The Praying Cherubim and The Recording Angels - a pictorial history of angels part 3

The Cherubim was learning to pray,

With its backside high up to the sky,

It saw me smiling and enquired,

"I am doing it right, aren't I?"

But of one thing the Cherubim had no doubt,

No confusion, nor uncertainty,

For when asked "Who is pretty?"

It gestures with its chubby fatty fingers,

"Me! Me! Me!"

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

Emina the Hind-Malay-Turkish baby-grrl has become something of a pin-up for this almanac. I am not beyond using other people's children to ramp up my readership. I have no scruples really, but what else can you expect from a sinner? Anyway, if you are reading this in the morning, isn't some angelic eye-candy the best thing for the morning-eye rather than the terrible news, tragedies and scandals that fill up our newspapers?

Right, this is the third part of my Angels series. Just rehashing some of my old angelic sketches for those who may have missed them in my earlier postings. No need to thank me, I am generous this way. (Translation: He doesn't have any idea what else to write today)

This is a rather glamorous looking herald, but I do not draw angels to scale.
I draw them in mental bite-sizes so we can enjoy the angelic beauty
without being overwhelmed. 

Not all angels are glamorous or have fancy jobs. Some work in retail.

But mostly they observe us. Especially the two Recording Angels that
witness and record our good and bad deeds. The Angel writing our good deeds
are so speedy at its work that our mere passing thought of doing charity is enough
to score us some merit with our Loving God. On the other hand, the Angel recording
our bad deeds are really, REALLY slow at its job - "No, I will wait. Maybe he will repent...
Maybe he will do something good to balance his karma... Oops, my ink is dry, how will I
record his sin?... Oh no, I cannot find his demerit book anywhere! Oh dear..."

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

If you are looking for angels, you will find them. If you are looking for assurances, you will find assurances. If you are looking for God, Love and Beauty, would God deny you His presence and these wonderful things that He Himself has already promised you?

Thank you for coming by today to meet the Cherubim and my other Angels. Happy days ahead, sunshine!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Earlier angelic postings, click on the links -
The Sinner and the Angels - a pictorial history
A Cherubim and the Guardian Angels - a pictorial history of angels part 2

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Sneak Under My Skin - love + poetry = babies

Sneak Under My Skin

Sneak under my skin

And tell me how it feels...

It feels lovely pressed against mine.

Swim in my veins

And tell me how I am...

You are burning for me, my love.

Look with my eyes

And tell me what you see...

You are looking at me and I am far more beautiful than I realised.

Hear with my ears

And tell me what you hear...

I hear the vows I have made to you.

Write with my pen

And tell me what am I writing...

This poem.

Now kiss with my lips

And tell me who am I kissing...

Me.

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

If you are alive, you ought to have love. And with love comes empathy. And if you have empathy, why, you must grab a pen and put it down into poetry! And if you have poetry, you ought to be making babies.

Hehehe. But I actually have a point to make.

Thank you for dropping in, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon - babies and brides

Today is the eve of the Chinese New Year, as many of the 1.4 billion Chinese of mainland China and 40 million Overseas Chinese gather around the family table to celebrate the rise of the Year of the Dragon.

Befitting such an auspicious year, many plans will be made and followed through with the well-known Chinese diligence to get married and make many, many more Chinese babies. 'Tis a good plan.

In my office, Shikin, our tiny, tiny clerk manage to give birth to another bouncing baby boy yesterday, days ahead of her scheduled Ceasarian. The vitality of a Dragon baby, he cannot even wait for the Dragon year to actually commence. The baby weighed in at a healthy 3.5kg, which means that his mother would need to lose a mere 1.5kg to return to her normal weight. Shikin had absolutely the most skinniest pregnancy I have ever witnessed. "But she is so thin!" remarked Heche hotly.

For myself, there is a flurry of weddings anticipated this year, as young (and old) lovers among my friends and family finally settled to settle down. In less than 2 weeks time, I am (dubiously) respectable and (sadly) old enough to be asked to witness the Aqad (wedding) ceremony of my niece Balqies and her beau, Amirul.

