NOT EVERY EYE CAN SEE. NOT EVERY EAR CAN HEAR

Assumptions

Not everyone who is breathing is living,

Not everyone who is reading is learning,

Not everyone who is hearing is listening,

Not everyone who is talking is sharing,

Not everyone who is bent down in prayer is praying,

Not everyone who is smiling is happy,

Not every eye can see,

Not every ear can hear, 

Not every success is sweet,

Not every failure is bitter, 

.........

Think long. Drink deep your wine of contemplation. Every person you meet, every happenstance in your life, each breath, each moment is worthy of an infinity of reflection. 

So put down that iPhone. Shut down that Samsung. Disconnect for awhile and show courtesy to your friend and family, to your dinner companion, to the stranger sitting next to you in the bus. They are looking to you for a little mercy, a little compassion. And mercy is often heralded by sweet human courtesies. 

Many people assume themselves to be part of humanity, but they are often away, Lost in the distractions of Twitters, Instagrams, emails and Whatsapp. "I am here, I am alive and real.", their companion is beseeching them for attention and empathy, but alas they hear but do not listen.

So let us disconnect for awhile, and reconnect with each other. There is still so much goodness in this world to give, to receive and to share.   

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Truth is Beautiful, Magnificent and Inspiring - *SNAP* *SNAP* - THE PRINCE PART 31

A jewel in heaven, peeping through a modest veil.

I was driving home at dusk after a lovely day at work, when just as I was coming up the crest of the hill to reach my house I saw a magnificent sight - a beautiful full moon with clouds adrift around her. Like a gem floating in heaven, peeping through a modest veil. As it was getting dark, I doubted whether my camera phone would be able to take a nice enough picture, which would give justice to just one... just one of the countless beautiful moments in nature that Allah (s.w.t.) graces our day with, each and every day, 24/7.

You know, philosophers say the most beautiful things. Because they often approach the truth of life. And the all-encompassing truth of The Truth is Haqq, that is Allah (s.w.t.) by one of his 99 revealed Divine Names. And Truth is beautiful, magnificent and inspiring. In the context of which, I recall one chap saying some words to the effect that, what you perceive outside, is what you are inside.

So when I see something beautiful, interesting, inspiring, mind-blowing... how I would love to have a good DSLR and the talent to capture for prosperity that sight, that person, that event. And to share it with you, my love.

As I did not have one that evening, I opened my eyes and allowed the soul-camera which we all carry inside the pocket of our conscience to take a picture of that lovely dusk sky... *snap* *snap*. Then later that night, remembering the picture, I sketched something for me and for you, for God(s.w.t.) and His Prophet (s.a.w.s.).

*snap* *snap*

It is only 6.30am now. I woke up early to catch the morning air. In the calmness that God shares with us early-wakers, the stillness allows me to recall all other beautiful scenes and people that have entered my life. Some of whom have long passed away. Their faces, their smiles, and their stories will forever live in my heart. And best of all, I have this wonderful soul-camera which gives me excellent high def pictures. Which makes my memories alive as if it is recurring in front of me right this moment. I kid you not.

It is through the remarkable lens of Muhammad, Habibullah (Beloved of God) Prophet of God(s.a.w.s), that I see such things. And that is how I see you, sunshine. Floating like a gem in the Lord's heaven.

almarhum Sultanul Qulb Shayk Raja Ashman Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah (sitting)
...al fatiha

Have a beautiful Sabbath.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Envy, History and the New You

Envy and the 'New You'

Don't ask for a 'new you',

Ask God to help you reveal

Yourself as you truly are,

As God meant you to be,

Each morning, each day and night

This words come again and again to me, 

Harassed as I am in my despondency and envy.

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

Envy. I don't talk much about it, much less write it. I guess you can call it a sister or brother to pride / the ego. It is certainly a close relation, because just like our ego, it comes from an overwhelming sense of entitlement. Envy is the poison in the well, the hemlock in Socrates's cup, the overcast cloud that ever threatens your daily happiness.

Envy makes prayers dull and dry, and knowledge a burden. It has the ability to change your best of intentions into a warped hateful thing. What can I do??

History and His Mercy

Grab your envy,

Hold it tightly to yourself,

Then... in the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Leap off the cliff of your hurt pride

Into God's Mercy Ocean.

And surrender to history.

