DON'T BLINK! ...passengers waiting at the terminal of life

Don't Blink!

Don't mind me,

I am just passing through,

Don't mind me,

I am just passing by,

Don't save a seat for me,

Don't sign that freehold,

I am not stopping here forever,

Nothing will stop us from 

Growing old,

For I am just passing through,

A traveler in my life's winter,

All dressed to face the cold,

Waiting to drink the bitter,

A traveler passing by,

Suddenly out of the door,

If you but blink an eye

Here, in my life's winter... 

So don't think. my child,

Love and do not blink.

..................... 

It is futile to seek permanence in this reality. For this world is in truth a departure terminal. Undoubtedly, it is a beautiful place to be, with all sorts of distractions on offer, but we cannot deny that upon the instance of our birth, we already have our boarding pass for that return flight to our Creator.

I guess the apparent regularity of death in my life, among my friends, family members and my masters,, has turned my mind towards the inevitable question  - I hope my destination at the end of that not-to-be-delayed flight will be the same.

For I love them so, and I miss them so. And with them is where I want to be. I figure that you too have witnessed the passing of your loved ones, sunshine. And perhaps like me, you also now tend to look at the wares and products on offer in the terminal of this life with less attention and passion. Not because we love life less, no, it is not that at all...

It is only because life has an end, do we realise how precious it is. 

Thus by the infinite, do we comprehend the value of the finite...

Don't you agree, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way  

Human Usury & the Divine Debt - between servitude and servanthood

Servitude or Servanthood?

Indebtedness to usurious men

Will imprison you forever 

In the chains of servitude.

Indebtedness to God and His Prophet

Will release you from your enslavement,

And bring you to the station of servanthood.

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

Human Usury. When I am a little (or a lot) late in paying my credit card bills, car instalments, phone bills, my daily life suddenly becomes stressful with the constant barrage of calls, emails, sms-es and legal notices, all of them making it plain that woeful consequences will befall me if I fail to regularise my account. This is the curse of the credit-driven consumer society that we live in now.

Divine Debt. God is so different though we are utterly indebted to Him for everything, He do not even ask to be repaid, for He knows very well that we cannot. All He asks is that we realise our indebtedness to Him, and that we use our heart and our mind to conjecture from there how best to live our life.

And this admission of indebtedness will make us rich beyond our imagination. 

Creation and all its contents cannot be weighed

Against the heart of a true believer

For he sees beyond his worldly needs,

Piercing the veil to see

The all-nourishing attribute

Of the Creator Almighty...

And on top of all these divine goodies, God the Giver is asking us to continue asking more and more from Him... His generosity is infinite and incomparable. 

If you are attending to matters of the Infinite,

You have to start loving infinitely.

Which brings us to our greatest debt to God... His Beloved, Nabi Muhammad (saws), the Mercy to all the Worlds and Nations. 

You don't remember asking God for the Prophet (saws)? You did, my friend, you certainly did - a long, long time ago, before your soul was ever dressed in your mortal coil, before any mountain grew from the earth, before any bird flew in the sky. 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

-Notrumi Embun, 4th August 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way 

MOST GLORIOUS (AND THE GLORY IN THE NIGHT)

Most Glorious

I know of hemlock that I may know of bees and their honey,

I know what is wrong that I may do what is right,

I know pain and illness that I may receive relief and comfort,

I know the brightness of day that I may keep by His side through the night,

I know of illiteracy and ignorance that I may receive His Holy Words,

I know of evil that Man do that I may see God's Own Goodness,

I know the bland and dull that I may see His Most Wonderous

Speaking to me in tongues too subtle for men to record,

About Him, His Mercy, He, our God

At His Most Glorious!

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

Everything is known by their opposites. And this is good news for me as a sinner (and perhaps for you too), for I have sown my sins and tilled the field of my ignorance. I have spread darkness across the horizon of my own world till it has gone all dark. As if the night of my negligence was not dark enough, I have poured into the sky, the blackest ink from my pen. 

But now that the dark is getting darker, the sky is getting blacker, I can see the Light shining brighter, and the stars of His Muhammad (saws) and the Companions (ra) radiating brighter and brighter. 

It's a karma thing. He he he.

Tahajjud. My ancient friend tells me that "When you wake up in the middle of the night, know that Allah (swt) is calling on you to an intimate congress with him. Take your wuduk (physical and spiritual ablution) and perform the tahajjud (nightly prayers). And see where the Glory in the Night will take you..." 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

-Notrumi Embun, 9th July 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show you the Way

THE BANNER OF LIGHT VS THE EVIL KNOT

Unravelling That Evil Knot

You need a little knowledge
To know you own none of your own,

You need a little good manners

To know that good manners 

Is the natural order of things,

You need a little love in your heart

To find true love in the form

Of God Almighty and 

His Muhammad,

So while you are finding solace in these little things,

While walking, prostrating, 
Or upon your knees bended,

Do not act as if

Your search has

 All but ended,

For you are in the path of eternity,

That unfathomable and unending

Journey through God to you,

And through you to God,

Slowly unraveling the schemes

Of your ego, the enemy and 

 The evil knot.

