The Bed of Rest, The Bed of Thankfulness - the Adab of Sleep

Thank You for You

I like to fall asleep

With thankfulness in my heart,

I therefore look upon the day past

And count my blessings

As I fall asleep,

Thank You, God, for my parents...

Thank You, God, for my brothers and sisters...

For my aunties and uncles (even the crazy ones)...

For my beloved friends...

For the stars in the sky,

For the apple of my eye,

For this person that I call 'I',

And thank You most kindly

For Your Muhammad, Your anointed Mercy

That you have shared with me,

And lastly (but most importantly),

Thank You for You!

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

I had a bad morning waking up. It is because I fell asleep last night with dark thoughts, a little bit of disappointment, and some bitterness. Oh, what a fool I am!

So tonight I intend to have better care of the thoughts that spring into my mind as I lay my head to sleep. And call upon the names of He that loves me best of all, and His Beloved Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), Prophet of God.

Coming into my 43rd year, and here I am, still learning how to do better what comes most naturally to us in the quiet of night... falling asleep. Funnily, this makes me feel young!

He he he.

Good night, sunshine. Let your bed of rest be a bed of thankfulness.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Friday Morning - ...and God did not take your life last night

107. My Dear Creation

If you wish to serve Me

Then serve my servants

For I am not needful of your services

But they are.

And If you wish to love Me

Then love my servants

For I am not needful of your love

But they are.

Do this both

And you shall find in Me

A fair recompense

Beyond your happiest hopes.

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

Hi sunshine! It is Friday morning already! Let us try to be good to each other, while God is good to us always. There is time now to pick up the phone and call that old auntie of yours. There is time now to reply to your friend's SMS and ask for her forgiveness. There is time now to repay the debt you owe your school friend. There is still time to email your brother about the help he asked of you last week. 

For you see, while you slept soundly in bed, the whole of the Universe bore witness that God did not take your life last night. No, He must have felt that there is still good for you to do upon this Earth, and in His generous and all-knowing wisdom, He has permitted your soul to return to your body from its nightly travels. 

So here we are, you and I. Brothers and sisters united in the love of God, fellow travelers in the the journey through the Consciousness of God. What shall we do today? 

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

Thank you, for praying for me - Sleep, Life, Death, The Tapestry Divine, God and His Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)

Thank you, for praying for me. In whatever way you may be praying...

Awake. After a night’s rest of the mini-death that we call ‘sleep’ I am awake once again. And I am not dead. God has decided NOT to finally end my ill-used life, my wasted hours, my neglected prayers, my poor facsimile of a good human being (what more a Muslim…), my crowing cockerel on top the heaps of my foolish deeds, my failed attempts to virtue, my successful claim as a sinner, my growing record of mistakes… in other words, God has delayed the termination of my mortal life for one more day.

I don’t remember praying for this. I don’t remember asking God last night, “Ohhh… Lord… please don’t end me yet. Not when I am like this… not when I have so many things I wish to do… so many missteps to correct, so many defeats to reverse, so many promises to keep… oooh God… pleeease… Amen.” No, I did not do that, instead the last words I heard was a documentary on RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland)…”acquisitions… NatWest Bank… Citizens… entering large market in Chicago… failure in risk management… cost-cutting… 2008… mortgage derivatives… bla bla bla…” . Then my eyes slowly closed and to sleep I fell.

So someone must have been praying for me instead. Was it you?

Thank you, sunshine. Preachers and clerics often tell us, “Pray! Pray! Pray!”. But sometimes (if not all the time), our existence in this world, is carried upon the prayers of others. They are easily recognizable, the prayers of our fathers and mothers, our aunties and uncles, our brothers, sisters, cousins and friends. But above all of these ‘others’, in the highest firmament of love and compassion, there in the Divine Presence of God, the prayer for us is being recited by our Master, Muhammad Prophet of God(s.a.w.s.), Warner and Bringer of the Good Tidings of God upon All Creation, anointed Mercy to all the world(s). He was nigh but a mere orphan, poverty-stricken, but his prayers is heard by God. Alhamdulillah always…

But I am thankful for all prayers that come springing my way. They are like little flowers of spring blooming upon the path through a Meadow of Light. So, thank you.

Generally... I may not know you specifically, but by Allah, I know you generally at least. You are my brothers and sisters united in the worship of the One God, however you may be dressed in such worship – whether you say you are a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Sikh... in the many colourful ways that Humanity calls upon our One God. The Tapestry Divine.