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

There is some solace, some balm for this poison. And I think you may find it reading and contemplating the history of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) and his Companions and Saints. For in their history, we can reflect upon our own still-to-be-finished story and why that as long as we still have breath, we have opportunity. Well, it works for me... So I am going to read a good book today. 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate and Envy has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE BEST COMPLIMENT OF ALL - "I HAVEN'T QUITE FIGURED YOU OUT, LOVE..."

From sorrowful ignorance to happy understanding... that is our way

Love's True Worth

If you truly love me,

You can pay me 

The ultimate compliment

And acknowledge 

That you don't really

Know me at all...

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

Don't you know me at all? How many times in your life has someone misjudged you and caused you hurt? Whether it is your father or mother, your son or daughter, your wife or husband, your bf or gf, and even your best friend? How many times have you wished that he or she did not assume you felt so, or you thought that way, or that you are insensitive, or perhaps overly sensitive? How often have you felt, "Oh come on... we have slept in the same bed, drank from the same cup and ate from the same bowl, we have gone through thick and thin together... we have faced the world and helped each other... and yet, how can he feel that way towards me now? Doesn't he know me at all?!"

I am just a flower? You don't understand me at all, my love...

No, you don't actually. When you put inter-human relationship side by side with humanity's relationship with the Divine God, it is quite interesting that the same risk (called the mother-of-all-assumptions) of thinking that you truly know someone is the same as between members of the human race and as between humanity and our One God. For God, in the lore of Islam as taught by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) has undoubtedly warned humanity that His Essence is quite simply unknowable to mere creations. Again and again, although God has encouraged, nay indeed required humanity to come to know Him, through observation of the physical Universe and the Hidden Universe that is Man himself, the Lord has often reminded humanity that He, aka God, in the absoluteness of His being, is actually beyond the contemplation of mere creatures of His making. 

Speculations of the mind and the ego. What we may understand of God's divine attributes and names are really just what God chooses to show us. Beyond that is mere guesswork and speculation of our mental faculties and our ego - for our ego is quite naturally hopeless in accepting that anything is bigger than it. Even God.

Divine Adab. So I believe that what God requires of us, we must also make some show of it for our brothers and sisters in humanity. Even our wives and husbands. Even our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. This is the courtly manners ( the Divine Adab) that God is trying to teach us - for our own safety and happiness within our circles of friends and family. 

But I certainly know you, o' Man! Of course, one crucial difference is in the Divine Adab between Man and God, God certainly knows us - every nook and cranny, every hollow, peak and canyon of our physical and spiritual lands that makes up 'you' and 'me'. You cannot really say unto God in frustration, "Don't you know me, God?" For someone tells me now that God will simply answer - 

You despair because you 

Do not know Me well enough,

And though you have lived all

Your life in that mortal skin of yours,

You have barely begun to

Understand even yourself.

And why struggle alone, when I have sent

To your aid, My Most Beloved Muhammad,

His Companions and His Saints to ease

Your passing from sorrowful ignorance

To happy understanding?

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

Have a beautiful Sunday, sunshine. May today bring you better understanding of our God, and of His magnificent and subtle plans for you. And as for that beloved person beside you now... do not imagine that you can encompass his/her entire scope of being... for like yourself, he/she too is naught but a drop in a drop in a drop in God's unimaginable Mercy Oceans.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way  

Between Rumi and Avatar - poetic divinity and over-design

The Wings of My Soul

I would spread the wings of my soul

But even the vast expanse of this universe

Will not be able to contain them,

I would wear the crown of my soul

But the light would blind the rest of creation

And leave them stumbling in a formless world,

I would walk around with the slippers of my soul

But I am not used to walking on air,

Accustomed as I am to the earth

Of my being.

I would unmask my soul

But the mirror of this world

Is held up by my own hands,

And the contradiction of my existence

And my non-existence

Would annihilate my world,

And I would come to be to myself

An unknown, anonymous thing,

To be drawn and written and composed

As God deems fit, as the Prophet instructs.

And even this is not the complete truth!

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

AVATAR. I don't have time for spiritual poetry. For I find this physical world manifest already with the poetic symmetry of creation that can come from God alone. If you do not believe me, look at man's own attempt at creature design... from 'scientific' television documentaries which depict animals and plants dug up from the imagination and tenuous rationalization of scientists (who really ought to know better than go for this 'pop' pseudo-scientific fiction) to mega gazillion movies like Avatar and Prometheus. Not one or two, but all the man-designed creatures somehow appear to be contrived and fictional, lacking the symmetry and asymmetrical cohesiveness of this real world and real creation, registered and copyrighted by our one God. 

