HOW CAN A THOUGHT OWN THE THINKER? ... the Furious Question and the Furious Answer!

The Furious Question

How can the thought own the Thinker?

How can the prose own the Poet?

How can the painting own the Painter?

How can the created own the Creator?

How can the sunlight own the Sun?

How can the many own the One?

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

People never say they own God. It is after all, heretical and (even worse), ill-mannered. But by their words and actions, and all those unnecessary comments and postings in the social media, they appear to have made up their mind that God is theirs alone, and those who think and abide to a religious code that is the same with theirs. Our hypocrisy is breath-taking.

But a thought can possess a thinker, actually - this occurs when you forget that you are owned by God, and not the other way around. Then easily, your thoughts of religious piety, spiritual authority and divine knowledge POSSESSES you, turning love into pretensions, turning faith into a dress that you can put on and take off according to your whim. And of course, it turns your knowledge into blind hubris. This is worse than any demonic possession. Because this 'evil' is subtle and cunning, hiding behind your best and noble intentions... Seek help, o' saints and sinners! Seek shelter in God Almighty o' mankind, whether you are clothed as a Jew, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, an Agnostic, a Trekkie, an Atheist or just another poor dumb schmuck like me!

But dumb or not, I was given the answer to The Furious Question...

The Furious Answer

I am a passing thought in the mind of the Thinker,

I am a prose written by the Poet,

I am the painting painted by the Painter,

I am created by the Creator,

I am a light from the Sun,

One of many, from the Only Real One!

I am the question asked by the Questioner,

Thus, I am the answer given by the Answerer!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

- Notrumi Embun, 18th June 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

GOD KNOWS - concerning the missing Flight MH370, knowledge, human nature, speculation, and divine knowledge..

The missing Boeing 777, Registration 9M-MRO, picture taken
in 2011, at Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris.

God Knows

We don't know,

But God knows...

And that is good,

For God is good,

And knowledge is

Encompassed in

The Goodness

Of God.

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

Still Missing. As of today, there is still not much information on the Malaysian Airline System (MAS) flight MH370 which left Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 8th March 2014 heading to Beijing, China. With 227 passengers and 12 crew members. 

"No speculations, ma'am. Just the facts, please."

Speculations. From all corners of government, media, technical, religious and political circles, they have all weighed in with their observations, commentaries and worse of all, speculation. I recall Sherlock Holmes view on speculation - that it is a terrible habit especially when one is fatally hampered with very little factual information. As in the circumstances surrounding the missing Boeing 777.

Unknown Unknowns. From terrorism to the pilots' mental stability, to alien abductions or the plane disappearing into a cosmic wormhole... no speculation has been ignored, however lacking such speculations are, on real substantive evidence. After all, there are things about Flight MH370 that we know and we don't know... but there are also things which we don't know but are actually relevant to the incident...  As the former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld once clumsily observed in a press conference about the Iraq War... "there are known unknowns... and there are also unknown unknowns..."  

Human Nature. But I guess it is our own human nature (and our ego) to speculate. Especially when the incident involves the fate of hundreds of innocent lives and an enormous civil jet plane, and the authorities ranging from the FBI, Interpol and Malaysia's own Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) are all terribly flummoxed.  

His Perfect Knowledge. In any event, however mysterious and baffling, there is at least one assurance for all of us, and that is... whatever happened, or whatever is happening to flight MH370, God knows the truth of it all, in His perfect knowledge to an infinite decimal point. No sub-atomic particle, much less a human being, goes 'missing' without His all-encompassing knowledge of all causes, effects and consequences of such an event. After all, God doesn't 'miss'.

His Perfect Presence. But we, us mortals... we do 'miss'. And for those with family or friends in the fateful plane, they are all missing their loved ones with a yearning and sadness much too painful for me to contemplate. They miss the familiar faces, the smiles, the twinkle in the eye, the conversations and even the scent of their beloveds... But God is not 'missing' anyone. And wherever the passengers and crew of flight MH370 are now, God is attending to them. Just as easily as God is attending to us, 24/7, 365 days in a year. 

If only we would remember this priceless blessing, life would be so much better for us,... whatever happens. Don't you agree, sunshine?