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

When the prose was concluded, I recalled, "Saay... where did I read about 'the knot'?" Then of course, I remembered. 

Say:"I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak,
"From the evil of what He has created;
"And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness;
"And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,
And from the evil of the envier when he envies."
(Al Quran 113, Muhsin Khan translation)

Darkness of the night, witchcrafts, evil knots and enviers. Jeepers. Not exactly the sort of light-n-easy love lorn stuff that we record here. But darkness, the blackness of our world 'exists' only in the absence of light. So seek refuge with our God, Lord of the daybreak, and see your worries and pain, your most secret despairs run skulking from the sunrise of Allah (swt) upon the forest of our (often) needless confusion.

Insya Allah (Godwilling), there is no place where the shadow can hide!

....Light is coming! 

The banner of Muhammad Habibullah is made of light! 

Light upon Light!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

-Notrumi Embun, 2nd June 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

AL FATIHA, AL FATIHA, AL-FATIHA - death and my guilty pleasures

The almarhum Sultan, at his son's zawiya in 2012, a month of two
after the passing of almarhum Shaykh Raja Ashman Shah.

Learning to Become Unlettered

I am a man of letters,

But when Love found me

Bereft of joy at the loss of a beloved,

I learn to become unlettered.

I learn to let Love write my life for me,

First, a little name was written...

"...Muhammad..."

Then a little phrase,

Next a sentence,

Then Love wrote for me

A whole paragraph...

Before the paragraph turned 

Into pages of paragraphs,

And finally concluding in

One small chapter of my life

That Angels call "One moment in

The life of Notrumi."

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

Seconds of Love in a Day. I actually thought of ending the prose with "... One day in the life of Notrumi". But I felt embarrassed to do so. Because the truth is, sunshine, I cannot recall any whole day that I have lived allowing Love to write me and finish my sentences and actions. I am afraid that in the 24 hours of my average day, there are only minutes, or perhaps only seconds when Love furnished complete my thoughts, my words and my deeds. And the rest 99% of my day? Well... no doubt I was motivated more by my hunger, my tiredness, my search for recognition, my submission to the aimless distractions that God has filled this world with.

Oh dear.

Guilty Pleasures. I was editing this post when my friend Moses and his wife came by to join me. I felt terribly shy that they might notice my unfinished writing. I felt like a bride in the bridal chamber, and someone had left the door ajar. So I minimised the page, lest Moses might see the guilty pleasure that I am taking with you...

His Joyous Light!

I have no true pleasure in this world,

All that I have felt, all that I can conceive,

All happiness, all joy, all such things that men like to treasure,

To me, they are all guilty pleasures...

For they were not created for me,

But in truth, true Love was written for him,

Muhammad Habibullah.

And I await my real happiness,

My real joy and delight

To be in his presence...

In His Joyous Light!

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

And I conclude this writing contemplating those whom Allah (swt) has given me the honour and pleasure to know and to know of - The Master, my Master and my Sultan, Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah ibni al-Marhum Sultan Yussuf Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullahu-Lah, Sultan of the royal state of Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia... who left his physical body after a life well-lived just three days ago to return to the Almighty Sultan of sultans... 

al-fatiha al-fatiha al-fatiha

Oh sunshine, of all my guilty pleasures, perhaps they are my most guilty pleasure of all.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Notrumi Embun, 31st May 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way  

THE BROKEN ARROW - the ego and surrender to the Sunnah of Muhammad (saws)

The Broken Arrow

My Lord is there across the field,

My body takes the physical form of a bow,

It is my Prophet that draws the bowstring,

As he holds my spirit as an arrow 

Between his thumb and index finger.

Lo, how beautiful I would fly to my Lord,

But I am overcome by my ego

And my flight is turning ugly!

Thus you found me, my master,

Lying on the ground, 

A broken arrow.

In need of your Love

And your Mercy.

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

Recycling Love. Yesterday, my nephew was practicing archery at my house. He was taking a break when he noticed a broken arrow on the table. He asked me if I can repair it, and I said no. There is a hairline crack running through the shaft that is beyond my limited understanding to remedy. Then he inquired if he could smash it with a hammer. Kids... I remember being just as strangely destructive in my younger days.