Oh my God... you are ugly. I would now normally say,
"Prepare to meet your Maker..." but I know for certain God didn't make you.

And almost all fictional creatures end up with
this one singular fault - over design.

RUMI. Err... I appear to have deviated somewhat from today's topic. So back to poetry and poets. I have assiduously avoided reading poetry, because I don't really enjoy language for language's sake. And even that most celebrated poets such as Rumi and Hafez I evade from reading. But sometimes life moves in its twists and turn and you cannot avoid bumping into these spiritual luminaries. As in a little book Heche acquired for me entitled Rumi - The Fire of Love. This book turns out to be a biography of sorts covering Jelaludin Rumi and his muse, Shams of Tabriz. The book is the creation of Nahal Tajadod, a Teheran born scholar and sufi now residing in France. What makes this book very accessible is that it is written from the point of view of a Rumi mureed (student), but composed in a modern novel language. Nicely done.

I am still reading the book, and slowly devouring the stories and history of Rumi, his family, companions and mureeds, all living in that age under the shadow of the rapacious Mongol hordes from the east. Of the many books I have acquired or been given over this past one year, I think this will be one of my favourites! I will share with you my conclusions upon finishing the book later.

But before I leave you (and leave I must), I recall a prose I recorded many years back. It is kinda funny...

1.      Rumi Freak

A friend once said that

I am a Rumi freak.

But the truth is

I don’t read Rumi.

I am holding his beard

And he has his hands

On my head.

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

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE BEST WAY MIRRORS CAN BE BROKEN - an allergic reaction

Talking to Yourself

You are talking to yourself only,

As you walk and cast your reflection

Upon the mirror that is called the World.

All the good, all the bad,

All the pretty, all the ugly

And all the in between.

Is you.

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

Allergy. Everyone is helping. My hands don't look very nice presently. It is full of scabs and spots which appear to be caused by an allergy outbreak. The doctor has prescribed antibiotics and antihistamine which didn't really work. I also supplemented that with a Chinese herbal remedy (full of dried roots, barks, fruits and fruit skins of laichee and wintermelons) which I had to boil into a blackish brackish ointment to soak my hands in. It kinda helped to heal the open cuts but didn't really help with the actual allergy, and the spots kept coming out. After a week I went to see the doctor again and he stopped the antibiotics but continued with a stronger antihistamine and a gel to rub on the skin. Finally yesterday, Ani, my loyal clerk, gave me a strange jello made from sea weed. I have rubbed my hands twice, and I think my hands feel a little better. I am also taking probiotic supplement pills, as suggested by Mr. Ikhlas, which also seems to be helping. 

White gloves. Today Heche purchased for me a pair of white cotton gloves. I have to travel with Alex and Ariffin down to Singapore over the weekend for a massive signing appointment with buyers of a new condo development in southern tip of Johor. I would wear the gloves if my hands have not dramatically improved by then. Don't wanna scare the clientele. It is not infectious of course, but you understand...

Breaking the Mirror. To be honest with you, I was a bit frustrated over my allergy.. and my own mirror surrounded my thoughts and amplified my concern. But now I cannot ignore that it is sometimes our own maladies and sickness that brings out the best in people around us. Our family and friends, so curious and concerned with my present condition. And despite what the above prose says, this time I think there is no mirror there at all between me and my fair-wishing friends and kin. They are gentle caring creatures, and they broke through my mirror of frustration to give me hope, and insyaAllah, a cure.

And that is the best way mirrors can be broken. Through compassion.

...try this. It might help.

Don't you agree, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Mountain - 2013 and Her Coming...

The Mountain 

I tried to climb a mountain,

So I asked God

And climbed a mountain.

I wanted to conquer the world,

So I asked God

And conquered the world.

I wanted to find the Philosopher's Stone,

So I asked God

And found the Philosopher's Stone.

I wanted patience

So I asked God.

"For all your wishes that I made to come true", God answered,

"And all the wishes that you cannot even recall 

You asked of Me,

Patience is all that I ask from you..."

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

I slept through the new year and found myself gently being prodded awake by 2013. Why, I barely got to know 2012 with all her quirks and whims, all her temper and habits. But it appears Time is impatient for me to get to know the new year, and unlike Mankind, impatience is not necessarily a bad thing for Time. For Time is a creation and servant of God that is obedient and answers to God and the Angels. 

May 2013 bring you greater blessings and love, nested and hatched in the palm of the Beloved of God, Saidina Muhammad (s.a.w.s.). It is our destiny, we need only to bring the key to happiness, that is patience by any other name. And for me, this is the greatest challenge of them all...

