LEAP OF FAITH - releasing the power of the spirit through gaining mastery over our ego..

"Why does one pass away the instant someone shoots a bullet through them? Who takes that secret away?Why does someone pass away when they are fatally ill? The spirit is always trying to run away and break free from the cage of the body. When it find a way it will run away and go back to its origin. When you yourself, through your power over your own ego, free your spirit, at that time you can control the power of the spirit and it cannot run away. At that time you can do miraculous powers through your spirit."

From Mercy Oceans Secrets of the Heart, Rajab & Ramadan Lectures by

Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

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

I sketched the above picture not knowing what I actually wanted to say with the drawing. But yesterday I found a beautiful part of Sheikh Hisham's book (one of the older ones, published circa 1992) which I feel compliments the sentiment of the picture. I hope you enjoyed them both!

Have a blessed Friday, sunshine. And a wonderful weekend...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Who am I? Hu is He? - lighting our way with remembrance... Allah Allah Allah...

Who am I? Hu is He?

When I am in the dark,

When all life appears black,

And there is no light to be seen,

I simply remember...

Who I am,

And Hu He is...

"Oh Lord, you are my Lord!

And I, your tired, helpless servant!"

And just like that a light appears,

First as a tiny flicker, then a white flame

Before bursting into a mighty blazing light,

A living light, a governing light!

Banishing away all my sadness,

All my fears and all my despair...

As my soul voices a whimper,

A whisper of gratitude...

"Oh Lord, I knew You would always care..."

('Hu' is used in Arabic, to mean 'He', signifying the only He in Absolute Existence, being God Almighty)

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

Yesterday I was unwell and kept to my bed, and today I am still a little weak. But the worst appears over, and things are looking up. I will not lie to you, sunshine, and say that my mind and emotion was unaffected. Seized in some moments, words tumble from my lips, Why... why, God... why?"

But then I remember Him, and that I am addressing Him. And that happenstances of 'good' and 'bad' fortunes are but labels we put to events that God has fated for us. So I say, "Alhamdulillah (praise to God), it could have been far, far worse. Thank You, God."

And to top it off, my ugly bout of eczema on my hands and feet seems to have faded away with a little gel cream I purchased from my neighbourhood pharmacy. And of course, I have passed through yet another chapter in my life with God, so when all things are considered, is there any other words I can express but Thank You to You, Allah(s.w.t.) and to Your Rasul, Muhammad Habibullah(s.a.w.s.)?

And thank you to you also, sunshine. For sharing a little corner of your thoughts with me today.

Even the longest storm has an end... 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Door of Knowledge is the Door of Giving & Sharing - today it's all about doors. hehehe

The Door

The door is open,

The door is open,

The door is open,

I want to go in but someone hands me a pearl

And said, “No! Not yet! Throw this into the ocean!”

I did as I was told and immediately returned to the door,

But this time, the hand extended,

Handing me a beautiful rose,

“Take this and put it in the hearts of your friends and enemies!”

And again I did as I am commanded,

I made my way back to the door, and for the third time

A hand offered to me a paper on which was written a song for the Prophet

And I was told, “Find a singer and let him sing this in front of an audience!”

I rushed to find a singer, and I found one and he agreed!

So I hurried back to the door

And again a hand reached out,

This time with a pen and a bottle of ink,

“Take this and write.” The voice said.

So here I am.

Writing.

And I will not be rushing to the door again.

For the voice had also assured me...

“Don’t worry. When the time comes,

The door will come to you.

And the door itself will say - Enter! Enter! Enter,

O’ servant of God, 0’ child of Adam and Eve,

O’ Nation of Muhammad!

The time for looking for doors

And the time for knocking on doors

Has ended for thee!”

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

What a strange little prose that came with the morning Sun today. I think this little dispatch is talking about 'that door' which mystics often refer to. The door of understanding, and the door of giving and sharing.

Say hello to MY good manners!

Whose hand is it that is reaching out from the inside? I haven't a clue. But he appears to be giving good stuffs. Can we take this prose as an assurance that we are already guaranteed salvation? Because the door will ultimately be looking for us?

The good adab (courtly manners), as one friend is sharing with me, is to to take assurance that the prose has already been written. And to take assurance that someone (I think he means you, sunshine) is actually reading it. "If this world is created to worship God and to obey His Prophet(pbuh), and to extol the wonderous and multi-channeled ways that the Divine let His presence be felt by us weak humans, is this already not good enough for today?"

Then my friend paused and smiled. "After all, who knows if there is a tomorrow for you?"

Ah. He is right. We should be happy with what we have, in the present. And we should be eternally grateful already for what the Lord has already provided for us in the past. The future? It is all in His hands, just like our past and present. And verily, if God is anything like what the Prophet, His Companions and the Saints have intimated... masyaAllah... is there anyone in all of Creation more blessed than you?!

Have a lovely day knocking on doors, sunshine. But sometimes it is God who is knocking on your door. Remember to recognise his knock!

You might guess that this entire posting is actually a riddle.
Good luck solving it!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Sinner and the Angels - a pictorial history

My earlier Angels had clear faces on them. Nowadays their faces tend
not to be discernible, in keeping with ancient depictions of Angels. 