It is my hope to know each one of you, specifically. If not in this life, surely the Lord will bring us together at the Good Place where the Good People meet. I may not be one of the Good People, but I believe you are one, sunshine… so your prayers for me will bring me to you. Wherever you are.

Ameen.

Wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Maybe I Won't Sleep Just Yet... - the sleep and dreams of humanity and God's assurance

193. Sleepwalkers II
O’ sleepwalker,
The eclipse of your consciousness,
Exposes in the fastness of sleep,
The false gods and idols
That your mind,
In broad daylight,
Blindly worships.
.............

I am so sleepy I could break down into tears right this very moment. I wonder where my subconsciousness would take me now if I were to doze off... Would it lead me to a hell full of demons or into a sunlit meadow full of saints? But awake or asleep, it is during the day and our waking hours that we misstep into error - Simply because when we are awake we are in complete control of our thoughts and actions, and with control comes responsibility, and when it comes to responsibility, whether it is to God or to our fellowman or woman, we sometimes fail to fulfill them. Sad but true.

I think if we truly comprehend the magnitude of our deeds and consequences, we would not dare budge and inch from our bed for fear of harming someone or something. We would just lie in bed, waiting for the Angel of Death to take us to The Other Side in our pyjamas. But then God did not intend us to just laze about like a Bohemian poet-cum-activist. He intended us to go out there into the world to earn our living, to contribute our bit of effort for the common good, and essentially to be an all-round productive sort of human being. And God is not unfair. He must have seeded in us some iron will, some perceptive wisdom and a reservoir of patience that we may tread this world happily and safely.

That is a happy thought. Maybe I won't sleep just yet.

Have a lovely night, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Finding our way in the Dream State - the soul's nightly journey

Outside the Soul, Inside a Dream

Outside my window the rain is falling

With her sad sorry sighs,

Outside my window the wind is blowing

And parting my curtains like a bride's unveiling,

Outside my window the leaves are rolling

Down the road like a gambler’s dice,

Inside sits the writer, busy scribbling prose

Disguised as writings of the wise,

And what he does write is…

Outside, a thousand birds are twittering,

A thousand sleeping souls are returning

To their homes, to bed, carrying missives

They plucked like seagulls from the Sea of Love

While flying with angels on the Wings of Love,

With eyes closed, dreaming an ocean of meanings

More vast than the living seas that mortal men go sailing.

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

The great Muslim luvvie, Imam Ghazali (1058-1111 AD) once wrote in his book, The Ihya' Ulum al-Din (The Revival of Religious Sciences) about a recommended spiritual exercise - to be awake in a dream. To retain consciousness and cognitive faculties during that dream state we all fall in when asleep.

This can be done, but it requires training and discipline, words which are unfortunately, strangers to this sinner. But you can try. The requisite condition however is that we lead a moderate, sensible and loving life. Respecting God, Man and all creatures created. Not wasting anything, working hard, acting responsibly with everyone that we encounter. With sincerity, humility and good Adab (courtly courtesies). Thus it seems that if you are good, while in that mini-death state which we call sleep, our souls take flight to another place - a hallowed place blessed by hosting a congregation of prophets, saints and angels, in the Divine Presence of the Lord and the Prophet(pbuh). The alternative destination reserved for the bad, Imam Ghazali does not go into much details. But it does not seem to be a very nice place to visit, even for the 6 hours or so that we sleep nightly.

Maybe that is why I do not recall much of what I dreamt. But truth be told, I tend to wake up happy or at least contented, regardless where my soul went in its twilight travels. And I know I have done nothing to deserve this feeling of gladness, and I have done much to deserve waking up sorrowful, sullen and scared. The fact that I don't must be evident of the kind and magnanimous nature of God, Lord or our wakefulness and unconsciousness.  

Have a lovely Sunday, sunshine. Can you remember what YOU dreamt last night?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

I Can Wait, My Love... If You Will Wait With Me (and nuts to the extremists!)

I Can Wait, My Love... If You Will Wait With Me

I awoke from my tired slumber,

My pocket full of dreams,

I stood up and found my head above the clouds,

I looked below and saw the earth at my feet,

Rivers ran through my legs, and people like ants

Crawling all over, looking and looking,

Searching for what they do not know…

I awoke from my tired slumber,

And sat up upon a sandy shore

With the bluest sea lying beside,

I cried and cried and cried,

Gazing far into the open sea,

I cried and cried and cried,

Asking God, “Where do You want of me?"