It is kinda nice of God to assure me that 2013 will be just as interesting as the preceding year.

He he he. 

Have a wonderful holiday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Candle, The Utter Loveliness and the All-encompassing Kindness - you, God, life and love

3. Burn Slow

Burn slow, o’ lighted candle

And fear not the dark that lie outside.

Burn slow, o’ lighted lantern

And see the shadow flee your burning bright.

The sword upon the anvil,

The hammer upon the sword,

The whirling moth that spins and sings

Oh God, oh God, oh God!

23. Annihilation Is…

The unusual pursuit of extinguishing your flame

Through realizing that no candle exists

Separate from the Sun.

And that all numbers are in truth nothing

But aggregates of One.

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

Candles. The burning of the candle is an oft used parable and metaphor in the spiritual path, and I do not think that it is the sole remit of the Sufis. In other faiths, the burning of the candle, the flame flickering in the darkness and the life and truth-giving light that emanates from it is an observation infinite in its symbolism. 

Little Joys. As a sinner, I often lose my flame and my light. And there on my face you can see my sadness as I stumble in the darkness of my own making, a black shroud drawn over the day by my own mistakes of my anger, pride and insecurities. But happily, it takes only a little spark to light up my day - a smile from my  father, a short chat with my auntie, waking up early to greet the morning sun, a cup of teh-o halia (tea sans milk with sugar and infused with garlic), a teaspoon of wild honey from the jungles of country, getting a good parking space near my office, or just discussing work with my clients in the morning. It is nothing perhaps to some, but these little joys mean everything to me.

For through this little pools of work and pleasure, family and friends, I see Him and His Prophet's handiwork. Allah (s.w.t.) and His Beloved Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) who knowing fully well my faults and mistakes (both past, present and future), nevertheless will not allow me to stray too long in the gloom of my fatal follies.

I cry sometimes. For I am constantly reminded how undeserving I am, a lowly and weak servant that I am. So thank you, sunshine. For you too are a constant source of wonderment to me of His utter Loveliness and His all-encompassing Kindness. You have come here to read my stumbling prose, and you also mean everything to me.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way 

It Is Not Just About Whirling - breathe the Huu Part 2

Last Wednesday night gathered a conference of birds - men and women and children, young and old,
Muslims and a flock of non-Muslims, dressed ordinarily or clothed in the Naqshbandi Tariqa dress
and headgear, or adorning the Mehlevi  robes with its high headgear and turban... came to see and
listen to an exposition on whirling by Sheik Ahmad Dede Pattisahusiwa. At the end, we witnessed
the attestation of faith by seven seekers, as they embraced the Light of Islam and
 the Traditions of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.), yet I believe that everyone who came
that auspicious night left somehow changed.  Because it was
not merely about whirling... 

As the Sheik spoke, he explained, and sang and whirled. Oh,  he was not whirling all night long.
But at the metaphysical sense, at the place where we leave behind our physical senses and enter
into the Realm of the Lover and the Beloved, of Ahad and Ahmad, he was continuously whirling...
Casting beautiful words and examples like honey for the bears. And we were all honeybears there,
hungry for nectar of the whirling dervish. But (not surprisingly, I guess) his kind and loving words
fell from another place, beyond the conventional idea people have about the whirling Sufis and
even beyond the conventional idea many people have about the Religion of Islam.
Because the ideal is more than just about whirling... 

Before anything, the Sheik spoke of the Master of the Zawiya, almarhum Shaykh Raja
Ashman Shah ibn Sultan Azlan Shah. As how the Prince, in his lifetime, invited the
Sheik to come and visit Malaysia and the Zawiya. In this transaction, born in life and
consummated after the passing of the Prince, we felt a profound sense of gratitude...
Of benefiting from the love between two brothers in love,  Poor old Longhair choked
as he referred to the Prince as "...a friend." Love Lights were written in air with the
ink of faith, mercy and beauty. Such things adorned the Zawiya last night and many
tears were shed and many more hearts captivated.
Because it was not about whirling only...

Perhaps this picture best captures the spirit of relationship between a Shaykh (Master)
and the mureed (Student). Over the whirling steps and turning feet, and hands raised and lowered
of the mureed, the Sheik oversees his young ward whirling and seeking the Sought (God) but
in submission always to the life journey intended for each one of us. For above the Sheik
is his Sheik, and thereon his Sheik and his Sheik. Down through the ages for more than 1,300 years
to the Master of all masters, the Master of all Creation, Muhammad Abu Arwah (Father of Souls)
Habibullah (s.a.w.s.). For you see, on that night whirling was only the beginning...

