And by 'eagerness' I mean his eagerness and my woeful blundering journey.

24. For you, For Muhammad.

I have given you the most beautiful dress that is your skin

For you to wear,

I have placed in you two revolving sapphire moons,

So that you might see,

I have plucked from My Garden two rose petals as your lips,

For you to kiss your lover with.

But for Muhammad, and no one else,

I have erected My Throne in your heart.

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

My friend though is a class act all by himself, and as I watched his retreating back after our all too short meeting, I hope and pray for the next encounter with him to come real soon. 

For I know my Muhammadan muse has many, many more stories to share.

May God bless his furry little heart (He is furry, Shahzad is. He is my friend, but I shan't lie). I guess I shall never be like him, for I have made myself to be a mistake that needs constant reference to His Mercy and His Compassion. Nonetheless I am happy to bask (however intermittently) in the warmth of his knowledge, and most importantly, sincere friendship.

In this world, what more can one ask, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way 

THE ONE ABSOLUTE TRUTH : THE TRUE ABSOLUTE ONE, about God, the nature of energy and the laws of thermodynamics - The Ramadan Story, Part 17

The One Absolute Truth : The True Absolute One
As the wind blows, so it must dissipate,
As the sapling grows, so it must wither,
As the child is born, so begins his end,
As the Sun burns, so it must, one day, die.

As you throw a ball in the air,
So it will return to you,
For you are the center,
You are the originator,
You are the cause
Of its flight.

O' man, so is it any wonder,
That however far your journey,
However long or fleeting your time here,
You will return to Him?

He who is the Center of all centers!
The Originator of all originators!
The Cause of all causes!

And the longer you are in your mortal shell,
The faster is your journey back,
Gaining speed with each breath,
With each thought that temporarily
Occupies your mind,
Whether it is a distraction
Or musing of your inevitable return...

Until one day, just like the Sun,
You end at your homecoming,
To the One Absolute Truth,
To the True Absolute One,

To the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Most Abiding in His Ministration for you;

"Verily, my servant, I have been thinking of you...
And I know, you have been thinking of Me..."
................................

Scientific Documentaries. When I watch BBC documentaries on the sciences, on nature and on the continuing opening of physical knowledge, I am compelled more and more into believing in God. And perhaps even more importantly, how God has created and continue to create and recreate each and every second that passes in our Universe with breath-taking colour, wonder and vigour. Manifesting His truly unimaginable Love and Wisdom in infinite layers.

What God? As I have said before, some scientists experience and explain God through their scientific discoveries. While other scientists, are convinced that the knowledge they have gained in fact explains away God. But perhaps such is destiny, and the existence of the karmic opposites is a necessary outline, a border by which we distinguish our knowledge, understanding and ultimately, faith.

You know he is smart when he can write and read squiggly mathematical equations.
My own mathematical ability is on par with the Great Apes - One, Two, Many...

Prof Jim. Professor Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey, UK, is a famed theoretical physicist. He is also a well-known broadcaster and writer and has hosted many BBC documentaries on Science. In one fascinating documentary, Jim opened up the important contribution of Muslim scholars during the times of the Baghdad and Spanish Umayad Caliphates, and how these brilliant Muslims affected the world of mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy and engineering even to this day. But for now, I am keen to share with you another of his documentaries, which is about the nature of energy in the Universe, and how through the natural flow of order to disorder, this world and everything here was enabled and created. You will be exposed to the Laws of Thermodynamics, the history of their discoveries by the great European minds. And at the end Jim even hints at what lay ahead for humanity, involving the creation of a mini-Sun, right here on Earth (Good luck with that). You can watch it by clicking Here.

The above prose 'The One Absolute Truth : The True Absolute One' was written after viewing the documentary. Perhaps after watching it, you will understand why, despite the good Professor not mentioning anything about God at all in this particular program, he still inspired me to think about God and His ordering (and disordering) of this Universe of ours. Fascinating stuff...

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

BREAKING FAST WITH CELESTIAL THOUGHTS - The Ramadan Story, Part 15

Time & the Heart

A second ago is not just one second long,

It can be as long as eternity

And shorter than even one second.

And a thousand years ago is not just one thousand years long,

For that too can be as long as eternity

And much, much shorter than one thousand years.

Such is the vast expanse of a believing heart,

Whose expansion and contraction cannot

Be counted or measured

By physical limits.

And alas, such is also the smallness of a heart

Constrained by hate, bigotry

And hubris,

Deceived by the pettiness of its piety

Or completeness of its knowledge.

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

How strange the month of Ramadan can be. For it pulls, stretches and manipulates the normal order of nature, the proper sequence of events, of cause and consequence, and of time itself.

Still many hours to go. Perhaps it is the hunger or thirst that makes the day long. The constant inquiring glance at the clock. Oh, no! Six more hours to go. Then again. Oh no! Still five hours and fifty-five minutes to go before iftar!(the breaking of the fast at sunset and upon the call of the Muezzin for the Maghrib prayers) For a smoker, this wait is often interesting (and always challenging). Even in the last 10 days of this fasting month. He he he.