The sky is filling up with clouds yesterday evening,
And with the growing anxious hopes of many, many people.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

WELL... WOULDN'T YOU? - Divine assurance, sunnah archery lesson No.1 and the delinquent arrow

I Know Nothin' about Nothin'

I don't know the time exactly,

I am not aware of the state of my body,

I do not hold in my head the entire corpus

Of physics, biology, chemistry and all other sciences,

Nor do I have at my fingertips all the laws of the land,

So I try to get help where I can,

And I try to get help from the One who knows it all,

Who I ask to cover my decisions in all that I do,

Knowing fully well how little I know about anything at all,

Well, if you are as empty-headed as me,

Wouldn't you?

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

Moses and Mustard Seeds. I spent some time with my friend Moses a couple of days ago. And he shared with me his attempts at making mustard from mustard seeds (makes sense). It was delicious. He also made a very good attempt at a Malaysian version of the Tabasco sauce, which was different but also very delicious. I neither had the vision nor the wit to try either. So I know... I don't know anything about most things.

Divine Assurance. I pity Atheists (may God bless their hearts) because they don't have the Divine assurance. That special mercy from Allah (swt) that covers all our acts and omissions, simply because our Creator knows fully well our limitations, and  as God as made unto Himself forbidden the nature of being unfair or oppressive, He guarantees His help to us poor sinners and malcontents - 

Thinking of Him

...think of Him and call unto Him by His many names, 

and He shall mention you in a company 

Infinitely greater!

Ask for His aid and His aid shall come to you, 

And none better! 

His divine plans cover all eventualities of our daily life... our happiness and sadness, our successes and failures. Thus, blessed are the believers who believe in God of Infinite Wisdom, Love and Mercy.

The Delinquent Arrow. I know I am posting a lot about archery. But in archery, my master teaches me to contemplate my form and the result of my form - my few successes and my many, many failures. And we are taught to try and maintain a peaceful contentment, the Qalban Salima (contented heart) that is the cherished aim of all men, women and children... An inner peace to be gained regardless whether we succeed or fail - no matter whether your arrow flies straight to the bulls eye or wanders off to have coffee at Starbucks. 

Sunnah Archery Lesson No.1
Wherever the arrow goes, that is where the Lord wills it to go.

He he he.

May God bless you this wonderful Monday, sunshine.  

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE ONE AND ONLY ONION - for all believers, all unbelievers... for all of humanity

I like onions. They are a delicious part to any dish, when brown and caramelized, they add a distinct taste to any food you may like to cook. Apart from that, onions when raw are also excellent for detox. I have even read of sick people leaving a peeled onion next to their bed to detox the air in the room. Which is why I am told that you should not eat peeled onions left uncooked too long. They help to purify the air in the room, pantry or even the fridge, so you don't want to go eating the impurities absorbed in that onion.

Infinite Layers. Apart from eating them, I also like to use the onion as a metaphor. For I find that in this journey we call life, as we muddle and blunder our way through the many, many levels of understanding... it brings tears to our eyes sometimes. Just like when we peel the onion. But when we realise that everything we experience in life is entirely connected to the journey to an understanding of ourselves and of God, why... we find that there are infinite layers to this special onion.

Only One. So if you find yourself at one layer of understanding, which may not gel with another person's, so what? If you are both honest and sincere, what matters our differing views? The crucial thing is that we must always remember that this onion we are individually peeling and exploring... it is only one onion. One onion for all believers, for all unbelievers, for all of humanity.

Have a lovely day, sunshine. Enjoy that onion...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

SAILING THE SEA OF MATRIMONY - all roads and all knowledge inevitably leads to Hu... and to you.

1. Universe Within

Galaxies swim within my veins,

Stars make home in each cell of my body,

Cosmic winds rise from my lips,

As creation mingle sweetly in my eyes.

                                                     

                                  I am the intangible vessel,                                 

The wandering soul,

Tasked to find and record,

The Speech of the One.

I am the broken vessel,

Holed below my waterline,

Sailing an unbroken sea,

With a smile and verily, a fool’s hope!

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

If you are reading this, know that you are reading the memoirs of a fool. But alhamdulillah you are with a smiling fool. 

I don't know about anyone else, but I am contented to be a fool than a morose scholar, forever crying "Oh woe! Oh sadness! Oh, the things that I know!!" . Instead I am happy to constantly be amused, astonished and struck speechless by this life, on a course set by Him., until the day that it pleases Him to take me back.

But as I am still alive and writing, I guess there are still secrets and surprises left to be uncovered. And in the entwined limbs of lovers in rapture there are secrets to know, for there is nothing of value if that thing does not take you closer in your understanding of God Almighty.

Whether you are sailing across an ocean or the stormy waters of the matrimonial bed, seek God!

