BIG FAT CLOUDS - clouds, kittens and a 9-years old son seeking a restraining order against his mother

Distant Thunder
I hear the rumbling of a distant thunder,
Light is veiled behind a plume of cloud,
But rain is come
The seeker is now the sought
The lover is now the loved
Woe that I was ever in doubt!

Big Fat Clouds... this is the skyscape that was sorely missed by me and my
countrymen during the choking, bitter hazy days a couple of weeks ago when some
parts of Malaysia hit 400 on the API (Air Pollution Index). Back then we saw no
clouds, in fact not even the Sun, as a blanket of smoke blocked our view of the sky...
I felt like the haze descended on my very spirit and felt physically and
spiritually lethargic.

I guess telecommunication towers are a necessary evil in a developing country like
mine, but it does make one hill look the same as the next. 

The clouds drifted so close to the Hermitage in the Sky that I felt like I could
simply lean over the balcony and touch the wispy white water particles. 

I was bewitched by the evening clouds, and I thought I have never seen anything quite as lovely and reassuring as they floated near and around me. The haze and smog was a memory and perhaps a lesson that we ought not to take nature and its manifest beauty for granted. I reckon that is what God wants to remind us of. Don't you?

Before I left from the office, I detoured at the coffee shop beneath my
office. And there was a kitten, wandering around looking about in the
curious way that kittens do. It climbed on my lap and gazed at my face
with that pleading hungry cat's eyes.

Where is the mommy? That is what I would like to know... And I think
it is also asking the same question... "Have you seen my mommy?"

I am actually writing this at the very same coffee shop. But I haven't seen the kitten since that day, I hope it is alright... though doubt shadows my heart. Kittens have such a high mortality rate. *Sigh*

Mikhail (my 9 year old son): Papa... I can't stand doing revision with Mummy!
Me: Why is that? Mikhail: It is worse than school!! She would tell me to read this, do that... and
then she would go to sleep, or watch TV or play on her iPad! 

Mikhail: Do you think I can get a Restraining Order

against Mummy on the Internet?

Me: Hmm... you can try.

I don't know where Mika learned about Restraining Orders! But he has the mechanics of the judicial order correct and said that he wanted to restrain his mother from coming within 100 metres of him.

Setting Sun on the Hermitage. The low clouds have mostly marched
eastwards, and in the distance I could hear thunder. 

Have a pleasant Friday, sunshine. And if you are where the air is fresh and clean, count your blessings with each breath... Allah... Allah... Allah... 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Pearls from the Ahad Ocean and Stars plucked from the Ahmad Skies - and cats too...

Pearls from the Ahad Ocean, and Stars plucked from the Ahmad Skies

I have called you here, my sons and daughters,

To give you pearls from the Ahad Ocean

And stars plucked from the Ahmad Skies,

Yet, instead of offering your hand

To take what I am offering

You bring to me plastic trinkets and broken toys

Asking, “Ya Sayeedi! Help me fix them!”

O’ my son and daughters, I shall grasp your hand

And shake your spirit, for it is not these trivial things

That require remedy, but your will and spirit

That are fixated to them.

O’ my sons and daughters, there is a universe to be conquered and surrended,

A Throne to be erected and mirrors to be polished,

Great chivalrous deeds await to be done

By one who would deign to wear

The servant’s sandals,

So help me help you!

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

I was at the office today (yes, on a Sunday) clearing up seven years of clutter. There is perhaps no profession that collects so much clutter than a solicitor. But as I was tidying up, I was about to chuck an old notebook of mine into the garbage bag when instinctively I decided to flip through the notebook. There, in between pages and pages of notes, minutes, schedules, legal workflows, dry comments and random doodling were some old forgotten prose. Two poems in fact, recorded on 27th December 2004. Above is the first one.

I guess I must smile and chuckle a little reading this prose again. But I remember those days when I was a little more uptight and censorious. I am quite relaxed now (well, at least on most days). If you are in the company of a Shaykh, it really doesn't matter whether the problems you bring to the Shaykh is big or small, trivial or of cosmic significance. For he will treat you kindly, and attend to such things as that matter dearly to you. I have heard a Shaykh even commiserate and pray over a mureed's (student's) sick tabby cat. He he he.