The secret lies in the nyat (intention). From there the Guide that is God leads the one
inspired by his love for Him. Through the springs of life, through the valleys and
meadows of this world, away to His presence and His beauty and His love. The mureed
unlocks each petal of his own rose within the garden of His truth. Speaking the words of
love, "Oh, I am in love with Thee, and I am giving everything to Thee..." The mirror of creation
is broken, and the spirit is released from the confines of this world. Whether whirling or living,
intention is everything. Beyond that is submission, and surrender to the Will of Love,
at a place where all humanity is One, and there is only God.
So you see, it was not merely about whirling... it was also
about experiencing love with God.

I went with Mikhail. Whatever he gained from the talk, I do not know.
But sometimes, all we can do is arrange for a seed to be planted,
and how the tree will grow, only God may foretell.
For you see, it was not merely about whirling.
There is also a bit of soul gardening.

I persuaded him not to wear the Mehlevi tall hat. I said that he does not like attention from strangers,
and the high turban will attract people's eyes. He agreed with me and wore a simple Malay
songkok instead. I know that one day he will not agree with me,
and we shall cross that bridge when we get there.
But for now it is not merely about whirling.
It is also about the pure and untamed
spirit of children.

Lovers astride in a row.
It was not merely about whirling, you see...
It is also about the Art of Returning to Him
while breath still animates your body.

This is what I came home with, perhaps others will feel differently... Give everything to the Sought (God), the only One worthy of your spirit's yearning. Breathe the Huu... follow the Prophet (s.a.w.s.).

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE PATH IS LOVE - one question for God

One Question for God

Oh Love,

How strange I find this world to be,

And stranger still the people here,

Infatuated by the world

And stopping there,

When the world is here

Only to point to You...

Oh Love,

How strange I find this world to be,

And stranger still the people here,

Talking and talking and talking,

Thinking and thinking and thinking

Of everything else but You,

When everything else is here

Only to point to You...

Oh Love,

How can the world satisfy their heart

And the yearning that compels the searching?

When the searching of anything else has no value

If it does not bring them closer to You?

Oh Love,

Tell them I am sorry,

That I cannot join them

In their infatuation,

In their thinking,

In their talking,

In their searching...

For this world is not

Enough for me now,

And if there is a cure,

Please, Love, 

Show me how...

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

I work. I play. I eat and sleep. But truth be told, if any of this things I do, does not reveal just a little bit more of God and of his Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), then really, what is the point of it all?

This is not a question on dogma or theology. It is about the dervishes of this world, the wanderers and restless wayfarers of the soul who, having found that the Path is Love, finds that this world possesses no other true happiness and joy than taking that one more hesitant step, that one more hopeful breath towards Love.

And of course, to reply the question posed,

Much like the path, the answer is Love.

Mawlana Shaykh Nazim of Lefke, Cyprus. Just a couple of mornings ago.

Have a lovely day, my friend. See you how the sun shines?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Just As You Are - people are real, corporations are a myth

A friend.

Just As You Are

Tis’ better to be a master of a small boat,

Than an able seaman of a giant liner,

Tis’ better to be the lady of a cottage,

Than the maid of a mansion,

Tis’ better to cast a small shadow

Than to cast one bigger than yourself,

Diminished, I return to my small abode,

Diminished, I stroll down the quiet road

To my small heart and my small ambition,

To my books and my music,

As I seek solace from my Lord

And hear Him assure me

Time and time again,

Though I deserve no assurance…

 “Others may not see you as a star

But you are quite enough

For Me just as you are.”

…………………………

As a lawyer (for I am one), I take some pride with knowing 'stuff', thinking I 'understand' the world and the working of the human mind. I like to believe that I know 'what's what' and above all, that with all this vast knowledge, I won't let anyone make use of me. 

He he he.

Well, a couple of days ago I was well and truly 'used' by my  client. Completely dropped into the crapper and expected to learn to swim in the deep end of the pool. He he he. But I didn't drown. I managed to get to the pool's edge, but only just. Funnily enough, it was not from any help from my client, but rather the 'other side'. My client was a corporation, and the other side were individual human beings. I guess it should come to no surprise that people are better than corporations. After all, corporations have no feelings or morality.