I awoke from my tired slumber,

And found myself in a celestial congress,

They all turned and looked at me,

Their eyes full of wisdom,

Their lips full of love,

Little stars in a heavenly sky,

“Look to us, However lost you may be.”

So said the Saints in their assembly,

Beside the Stream of Time,

Beneath the Apple Tree.

I awoke from my tired slumber,

To the songs of Cherubims

And Seraphims’ horns,

I looked around and found my bolster,
So I drifted back to sleep
As the music played on.

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

Asleep to Reality, conscious to the Illusory or the other way around, we will  still be here for a while yet, sunshine. Here on this planet and this world. So stick by God, my brothers and sisters, and nuts to the ideological and religious extremists. We will muddle through just fine, insyaAllah (God willing).

Pax Taufiqa

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.

The Dragons of Paradise and the Meditating Snakes

Taufiq's Dragon

I was away and the World fell asleep

The Light rose between the two hills

Like unto a Divine Lamp raised heavenwards,

Yet it was not the Sun rising,

But in truth the Earth turning and circling

Around the Mercy of the Worlds.

The World was alive between my eyes

When I awoke from slumber,

Yet it was not me waking up,

But in truth the World that was rising from

Its unconscious sleep,

As my soul left her to visit

Some hidden and faraway places,

To bask in the glow of some

Ancient familiar faces.

Day and night we travel, from light to darkness then back to light again. It is unfortunate that some of us wake up feeling more weary than when we fell asleep. You cannot have too many mornings like that, because it is a downer. If you have such restless sleep, find out what's wrong. We need our sleep.

Who knows where we go when we sleep. Our souls clambering out of our window, heading to meet who knows who and talk about who knows what. Maybe I have been meeting dragons in my sleep, but I like the idea of dragons. Not the vicious greedy types like J.R.R. Tolkien's Smaug the Magnificent, but kindly dragons. The sort who won't burn down a village to save its own scales. The sort full of dragon wisdom and kindness.

Tolkien's Dragon

I think dragons have been getting a bad rap in the West. According to an old story (origin uncertain) I have heard around here, dragons are heavenly creatures but was persuaded by the Devil to assist in his conspiracy against Adam and Eve. As a punishment by God the dragon was turned into a snake. Indeed beoming THE snake, the father of all snakes. In our tale, we are informed that some snakes are not satisfied remaining as snakes, and they would often find empty mountain peaks and desolate caves to hide themselves, praising and praying to God to be returned to their original shapes, as Dragons of Paradise. The Malays of old used to call these snakes "Ular bertapa", which basically means meditating snakes.

I guess we have a lot in common with these snakes. We too want to find our true selves. We too want to make acquaintances with our heavenly souls. The sad thing is we can also resemble a nest of angry rattle snakes! Grumpy and poisonous! May God grant us the patience to overcome our ill-tempers. Amen. 

Have a wonderful Tuesday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

The Muezzin and the Lord - Good Mornings and Silver Linings

The Muezzin and the Lord
My Love,
I woke up this morning
With Your name upon my lips,
Where did You take me
In the fastness of my sleep?

I woke up this morning
To the cry of the muezzin,
As he called upon the Muslims
In his humble yet
Earnest greeting.

But in my bed,
Alone without a lover
I felt that it was You
Who called me,
My Love, my Lord
And No Other.

I woke up this morning
With a smile upon my face,
My soul surprised and happy
To awake in Your embrace.

As you can tell, the morning appears to be perfect. The day is beginning with happiness which is worthy to be written. So that's what I am doing. I write it. This is what I do, you see.

Oh things are never actually perfect. In a perfect world (with a perfect me), I would not be walking down the stairs with my limbs aching after a cold night. In a perfect world, I am sure I would be practically prancing down like a lively little pony, instead of the weary shivering walk of a tired old sinner.

And you know, not everything that happens to me, that I see and hear in this world is 'good'. But when things appear rotten, I do not write it down immediately. I wait to see the silver lining. It will be there, even if the waiting takes years. And no, it's not because the silver lining takes that long to appear (God would not do that to His beloved servants). The silver lining was always there to begin with, it is only we who do not see it - Distracted as we are, by this world and our ego. But this morning is special. It is especially good, and the silver lining is shining from the heart with a warm golden hue.

May you have many, many such golden mornings, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.