Cats or NOT trivial things. In ancient Egypt we were worshiped as gods!

Thank you for coming by today, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Fishing for Happiness where the Bounty is Richest

Ripples in Creation

God made the light of Muhammad and it was still as a calm sea,

Beautiful in its infinite hue.

Then He made Adam and later Eve,

From whence through many seasons of love passing came me and you.

Making ripples in the Sea of Mercy,

We fished for happiness where the bounty was richest,

.
And Gladness filled the Lord's ocean

As He contemplated you, me 
and the cat called Moses
With Infinite Affection

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

We came from one place, and we shall return to the same place. In between the beginning and the infinite end, we make friends and sometimes we adopt a cat, whose name may be Moses. Or is it Moses who actually adopt us? You know how cats are...

Love is true, highest and mighty in the Lord's infinite sea of banners that magnify and glorify His Attributes. If you have found Love, or Love has found you, do not let go and hold on to your God with all your latent passion and talent for affection.

I was away because of work, but now I am home. And I am so pleased to find you here, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Silence on a Sabbath - All about sarcasm, hard-boiled eggs, coconuts, kittens and moving on

Extra service. I found this uber-nifty sign during the Malaysia Day bazaar last September 16. It now hangs on the wall behind me in my office. Every time a client comes to me with some corporate work, I point to the sign and asked whether he would be interested. Funnily enough, no one has been keen to 'purchase' my sarcasm. I wonder why...

Boiled eggs. I accompanied my dad for lunch. For starters he had Malaysia's quintessential hard-boiled eggs. We normally have it with white pepper and soya ketchup. I don't advise you having too many though, it would have the side-effect of stopping you from doing your business.

We love our coconuts. Malays and Indians are very big on coconuts in our cooking. It goes into our main dishes a well as our drinks and deserts. That is why we are a little on the err... stout side, compared to the Thais and Indonesians who uses less coconut. One of the Malay's most famous dishes is the Nasi Lemak (literally fatty rice). You cook the rice in santan (coconut milk) with a couple sprigs of the pandan leaf. We have this for breakfast. Of course it isn't very healthy. No truly delicious food is!

Father of the Kitten. A friendly stray dropped by my table asking for scraps, but there aren't any. She however allowed me to stroke her head and tickle her chin. I love cats. Especially friendly ones. Cats always remind me of Abu Hurairah, a Companion of the Prophet, and the esteemed narrator of many traditions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. As a child, he had a cat which he dotted on, hence the name Abu Hurairah (Father of the Kitten), He was born in what is now Yemen, and his actual name was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Sakhr Al-azdi. He died in 681 at the sprightly age of 78.

Death on a Sabbath. Early this morning my Mak Ndak called me. She is my late mum's elder living sister. She said that she cannot come to my house today because she is with my Mak Teh, who is the wife of my late Pak Teh, my mum's elder brother (Get it?). Anyway, Mak Teh was extremely unwell, she said. Not half an hour after that, Mak Ndak called me again and said "Mak Teh dah tak de" (Mak Teh is no more). The mosque was right in front of the house, so the body was washed in the religious rite of Islam, and then they waited until the afternoon Zuhur prayers, to perform the sembahyang jenazah (prayer for the deceased) together with the rest of the congregation. Mak Teh is to be buried later in the afternoon at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery, the last resting place of her late husband, as well as my mum's. Together in life, together in death. The sky was overcast and the weather cool, and tomorrow is the Muslim festival of Eidul Adha. I think she has been granted an auspicious day to be called back to her Most Compassionate and Most Merciful Creator. I was not so close to her, but I would still miss Mak Teh. She always smiled when she greeted me. The quiet kindly sort, you know... 

2. Oh Tired Vessel

Oh tired vessel,

Oh beautiful soul,

Your journey has ended,

Your travels are complete

In its wavering purpose

Across an uncertain sea,

For certainty is only with me,

Hope is only with me,

And your homecoming,

Your final harbour,

Your sweet repose,

Is my promise.

Smile, beautiful soul,

And endure but for a little while more.

For nothing will you ever want

When your homecoming is with the One,

For who else shall be waiting for you

Behind the mortal door?

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

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.