Consummated passion and more importantly, safety, is there. 

He he he. And to grease the machinery of your impending marriage (assuming you are getting wed) do remember this fine line spoken by a friend of mine to his betrothed...

Dear Love,

Our contract of marriage is a strange thing,
For the definitions are waiting to be explored,
The meaning of words and names are waiting to be written...

So write me, and who I am,

For I am without meaning until you tell me

What I mean to you...  

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

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

SOFTLINE MUSLIM - Don't let your religion blind you to God

Don't Let Religion Blind You

Don't let your knocking stop you from entering,

Don't let your walking stop you from arriving,

Don't let your knowledge tie you down,

Don't let your religion blind you to God.

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

Softline. I am not a hardline Muslim. For my line is soft and yielding, embracing and entwining. I like to tie the different strands of humanity, our varying colour, race and creed into a knot impossible to unravel. It is called Love.

So you can call me a softline Muslim. This is what is taught to me by my mother and brother, my friends and my Masters.

Doors. God does not discard any of His doors. By His own attributes and names He has at least 99 of them. Knock on any of them (or all of them). And if He invites you in, it is polite to enter... After all, why were you knocking in the first place if not to be let into the Divine Presence?

Religious Blindness. Sometimes (and I think you may agree with me) I feel that religion is a terrible hindrance in our journey to the Divine Presence. People get confused between religion and spirituality. Between knowledge and wisdom. Between self-love and Divine Love. Between strength and intolerance. Between nobility and hubris. 

I say this because I am often at odds myself. It is a challenging journey, this life of ours. So one day, when you are invited to the Divine Presence, don't stand in doubt and dither any longer. Go quickly and may Allah (swt) bless you and the Prophet Muhammad (saws) welcome you!

Have a lovely Sunday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

ONE SEA ONE GOD - the whens, the wheres, the hows and the whys of our world...

The Universe Speaking

I am waiting for the Universe to speak,

And past me, a couple walked by,

The lady wearing bright red heels.

I am waiting for the Universe to speak,

And beneath me, a little kitty curled

Around my feet, looking hungry.

I am waiting for the Universe to speak,

And across the street I see

Two old pensioners talking,

I am waiting for the Universe to speak,

Until finally the Universe replied impatiently,

"Well... what are you waiting for?

Say something.

.

What you speak I speak."

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

One Sea. We are all here together on the Ocean of God. Some call it the Mercy Ocean, others call it the Ocean of Knowledge. But to me it is the Sea. And you may be swimming close to me, or far on some distant horizon. 

One Lord. According to where we are in the Sea, our perception of the Universe is coloured by when, where, how and why we take knowledge from the Sea. So for some, they become scientists and teachers. Others become firemen, lawyers, doctors and street-cleaners. For the aesthetic gang, they become singers, dancers, writers and poets. The Sea of God is rich beyond count, varied beyond measure, to serve the many fancies and passions of humanity. So whether you become knowledgeable in mathematics and quantum mechanics, so whether you have found the perfect swing and motion to sweep with a broom. Whether you have learned the art of persuasion as a politician or a preacher... in all these knowledge and endeavour... it all comes from the Sea. Thus is His infinite generosity, the Lord of the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant, the believers and the unbelievers... being the only One, being Allah (swt).

Set Adrift

Set adrift in the Sea of Mercy,

Some sail fast and smooth,

Others swim according to their own pace,

A few struggle, unconvinced by the Sea,

While others, give up the fight and surrender,

But regardless, here is all of humanity,

In all its beauty, wonder and infamy.

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

One Sea. One God. We are all here. It is our choice that colours our world. So let us make this world beautiful, vivid and exciting. Something to remember, sunshine, on  this blessed Friday.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

ONE MONTH ON... Saiful Bahri aka Poone (1964-2013)

A Stranger, A Wanderer

The more this world becomes familiar,

The more I feel like a stranger,

So let me leave this world

As I came into it...

A wanderer.

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

Today marks the first month of my brother's passing. He died in my arms on that rainy evening on 14th September 2013.

I could tell you how much I miss him. How so many things remind me of him. How I miss our conversations and arguments, even our awkward silence. But if I was to do that, this posting would go on and on. So let me leave you with the above prose, cast into a sea of memories, as fresh and green as the new grass laid upon his final resting place.

God bless all our dearly departed friends and kin. May they be in the noble company ennobled by Allah (swt) and His Muhammad (saws). And at the end of our own restless wandering, may we be gathered there in Love's eternal solace.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

MY MASTER AND MY BOOK - adab (good manners) and knowledge, a human and a computer...