I said no. The arrow has sentimental value, for it is the first one that I made with help from Enda and Pak Din, my archery-mad friends. And the arrow served me well when it was whole, and even upon being irretrievably damaged, I was able to recycle the notch and arrow head for two other arrows that had lost their parts. 

The Broken Arrow. I am utterly convinced of the perfection of Islam, in the words of the Book of the Universe, known as the Holy Quran, manifested in the Sunnah (traditions) of Muhammad Habibullah (saws), known as the walking, living embodiment of the holy book.

And I am also utterly convinced of my woeful neglect and sin. And how I allow my ego and nafs (base desires) to gain ascendancy over me, until I find in my life, across this archery range, many, many broken arrows... a testimony of my own broken promises to God Almighty and to myself, of my many broken breaths wasted in pursuit of worldly, temporary gratification. 

But God the Most Compassionate and Merciful... through the ministration of His Beloved Muhammad (saws)... He does not leave me there. God picks me up in my moment of greatest despair, He studies the hairline cracks running through my soul and attends to my smallest errors. 

Through our Prophet (saws), God has never forsaken me... 

Not while there is still any sinew in my mortal coil 

To release my spirit-arrow from Muhammad the Beloved (saws) 

To God the all-loving One.

Archers of Malaysia and others... in Amman, Jordan, 2011. Including my late brother
Arwah Saiful Bahri bin Abdul Khalid (sitting 2nd row, 2nd from the right)
al fatiha... 

You understand, sunshine? 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

DO NOT JUDGE, BUT LOOK! - your temporary home in the motel of the human spirit.

Look!

Judge ye not my home

By the measure of my little room,

Nor the smallness of my hearth

And kitchen where I cook,

For my true abode is my heart,

And therein beats the name

Of Ahad and Ahmad,

Do not judge, but look! Look!

Judge ye not my grave

By the measure of its length and width,

For my final abode is built 

With the love from my Lord,

And it is finer than any house

Mortal hands may wrought,

Do not judge, but look! Look! 

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

Build your home, but do not be tied to it. Build your home, but do not make it a prison. For your house, your apartment, your flat, your bed-sit is nothing but a temporary place for you. At best it is the highway motel of the human spirit. So look for companions that will aid you in your journey and speed you towards the Divine Presence. And travel as light as you can.

Have a lovely Sunday, sunshine. I have always said that writing a poem is like composing a song. It is not about arranging as much words and smart sentences as we can, but what to leave out. So short and simple is always nice. God bless you always...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

LOVE IS BEST WHEN SHARED - you and the bird in the Conference of the Birds

All Birds Will One Day Fly Away

A little bird perched on my shoulder,

And he told me of things I never knew,

Of words and music, of knowledge and beauty,

And he said, "This is the world God has created for you."

As  I grew, from child to teenage turmoil,

Then to manhood and fatherhood,

I grew larger and larger,

And the little bird

Grew smaller

And smaller.

Until one day, the little bird said,

"What I had to share with you I have done so,

So now you must learn to carry on...

And to let me go."

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

Like a Bird. Don't get too attached to the birds that, for a brief while, accompany you in your life, sunshine. For as Nelly Furtado lyrically says... "I am like a bird, I will only fly away, I don't know where my soul is, I don't know where my home is." They cannot remain perched on your shoulder forever, not when the siren call of the Divine Presence resonates within them daily. And with each beat of their mortal heart the song becomes more urgent, ever more arresting. Until one day, the bird can't stand it any longer, and finally surrenders to the eternal song of the Lord, to close their eyes forever and to fly to Allah (swt).

The bird in the poem is in reference to my late brother, Saiful a.k.a. Poone. But we are all birds. And as a bird, we must always remind the person that we are with, of our own mortality. "I love you...", we might say to our beloved, but add this necessary truth, "But Allah (swt) and the Prophet Muhammad (saws) loves you best of all. I will one day die. But the Love of Allah and Habibullah will always remain your faithful companion. If I were to suddenly go tomorrow, do remember me in your prayers. But never forget God Almighty and your Master Muhammad Sayyidina Mutahharul Janan (saws), through whom you may love me forever!"

Love is Best When Shared, don't you agree, sunshine? And it is best when it is eternal. Our mortality? Mortality is only a technical issue to be sorted out as we walk along this path of love.

So don't worry. Be happy. Remember.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

footnote: 
Sketch by Amir Adam Mohd Zahurein

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

TALKING GOD AND DOING GOOD - something worth talking about...

Let's Talk About Something Worth Our Time

O' Love, O' my Lord,

I am not persuaded,

Neither by distraction

Nor by passion,

Not by the possession

Of any knowledge,

That there is anything

Worth talking of,

Better than You,

And of Your 

Prophet.