Take care, sunshine. May you ride the Dragon well this coming year.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Love means a family eating together

The writer at a sea side picnic. Some 38 years ago. 

10. No words necessary

Words are a necessary medium

For the transmission of ideas,

But no words are necessary

For the transmission of experiences.

Though you may find us scouring books,

Know ye that what we look for

Is not contained in the books,

But in the heart of believers

In whatever form that they may be wearing.

Books (and blogs) are useful references. And the words contained in them are all useful references too. It is only the meaning of words that take on real tangible substance. So if you wish for some safety and success in this world, always carry a good dictionary. The best dictionary of all is the Dictionary of Love. And I saw it at breakfast today, when I witnessed a Chinese family on the next table happily consuming their morning treat. But the best treat of all was a one-year old toddler who sat in the baby-chair, who was obviously the light and joy in the eyes of her mother, and her attentive grandma and grandpa.

I think that God has made all of creation for us to discern and sense His manifestations of Love. Our job is just to notice it, and perhaps record it somewhere. So this is gonna be my entry today for the meaning of love; 'Love' means a family eating together. What other definitions of love have you yourself encountered in your own day? Happy witnessing, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Mothers and Babies - we were nothing but a little lump in our mum

My mom and my eldest brother, Zahurein

100. Mum II

We would act so much better,

If we can recall that not too long ago,

We were nothing

But a little lump

In our mum.

Top picture: From left, my cousin Zaid, my brothers
Saiful and Zahurein.
Bottom picture: My mother and me, just out of the
lump in my mum. No doubt she was relieved.

We were so helpless once. We couldn't walk, we couldn't talk and could only cry and bawl our brains out when we are hungry. We were undoubtedly cute (at least to our parents), but our backbone was so weak that we couldn't even sit up straight. We poo-pooed a lot and someone else had to wash and bath us all the time. We were just babies then.

So now we are adults. We have been to the University of Life and Hard Knocks, we have eaten our salt and come to a point where we think, "Ah, yes... I have this world all figured out." Perhaps we are already married, with children of our own to care and guide. Oh boy, then we realise we have not actually figured things out properly. We say 'A' but we do 'B', and our growing up children are starting to notice these contradictions.

The problem is not our upbringing. Our parents did the best that they possibly could. But we ourselves have picked up some bad habits and these spiritual illnesses have become ingrained.  Perhaps there is no worse illness than the illness of forgetfulness. For forgetfulness precedes ingratitude, and once ingratitude has laid its claws on us... nothing in the world will be enough to satisfy our egos.

So on this wet, wet Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, I am wistfully thinking back. Back to the time when I was a baby, and further back to the days when I was still in my mother, being nourished by her and God, slowly growing my organs and my limbs to make up what I am today. If my mother were to have had a fall, or some overbearing stress, well... Taufiq would no be here today. But that was not meant to be. Some 41 years ago I was born and my father and mother had a third son, and their 2 offspring suddenly found themselves a new kid brother. My brothers took a good look at me, undoubtedly thinking the same thought, "Uh oh. Trouble."

9 years ago my mother passed away, returning to the Creator. But however old I shall be, I shall always be a son to her, and wherever she may be now, I wish I could just pick up the phone and call her...

99. Mum

I cannot pick up the phone

To call her anymore,

Nor knock on her door

Like I used to before.

I cannot see her smile,

Nor sit beside her for awhile,

No more errands to be run,

No more chores to be done,

Nothing but a memory,

Written in a poem

Penned from a wistful parting,

Praised in a heavenly song,

My little something

For my Mum, who gave

Everything to me,

And to whom, Oh Lord,

I shall always belong.