My Master and My Book

I was walking with my master when suddenly, my book of Sufi stories fell from my grasp. My spirit groaned but I kept on walking beside him. For my master cautioned me before we began our journey, "If you wish to follow me, you must stick by me whatever happens." I cannot deny a little pang of loss, as I looked back to see my poor book, still lying there by the lonely path. And as the skies loomed grey with rain clouds, I had no doubt it will soon get soaked and ruined. I gazed wonderingly at my master, thinking perhaps that he may have noticed my discomfort. But no such luck. He appeared quite distant and thoughtful, as if busy in some unseen conversation.

We arrived at our first rest stop, beside a little wooden bridge. My master bid me to sit next to him on a broken tree trunk. He then asked, "Hey. Where is your book?" To which I answered, "I dropped it, master, some miles back."  

"Then why did you not stop to pick it up?" He interjected.

"What can I learn from the book, that I cannot learn better from you? Anyways, you said I had to stick by you. So here I am, with you."

The master smiled and ruffled my hair gently. "Yes, and here's your book. Do be careful with it from now on, okay?"

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

This story was sprung from last night's supper with my friend, Moses. I did not know how it would conclude, but with the last dying rays of the Sun hiding behind the overcast sky, I think it is a good end and a milestone for the mureed (spiritual aspirant) in the story. And for myself.

An ancient friend (but schooled in this modern age) is restless to lay the final words for this moral tale...

The Book Collector

Adab(good manners) comes before knowledge,

For the first signs of ignorance

Is the lack of Adab!

Be a practitioner of Adab,

Don't be a mere collector of information.

Otherwise, what is the difference 

Between a human being

and a computer?

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

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

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

Making the Prose of Rumi more Beautiful and the Discourses of Geylani more Meaningful - honest toil and the virtues of household chores

Prose does not put food on the table, the kitchen stocked
nor the pathways and bathrooms clean...
For that we need the honest toil of workers and domesticity
of the home-makers. Blessed be the Prose of God in action!

(Prologue: This write-up is inspired by the exhaustion of the sinner after only two days' prep and household chores for yesterday's Eid open house. I plonked dead on my bed at 10pm, waking up 12 hours later...)

Kids... Mikhail and Imran.
You want them not to make the mistakes
you have made, and the easiest way is for you
to nag them. But the best way is by example.
You know it, I know it and
they know it too! (dammit)

Secrets. So what? There are secrets, and there are secrets of secrets. On the spiritual path, you will be pleased to know that many veils of such secrets are lifted,... and hey! Kudos to you because you now know! But so what?

For what is the point of knowledge if it is not manifested in your every day life? And as a registered sinner, I am the first to admit that this is not easy. But there are some very basic things which is important and we must at least try to do.

Self Improvement. The path (tarikat) does not enjoin the seekers to give up on the world, for there is much to do and improve, if we would only realise this. And of course it all begins with our own selves, first and last. For the journey to improving our habits and life style does not end until we exhale our last. So for acolytes of the mystic ways to espouse great transcendental knowledge about God and humanity, about the ordering and corruption of society... they must ask first what they are doing (or trying to do) to remedy their own faults - Their own personal health and eating habits. Their own exercise and concern for the household and their neighbours. After all, if nothing is attempted, nothing is gained. 

With Knowledge comes Responsibility. But for those blessed with secret knowledge, the responsibility is heavier. For as Imam Shafi'e said - Knowledge without practice is arrogance. In other words, you are principled in words and thoughts, but unprincipled in actions. This is not a good place to be in. In fact, it would be better to know less or nothing at all.

Honest Living. If you toil every day for an honest living, you gain money and wealth. With that prosperity, you can share it with your family and friends, your neighbours and needful charities, and there are a great number of people needing help out there. If you do not work, what are you contributing to the world? Whether you are trading, working for people, there is always room to work. 

Mikhail is a grandson of a great and efficient home-maker.
Though he never got the opportunity to meet my mum,
I hope to instill a little of my mum's domesticity in him.
(And in my own lazy self, come to think of it.)

The Prose of Rumi, the Discourses of Geylani. Even if you have no job whatsoever, you can at least be helpful about the house. For me, fixing the toilet, changing the light bulbs, sweeping the garden and throwing away the rubbish properly, are all a necessary and distinguished part of life. For it makes life for ourselves and everyone around us better. Menial though these chores may be, but the truth is they make the prose of Rumi and the discourses of Geylani even more beautiful, poignant and moving. Otherwise, are we not merely pandering to our spiritual ego?