No political debates,

No scientific discourses,

No gossip about ghouls or djinns,

No tattletale stories about friends or kin,

No condemnation of people or nations

However persuasive or strong,

Nor any dissertation on right and wrong.

What is the ebb and tide of this world

When in your mind's eye is 

The vision of the Luminous Pearl?

Oh Love! Oh Lord! 

Oh the Beloved of Love!

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

Three Ifs. If you are given the opportunity (and who has withheld this from you?), is there anything better to reflect upon than God Almighty and His Beloved Prophet (saws)?

If you are given friends (and certainly you have them!), what is more worthy of your time to discuss than the Divine Attributes of Allah (swt) and the Prophetic Attributes of Muhammad Habibulah (saws)?

If you are given a mind to think with and a heart to love with (and who hasn't?), is there any subject more compelling than the discourses upon your own place in the divine plan of God the Best Planner? And how everything that happens to you, must by its occurrence, necessarily bring you closer and closer to God the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful?

This is all good. But truth be told, you must be patient with people and their dialogues. And you must let people unburden their troubles on you, and if you are able to, you must help them. Help them with their financial problems, their relationship issues, their angst and complaints about people and society. At the very least we can give encouragement.

For even if you then cannot talk about Allah (swt) and Nabi Muhammad (saws), your ready ear, your consoling words and generous charity will be spoken of in a divine congregation more noble than any convened in this world.

For God Himself, and His Seal of the Prophets, Prophet Muhammad (saws) shall speak your name... 

So speak of God and His Goodness whenever you can. And do good whenever God sends you the opportunity to lend aid to the weary. Do this so that God in His Goodness will mention you in a celestial company at the head of whom is His Own anointed Mercy to all the Worlds... our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws).

Remember me. This is the easy formula for you, and insyaAllah, you will be raised higher and higher. But however lofty the station where you will be, do not forget me. This poor, poor sinner. Ask God to bring me, to you. For I cannot get anywhere without your prayers, nor will I ever be saved without the unimaginable mercy and compassion of Allah (swt).

I am the broken dervish, sunshine. And I am knocking on the door of your heart.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way 

Poone, the Humble Shovel, Suzanne Vega and the Garden of Stones...

The Humble Shovel

You may have ridden in the finest horse and carriage,

You may have feasted from plates of gold and silver,

But to me will you come at the end of your world,

I am your ready servant, whatever your tone,

Me, beside the waiting gravedigger,

Me, your humble shovel

In the Garden of Stones.

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

The Best Time to Go. I am so at home at the cemetery, especially now that Poone (my late brother and the one I call Abang Chik) is laid to rest there. The only issue I have is the buzzing mosquitoes that insist on accompanying me wherever I am, at whichever grave I visit. It crossed my mind that the safest place from this annoying insects is to be six feet under. But thank God that my own passing is not mine to choose the time and place. Are we not lucky that the circumstances of our passing shall be in the hand of He Who Created us? He Who knows us best (and despite knowing all our filthy secrets), Loves us best of all? 

It will be the best of time for us, and for those we will leave behind.

Obnoxious. I have no doubt of this, because God has promised us... Sometimes, we living inevitably sigh and yearn for the company of our dearly departed kin or friend. However happy, angry, sad or irritating our relationship with the deceased may have been. One of my brother's closest friend said to me, as we were burying Poone, "Oh my God, he is one of the most obnoxious person I know!" And I agree with him. But he would also agree that we would give all our worldly treasures to have just one more obnoxious moment with him. 

He he he.

Poone's musical taste. Before I leave you, let me leave you with what my brother has left me. A taste in some of the great musicians of our era. In the early eighties, Santa Monica-born folk singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega made a bit of name in England, captivating audiences with her haunting prose and magical guitar. This is one of our favourite(est)... its called 'Cracking'.  

God bless you, sunshine. Be happy and assured of love from God, a love infinite in its breadth and deeper in its solace than your most intimate dreams...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

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

Dressed for the Mercy Oceans

It is best to dress less 

For a swim in the Mercy Oceans.

So leave your pantaloons of presumptions,

Take off your turban of knowledge,

Unbuckle your belt of pretensions,

Drop your robes of speculations

On the Mercy Oceans' sandy beach,

And leave your veneer of piety

Along with the rest 

Of the disguises

That you have

Gained

Through

All your years of study,

Then follow me,

Unmasked as you truly are,

A journeyman, a sinner.

After all, think about it...

What use for anyone is the Mercy Oceans

If not for Mercy's dispensation?

And who is the guest of the Forgiver

If not for us, the sinners

Seeking to be forgiven?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Which brings us back to the Mercy Oceans.

Care for a swim, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

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

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