Praying while fasting. For those pious Muslims, I think the best part of Ramadan is their prayers during fasting. How beautiful and melancholic it must be, to be praying in the state of fasting, their bodies and all their senses suddenly focused in the magical moment, on that intimate occasion and sweet transaction, between the created and the Creator, between the one of many and the Absolute One (Ahad). Each recitation, each posture and gesture that he (or she) makes, in perfect union with the Universe, prostrating before the Unimaginable Beauty of Allah (s.w.t.), before His Unrivaled Mercy, before His Infinite ways by which He shows His Love for all His creatures... How I envy them.

Celestial thoughts. I like to break fast alone sometimes. I am not being antisocial or that I dislike company. It is just sometimes, when I am sitting alone, taking that first sip of water and first crust of bread, I feel like I am breaking fast with celestial thoughts. How gentle is that moment and how reassuring for a sinner like me. It is as if, God is saying, "Who will keep him company? Surely he shall not break his fast alone."

I am not a good person. I wish I was. I only hope that God shall continue to show me the way to commemorate Him better, serve Him better and thank Him better!

For you see, there is still much room for improvement. 

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE MASTER & THE MOUNTAIN PASS - The Ramadan Story, Part 14

Inmates of the Bachelor Pad. Many years ago, before my housemates achieved marriage, middle age and a sheen of respectability, they were all seekers. Seeking for God and truth. Seeking for the straightest path and best methodology towards understanding themselves, their place in this world and really, to answer that age-old question - What loophole can people who are patently sinners and ne'er-do-gooders use to get in synch with the Universe and God's Plan for us?

The Techno Saint & His Loophole. One of my housemate back then, whom I shall call the Techno Saint (for he is a shy and retiring flower, and does not court publicity) told us of one loophole in the Universal Grand Design of God that he discovered. Moses, who was there, was intrigued and asked for further and better particulars. Essential to the Techno Saint's scheme is to ensure a transparent and straight path between our endeavour and accountability to God's desk which says 'The Buck Stops Here'. To do this, says the Techno Saint, we merely ask of God to send us a Master. Someone who will love us and support us, and help manage our otherwise caprice-driven life towards some meaningful end. So no more confusing and perplexing issues of theology. No more nail-biting decisions about where to move, what job to take and whom to marry. He he he. I guess not only were we sinners. But we were also commitment-phobic, lazy and procrastinating bums, dithering nervously between life choices. "So..." concludes the Techno Saint, "... If God sends us our Master, then we are sorted! And if God doesn't send us our Master... well, it's not our fault anymore, is it? For we asked already, and God ignored us."

After 13 years, thanks... I was not part of the menage that night in our bachelor pad when this Loophole was first discussed. Nor did I share in any of the strange coincidences and dreams which finally led my housemates to a Shaykh. But I too finally found my way to a Shaykh in 2004, whom coincidentally, was the very same Shaykh that Moses and the Techno Saint was led to. But this was not an event that occurred overnight, rather it was something which was seeded in 1991 when my brother took me to meet the Shaykh and to whom I unknowingly gave bay'at (the oath of fealty between a student and a teacher). I was 21 years old then, and had little preconceptions whatsoever, and when my brother told me to put my hand on the right shoulder of the man in front of me (this was part of the congregational bay'at with the Shaykh) I simply did so with little thought of its meaning. After the short prayer session, my brother sent me back to my college, back to my friends, my books and my puppy-love for girls. I would not have guessed back then, the sheer enormity of what had actually transpired (and how could I have?), and I cannot have imagine the calm and coolness of Love from which it had flowed since. 

And now that I think about it, I have never really thanked my brother for that brotherly gesture. I know he didn't do it to save me. No, it was because he found this wonderful thing called Love and Compassion, and he simply wanted to share what he has found. So despite being rather late, here it is... Thanks, Abang Chik!

"MasyaAllah!" Said the fisherman. "I am not kidding. The fish that got away
must have been at least THIS BIG!"

Who is Your Master? So after this meandering tale, we come to the whole point of this dictation... how would you actually know that the Master is really the Master and not some crank or Saint-wannabe? How would you know that he is actually telling the truth about the fish that got away?

The Master & the Mountain Pass

I cannot tell you how I know,

I cannot tell you why I know,

I cannot tell you what I know,

For I am ever in the state of relative ignorance,

With unknowing coming after knowing,

Coming after unknowing and coming after knowing!

But in his eyes, I saw knowledge like a well whose depth is unknown,

And in his hands I felt the warmth of love,

And in his manners was discretion and subtlety

Sharper than the Steel of Toledo!

But above all, in his heart I sensed

An understanding, an enveloping compassion for me 

Despite all my wretchedness...

For he does not turn away in disgust,

Taking me as I am, beginning from that day,

Through the darkest valley of my conceit,

Through the highest path of the mountain pass.

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

Yeah. The answer, such as it is, is not easy, sunshine. After all, love must have its drama. Shakespeare knew this. The Shaykhs knew this, and certainly Allah (s.w.t.) and Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s.) also knew this... setting humanity on our merry way, unwittingly towards love and all its tribulations, those essential ingredients which makes love and life both meaningful and joyful. 

Go on... knock on the door... You cannot resist Love, you know. And if you can resist Love's blandishments, then it is not Love at all and this door is not for you. But never fear, for Allah (s.w.t.) will always have a door for you. You need only to ask. After that, it is just a question of time before you find the right one for you.

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way