Household Chores. Such things must be taught when young. And we must take the effort and be patient with our children. Otherwise, they will grow up dismissive of domestic chores, giving little credit to the little wives, mothers and sisters without whom a house can turn into a dung heap really, really fast.

So God bless all house-makers, and may we always be reminded to help them in their virtuous work!

Oh, and thank you to all who came yesterday. Most of all, I did the open house in loving memory of my late mother, Arbayah binti Haji Hashim, who made us a loving and generous home. May Allah (s.w.t.) bless her in the company of His friends.

My late-mum, the efficient home-maker. She only rested when she died.
But I wonder if she is now just as efficient in the Hereafter as she was here,
...watering the roses and weeding the Eternal Garden of the eternal weeds. He he he
al fatiha

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE ONE ABSOLUTE TRUTH : THE TRUE ABSOLUTE ONE, about God, the nature of energy and the laws of thermodynamics - The Ramadan Story, Part 17

The One Absolute Truth : The True Absolute One
As the wind blows, so it must dissipate,
As the sapling grows, so it must wither,
As the child is born, so begins his end,
As the Sun burns, so it must, one day, die.

As you throw a ball in the air,
So it will return to you,
For you are the center,
You are the originator,
You are the cause
Of its flight.

O' man, so is it any wonder,
That however far your journey,
However long or fleeting your time here,
You will return to Him?

He who is the Center of all centers!
The Originator of all originators!
The Cause of all causes!

And the longer you are in your mortal shell,
The faster is your journey back,
Gaining speed with each breath,
With each thought that temporarily
Occupies your mind,
Whether it is a distraction
Or musing of your inevitable return...

Until one day, just like the Sun,
You end at your homecoming,
To the One Absolute Truth,
To the True Absolute One,

To the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Most Abiding in His Ministration for you;

"Verily, my servant, I have been thinking of you...
And I know, you have been thinking of Me..."
................................

Scientific Documentaries. When I watch BBC documentaries on the sciences, on nature and on the continuing opening of physical knowledge, I am compelled more and more into believing in God. And perhaps even more importantly, how God has created and continue to create and recreate each and every second that passes in our Universe with breath-taking colour, wonder and vigour. Manifesting His truly unimaginable Love and Wisdom in infinite layers.

What God? As I have said before, some scientists experience and explain God through their scientific discoveries. While other scientists, are convinced that the knowledge they have gained in fact explains away God. But perhaps such is destiny, and the existence of the karmic opposites is a necessary outline, a border by which we distinguish our knowledge, understanding and ultimately, faith.

You know he is smart when he can write and read squiggly mathematical equations.
My own mathematical ability is on par with the Great Apes - One, Two, Many...

Prof Jim. Professor Jim Al-Khalili of the University of Surrey, UK, is a famed theoretical physicist. He is also a well-known broadcaster and writer and has hosted many BBC documentaries on Science. In one fascinating documentary, Jim opened up the important contribution of Muslim scholars during the times of the Baghdad and Spanish Umayad Caliphates, and how these brilliant Muslims affected the world of mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy and engineering even to this day. But for now, I am keen to share with you another of his documentaries, which is about the nature of energy in the Universe, and how through the natural flow of order to disorder, this world and everything here was enabled and created. You will be exposed to the Laws of Thermodynamics, the history of their discoveries by the great European minds. And at the end Jim even hints at what lay ahead for humanity, involving the creation of a mini-Sun, right here on Earth (Good luck with that). You can watch it by clicking Here.

The above prose 'The One Absolute Truth : The True Absolute One' was written after viewing the documentary. Perhaps after watching it, you will understand why, despite the good Professor not mentioning anything about God at all in this particular program, he still inspired me to think about God and His ordering (and disordering) of this Universe of ours. Fascinating stuff...

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

KNOWLEDGE, LOVE, FORTITUDE, WORDS & BREATH - The Ramadan Story, Part 13

Not Until I Have Returned

Knowledge, don't betray me,

Don't make me believe that I know,

Not when I am often confused,

Wondering if I should stay, loiter or go.

Love, don't deceive me,

Don't make passion to be my guide,

Not when the path to happiness is patience,

Patience to wait and to see what is wrong 

And what is right.

Fortitude, don't forsake me,

Don't leave me when the going gets tough,

Don't leave me to my own vices,

So easily falling when the path gets rough.