God bless all mothers. Have a blessed day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Postscript - Embarrassingly the sinner has made an error. The cousin is actually Shaha. And perhaps even more awkward is the controversy about the baby picture. My cuz Zaid has come out saying that it is actually my auntie Mak Ndak holding me (the baby. Thank God there is no controversy about that.). But it looks like my mum... Ah well. Sisters! I will leave it as a mystery.

The 7th Billion Baby and the European Sovereign Debt Crisis

7,000,000,000th billion baby? Gosh! Just make sure that there
are enough diapers to go around, mummy!

22. Babies & Ahmad

Babies and rose petals

Fragrant and little,

God’s gift springs eternal

From a crownless mantle.

Well, sometime today our 7,000,000,000th baby is born somewhere. This was the news headlines yesterday but I guess it is nigh impossible to actually pinpoint the newborn that has pushed the human population on earth above the 7th billion mark.

Emina up there is not that baby for sure, being born a couple of months earlier to an Indian-Muslim-Malay Turkish parentage. But you know, I am looking for any excuse to publish her picture and ramp up the eye-candy quotient of this almanac. What's the point of a beautiful baby if not to beautify your blog?

In the 1970s (yes, I am that old), I recall reading about the population boom, and how 'experts' and 'pundits' claim that massive overpopulation will lead to world wide famine and starvation. And I remember that they say big-population countries, especially China will be heading for a disaster when this happens. So it is interesting to note that China now is the second largest economy in the world, having overtaken Japan in October 2010, more than one year ago. And this week Europe is coming to China and asking her to save Europe from its current sovereign debt crisis. On top of this, countries of West Europe and Japan is facing a major problem with its aging population, with not enough people of working age to support the growing population of OAPs (old aged pensioners) in the country. So perhaps more babies ain't so bad after all, yes?

For me, now that we have 7 billion souls here, I like to take the optimistic view that now we have 7 billion solution providers and problem solvers, we have 7 billion stories to tell and 7 billion dreams to achieve. Problems? Of course there will always be problems, but if we have God on our side, what problems are insurmountable? Each baby born is another indication that God has not given up on us- "Me, give up on you?" asks God, "I have given you 7 billion reasons to show that I have not given up on you."

So happy birthday to you, sunshine, and happy birthday to me. And happy birthday to that anonymous baby somewhere who is the 7,000,000,000th citizen of the nation of Adam and Eve. Lets make this world a better place, together.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Syawal the Nursemaid and the Hairy Baby - contemplation of life's ups and down

1. I wonder

Ramadhan left, leaving me

In the cradle of Syawal,

And though pleased with

My new nursemaid,

I will miss my old one

And look forward

To see her again,

Next year.

While we are still in the blessed month of Syawal, I have been looking back at my prose, and in particular, the above poem recorded on the 1st day of Syawal in 2008.

EID 2008. I remember that year to be a particularly difficult year, the very first Eid that I was officially single. And it was also that same Eidul Fitri that I first waved Mikhail goodbye as he drove off with his mother and her family to Melaka, and I was left twiddling my fingers, wondering, "What the heck am I gonna do now?"

But it was also around that same time when the first unspoken emotions crept into my heart as to a possible new person in my life. That too I recorded as prose in coded words and double meanings, so that no one might know its true meaning. But back then I had very little hope.

EID 2011. So things have changed, this year Mikhail celebrated the first Eid with me and my family and on Syawal eve Heche sneaked into my house to sample my spaghetti.

Life is moving on, and I am looking at new pastures and new ambition. Things are not easy, but they are not impossible. And even if men are sometimes just big babies in need of nursemaids, we can take succour that above everyone else and above all things created, the Lord is keeping a kindly eye and ear upon all humanity, even us big babies!

And thank you, sunshine. For spending some quality time with us sinners today. May God bless you!

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Beauty is the Birthmark of Love - Prose of Ramadhan Part 45

74. Beauty II

Beauty is

The Birthmark of Love.

Without Love,

Beauty is stillborn.