I have been drawing Angels for the longest time. Below are some of the sketches, some are quite old, while others are pretty new. The older ones tend to be without any story attached, while the recent ones are normally related to some story I wish to share with you. I believe that all have been posted earlier in this Almanac. But I hope you will enjoy them nonetheless...

Angels are awesome. But you wouldn't want them to be shooting at you
with their bows and arrows of light.

Sometimes my Angels are dutiful servants in a heavenly bureaucracy  

At other times, they are just little sparks of light seen through a little girl's eyes.

Angels are also bearers of correspondences. Postmen, if you will,
between our contemplation and the Divine Mirror. (Click on picture if words are unclear)

I would like to blame Angels for my fatness. I have to blame someone...

Angels of course, do not make mistakes. If there are accidents involving Angels
you would be smart to suspect that the 'accident' is intentional.

This is a trick question, I think. Be careful how you answer the Angel.

Thank you for dropping in, sunshine. May your Guardian Angels be near you always.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Wake up! Wake up, darling soul!

Wake Up

Wake up and tell me that you love me,

Wake up and tell me that there is no other,

Wake up and tell me that you need me,

For I am yours, your only Master.

Wake up and tell me that you love me,

That all the hurt you felt last night,

All the hate that became your bed,

All the sorrow that became your pillow

Will have withered in the morning light.

Wake up and confess your love for me,

For while you lay in restless slumber,

It was I who cared for your every hour,

Awake or sleeping, you belong to me

So love Me truly like no other.

Is it me reading something in a book, or did someone say something to me? It was a hadis (saying) of the Prophet Muhammad, when he said; "People are sleeping. When they die they will wake up ( or 'come to their senses', according to another narration)."

I often fall asleep tired out by the world. And often enough it is because I was beset by problems, sorrow, hurt, envy and pain of my own making. I do not want to forget the Lord. I do not intend to swim through so much unhappiness. After all, it would be crazy to want that. But why then do I always do it?

I have not built a monument, no building, no towering edifice in this world to mark my short existence here. I only have words, so tonight I wish to be dressed and garbed by my words. Words of hope.

Come, sunshine, into the garden of my words. And take the rose for yourself. Just mind the thorns!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Footnote on the sketch: My thanks to Heche for stopping me from chucking the sketch away. In the beginning, I just wanted to get rid of the drawing, thinking it unpretty. I guess she saw how much better it could be with a little more effort. Perhaps that is why she is still with me. Seeing more in me than I myself could imagine.

Good Company make the Tightest Corner Bearable - Family, Friends and Holy Agents

151. Footprints

What am I, but a stray pixel

From an inscrutable imagination,

A castaway

Of a heaven long forgotten.

Wandering the shores

Of time,

And finding strange footprints

Resembling my own,

Trailing out of some Untamed Sea.

In Good Company. Hullo, sunshine. The day began for me rather listless, but it ended just fine, stuck in a rush hour jam, returning from attending a signing. But when you are in good company, it really doesn't matter, does it? Well, unless you need an urgent toilet stop. But you get my point.

A Friend in Need. There are many, many things in life we rather avoid. From credit card bills, to traffic summonses, from colds, a stomach flu to cancer. But sometimes, these things just happen. Perhaps we have been negligent someways, we bought something we didn't need to, we over-ate or we simply ate the wrong things. Other times difficulties happen without our knowledge nor are we to be blamed at all. Like getting caught in a civil war. Like sitting in the wrong bus at the wrong time and in the wrong place. We just hope that when such things do occur, we have friends and family who will stick by us, come what may. Who will bear with our mistakes and our dire straits.

The Divine Agents. For God may be the Giver of Blessings, but by God, sometimes He chooses the most beautiful of agents to attend to us when we need attention most. May the Lord bless the care-givers, from the tiniest crumb of comforts to the biggest of sacrifices, like organ donors... For we are all wanderers in this life, and one day, God will welcome us home to His Untamed Sea. But so long as we are here, we are fortunate to be ministered by His agents - our family, our friends and kind strangers. 

Thank you, sunshine. For keeping me company.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Footnote: This is one of the earliest prose recorded by the sinner, some 8 years ago. I have published it earlier in this almanac, I am sure. I completed this sketch today and for awhile I have been going through my old writings to find something suitable. And I think that perhaps this is it.

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

A Wedding Day for a Poem and a Picture - Prose of Ramadhan Part 69

4. It is He
It is my Love that sends me
Pearls from His Ocean,
Saying, “Whither will you get pearls
If not from Me?”

It is my Love that sends me
Trials and loneliness,
Saying, “Whither will you find happiness
If not with Me?”

It is my Love that wraps His secrets
In veils and green ribbons,
Saying, “No love is greater than My Love,
No better place than being my servants.”

It is my Love that leaves me a beggar,
It is He that brings me closer,
The Wind in my sail, the Wave on my bow,
From stormy sea to gentle harbour.
It is He, my Love, and no other.

This prose is a very old prose and was posted earlier, but I just sketched the picture today - so today is the blessed day of union for the two lovebirds. Did I know that the picture would be wedded with this particular poem? Of course not! Love just happens, like in real life. 

Anyway, thank you for coming, for I have been frantically worrying about where to hold the wedding reception. The churches, mosques, temples and synagogues are all fully booked. But now that you are here, might I borrow a little corner of your heart for a ceremony of love? That is why you are here, right?

God bless you! Thank you, sunshine   ;)

wa min Allah at-taufiq.