Words, don't fail me now,

Don't leave me speechless when I need you most,

Not when there is still many prose to be written,

About God, about the Prophet, 

About the Garden and the Rose.

Breath, don't leave me yet,

Not until I have said what needs to be said,

Not until I have written what needs to be written,

To complete my earthly travel, 

Before finally crumbling in a state of prostration,

Crying out, ya Allah! ya Rasulullah... 

I have returned!

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

When Heche gave me The Hobbit poster last night (see earlier posting, He Hu Never Lets Us Sinners Down...), I was so happy. And I said to her later over the phone, "You know, I not only like this present. I am impressed!"

Even  without seeing her face, I knew she would be smiling extra wide, with a sense of gratification. Gratification because she has always considered me a smart sort of fellow. Which is of course a mistake. For I don't think I am smart at all. For however much knowledge that I have been able to trawl from the ocean of knowledge, I still cannot answer this very simple question about Heche...

Why is she still with me?

After all, I am not rich, I am not good-looking. I am overweight and have serious health issues.  I can be grumpy, especially when I am fasting. And I can be impatient with boring conversation. 

I think until the day that I wheeze out my final sonorous breath, I will still have this question troubling me. 

Oh well, at least then I can get to ask God. He would be able to answer, no doubt. And indeed, while I have the opportunity, I might also bother Him with these burning queries...

Why do You care and love me so?

How are You able to overlook all my sins?

How can You still attend to me when I have often left You?

Who am I that You see that I myself do not see?

I guess what little Knowledge, Love, Fortitude, Words and Breaths I have left shall continue to sustain me until that day. 

So until then, walk with me, sunshine. And forgive me my contratemps, such as they shall be.

wa min Allaha at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Physical Gloss over the Spiritual Essence - knowledge and learning in the embrace of the Master

I asked a friend of mine recently, "Have you read Shaykh Abdul Qader Geylani?* (*a famous Sufi Grandshaykh of the Syariat (the Law) and the Tarikat (the Path)). To which he replied in the negative. And I think he was amused by my crestfallen reaction (which I think I found hard to hide) for he said, "He is not in my priority of reading..." 

So I asked him what was his priority reading, and he said, "The Holy Quran, the Hadith (verbal traditions of the Prophet), perhaps the books of the four school (mahzabs) of jurisprudence of Islam..." He felt that it is important for him to focus on these basic groundings and not be distracted by other books, which I guess appear to him to be secondary and collateral to these books.

My first (and emotional) reaction was to spring on him and shake his structure- Oh why oh why would you not want to open yourself to the love manifested by someone such as Shaykh Abdul Qader? A love of divine presence connected through the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and the Companions and Saints? A love that you can sense, taste and feel through his spiritual discourses? Why would you not want to grab hold of this Saint's robe and let him drag you through our simple hypocrisies though it may hurt our spiritual sensibilities? Why would you not want Love at all? But then someone interrupted us and he whispered to me,

In the Kiss, In the Embrace

Love cannot be informed upon,

Love cannot be explained,

Love cannot be told from 

One person to another.

Love must be transmitted in a kiss,

In the embrace of the Master 

And submission by the apprentice.

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

So I said no more on this matter.

But the next day, another old friend of mine dropped by in the hallow of my thoughts and by this he challenged my friend's view - You say that you wish your religious study not to be distracted by other spiritual books than the Holy Quran and the Hadith and the books of the four Imams of Jurisprudence. But in your life you are reading the newspaper, you are reading about politics, the economy and society in general. You are driving and you would be studying the advertisement billboard that litter the roadside. You are reading books, journals, magazines, brochures for computers and surfing the internet and reading all sorts of things, written by all sorts of people. And this you say is okay because those reading material are not spiritual or religious in nature. 

But what is 'nature'? At another level everything in its very nature is spiritual. Whether it is about health or wealth, science or technology, people and society, politics and ideologies, banking and commerce - Such things sometimes appear with a gloss of materialism because we are dealing with the physical world and its inhabitants. But truth be told, the knowledge is coming from the same source and MORE importantly, one way or another, it is TALKING about that same source - the One Originator of all things physical, felt or deserving of our contemplation, our One Lord God.

Coming and Returning

All knowledge comes from God,

And all knowledge returns to God...

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

But I cannot share such things with him because there is of course adab (good manners) to consider. I cannot intrude into the bridal chamber of Love. So I ask of Love for Love and no more. Love will bide His time as He wishes.

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way