Have a lovely Tuesday, sunshine. This has been, without doubt, one of the most difficult days at the office. Nothing more to think about now, but to go home and join my father, brother and Mikhail for break-fast. While musing about the events of the day I found this little tribute to love and beauty recorded some three years ago. 

I will hold on to these words, and seek solace in the eternal truth. I am not perfect, but truth is perfect, and may truth find in you a perfect fit, my friends.

Until later, pet. God bless.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

God's Fiction that we call Creation - Prose of Ramadhan Part 23

Talking About Nothing (Ramadhan Verses #12)

My friends spent the whole of yesterday

Talking about the Big Bang and

Their Theory of Nothing.

It blew the fuse in their brain

Trying to sustain the contradiction

Between them existing and the rest

Of God's Fiction that

We call Creation.

It is not the sort of conversation

Fit for everyone's consumption,

And many shall say that

It is a bloody waste of time,

Like a poet trying to

Constantly rhyme.

But these are the activities

Of them who we call sufis,

Stringing their lives along

A world in which they know

They do not belong.

In the end, the eldest concluded

With a timely reminder- that

Once upon a time, the Master said

That to unearth the entire lore

Of Creation and the Creator shall

Take more than one life time,

So take what you can that will

Strengthen your iman (faith), and

Leave the rest to God and

His Project Management!

I INTERJECT! I couldn't keep silent though. And I interjected in the end - This is a whole lot of nothing talking to nothing, about nothing, for nothing, wearing nothing, not even nothing! Put some clothes on, people!" - For you see, these are just the sort of conversations that ends up with Sufis losing their heads, literally.

Yea... man. This is one bad trip... I was a respectable
merchant, when a man named Minum walked into
my shop, and said "Let's talk about the nature of creation."
I thought it was a harmless enough topic... 

GOD INTERJECTS WITH A BABY! And to complete this wordy ship of nothingness floating in the sea of Divine contemplation, let me just share with you a happy news. A friend just gave birth to a bouncing baby girl a couple of days back. I am going to visit the proud couple later today. So in the background of the Story of Nothing, God Almighty is pointing out to the new bundle of joy and saying...

"My Creation is nothing, is it?

It is fiction, is it?

Well... take a look at that!

(pointing at the bawling baby)

Tell Me now if that

Ain't something!"

Yes, God. You are Awesome.

Have a wonderful Sunday, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

Cats at a Baby Shower

193. The Bookish Cat & the Abyss
I began to read, and in time
I mewed, “It all makes perfect sense!”
But my heart felt cinder dry.

Until he came,
And dewdrops fell from the sky,
Smelling of the sweetest musk,
That threw me down,
Then dragged me, clawing, scratching
And coughing out hairballs,
From the abyss of my own caprice.

The prose was recorded some 7 years ago. The cat was sneaking under my chair yesterday. It took that long to marry off this poem to a suitable picture.

We were at a baby shower yesterday. The happy couple resided outside Kuala Lumpur in a new township near Bangi, about 30 minutes by the highway. We were early and Heche was helping to decorate the place. As the husband left to look for chairs (Yes, Ro - it is good to have chairs at social events, as people generally likes to sit), I left to find a cosy spot for me to write.

There were a couple of restaurants I could choose and for a while I was standing in the middle of the road looking lost. Finally I opted for a restaurant with a red wall. On the red wall was an outdoor sink. And there I sat, drinking Nescafe and writing before kitty here showed up. She was the skinniest cat I have seen for a long time. They are all skinny here. It is only in the city that the strays are fat. When I got back to the house, I found that the party had also attracted the neighbourhood stray cats. And they too were a pretty scrawny bunch. Happily, the father-to-be, although not very good at organizing baby showers, had a kind heart, and left a bowl of cat-food outside for their feline guests. I think it is a good omen for your baby shower to be graced by cats.

As a cat, I rarely cough hairballs now. And I think I know why. Each day when I write my postings, I am compelled to always look on the good side of life. And that is why, you are such an important part of my happiness...

Have a lovely catful Sunday, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.