Even politicians (and this is saying a lot!) are better than limited liability corporations. For at the end of the day, they are still human beings, representing themselves and their personal opinions and ideals, however moral or immoral it may be. A company is a means by which businesses derive maximum profitability with minimum accountability, as a corporate veil comes down upon man's greed and avarice, hiding its unquenchable appetite for money and power behind 'cute', 'friendly' and 'green' slogans, cooked up by their advertising and PR consultants.

I am still bitter at being used, I guess. He he he.

But I am here, and I am still alive and writing. I have done nothing deserving of this, but I have your kind company. So despite all this complains, life is, as always, actually beautiful. Alhamdulillah. 

Thank you, sunshine, for dropping in. Have a wonderful sabbath.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Speak to Him... awake or in your nightly dream...

Break the Silence

Talk to Him,

Talk to Him However Way You Want to...

Through your Prayer,

Through Your huMan Tears and holy Hymn,

Break THe siLence,

And talk to HiM...

eVEN in your nightly Dreams...

For though your lips stay stubbornly silent,

Your Soul may yet find its ReAl appearance, 

And while you fall asleep like a Heathen

Your DreaM takes its path to Heaven.

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

Life is about conversations about God and with God. And it is meant to be a two-way communications. A dialogue. And even if we are naughty and negligent in our prayers, does God turn away? Is our connection to Him severed?

So long as there is a single breath animating us, there is a link. For God is unlike us, whimsical and often arbitrary in our actions. "I am closer to you than your jugular vein", God expresses Himself clearly in the Holy Quran. Therefore, the only question is whether you are up to the task of accessing and filtering the information downloaded from the Divine Presence on a daily, second by microsecond basis. 

And this happens even in our sleep, as our spirit partially (and temporarily) relinquishes its worldly passport to find some divine sustenance from the Fountain of Knowledge. For this world is indeed a mere journey from our real home in the beautiful meadows of God's Divine Presence. And one day (and may such a day be blessed!), our worldly passport shall indeed expire and we will be invited home to the  place of honour as a weak servant in the Heavenly Court of God - Creator and Lord of all mankind.

This is something the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) teaches his followers. This is not just a journey for the Muslims, this is a journey fated for all humanity. So let us be nice to everyone sharing our travel!

Uh oh... and lest I forget, here is wishing all my Hindu brothers and sisters a wonderful Deepavali!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in  Islam

Love will show the Way

The Cartographer and the Map of the Human Spirit

Map of the Human Spirit

I am the hermit on the peak,

I am the monk in the cellar,

I am the priest in the temple,

I am the voice of everyone and no one,

I am the preacher on the soapbox,

I am the merchant in the market,

I am the judge, I am the jury,

I am the son of Adam, I am the daughter of Eve,

I am the sign of the times,

I am a universe all of my own, 

I am both made and unmade,

A thoughtful creation in

My Lord's imagination,

I am the minstrel for the stars,

I am a little servant of the servants,

In me you will find wickedness,

In me you will find virtues,

I am me, and I am also you,

The bear after the honey,

The knight after the dragon,

The alchemist after the philosopher's stone,

I am how my Lord made me,

And my quest is what my Lord makes it to be,

I am the Cartographer, 

Drawing the Map of the Human Spirit.

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

Anyone, indeed everyone can be whatever and whomever they desire to be - a scientist, a doctor, an artist, a cook, a housewife, a househusband, a preacher, a teacher, a mountaineer, a farmer... anything really. 

But above all this worldly ambition, they must learn of themselves - as some would call it the human spirit or the soul. It is not a choice really, for whatever we may be doing, we are all Cartographers of the Human Spirit, and in our daily deeds and conversations, slowly but with deliberate certainty, we map and chart out the seas and rivers, the hills and meadows, the high mountains and gentle valleys of our humanity.

But lo, how sad and limited is the vision of those who do not see that our mortal landmarks all lead to the heavenly seas and rivers, the holy hills and meadows and the divine mountains and valleys of the Life Hereafter. 

The Virtue of Adam and the Beauty of Eve manifest in the mirror of reality which we call our lives, which is not Reality itself, but a brief transient reflection of God's Own Reality, as how He Desires for us to contemplate and understand.

So I am greatly indebted to God for the richness of this world, and the infinite richness promised unto the kindly and compassionate of Mankind. You know... your kind mother, your gentle father, your thoughtful neighbour, your brothers and sisters united in the worship of the One God.

This is a little ray of light of the Light of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), Seal of the Prophets.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way