IN THE WINDOW-SHOP OF THE WORLD, THE ONLY ITEM FOR SALE IS MADNESS - MH17, rejecting despair, embracing hope and the real struggle within us all...

Our Struggle

Today I declare my struggle against hubris,

Against hatred and bigotry,

Against the warmongers and the war profiteers,

Against the hidden hands and their well-dressed murderers,

Today I declare my struggle against the ignorance of Man and their arrogance,

Against their petty quarrels and pious slights,

Against the venom of the backbiters,

Against the whispers of the whisperers in the night

Taunting Man to fight and kill for his 'rights',

Today I declare my struggle against all these vices,

But above all else, I declare my struggle against these vices in me,

Shadowing my waking and sleeping hour

Giving my heart no rest till

My very soul tremble and cower,

Today I seek the Light upon Light, to guide and save me

Lest I be yet another slave to 

The One-eyed King in 

His Golden Tower.

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

Don't despair, sunshine. Do not be too worried about the theatre playing in the world stage. Attend to the present, to yourself and to those closest to you.

The world may attempt to bring its conflicts, its wars, its greed, inhumanity and hate to our very doorsteps. But it is forbidden to enter. Not unless you permit it to enter.

MH17. Yesterday, being a Friday, the whole nation of Malaysia mourned for the loss of innocent lives onboard MH17. A day of mourning was declared as the remains of our fellow citizens were brought home with honour and solemnity. But the question remains - someone shot it down, and I used to wonder aloud, "If we found out who really did it, whom should we invade? Russia or Ukraine?"

Russia or Ukraine? But truth be told, I am not wanting to declare jihad (struggle) on anyone really. For at the moment they are like little dusts messing the threshold of my soul. And I want nothing of the madness that appears to be the only item for sale in the window-shop of this world.

The real struggle. You and I, we are concerned with the inestimable infinity. What is a few days, years or centuries in our heart? For we are busy making our heart presentable for the Light of Muhammad (saws), and everything else are false and worthless distractions, pretentious facsimile to the True Reality of God Almighty. That is the struggle we are endeavouring to win, a struggle from the moment our conscience understands right and wrong, until we are returned to the bosom of the earth, back to Allah (swt).

So I will see you there, yes? In the antechamber of the heart, where secrets are revealed again and again and again. Hold my hand, sunshine. For I am always in need of guidance and encouragement. And that fact, alas, is no secret at all!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Notrumi Embun, 23rd August 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THUS MY PROSE COLLAPSES INTO RUINOUS WORDS...

The Worlds

The Straight Path is a path

In both this world and the world hereafter,

And it is also the bridge

From this world to the world hereafter.

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

I am told that the siratulmustaqim (the straight path) is so thin, you cannot even see it with your naked eye. But you can sense it with your conscience. So I try not to ignore my conscience, lest I become blind(er). Pray for me, sunshine!

The Worlds

This world is known as the natural world,

And the world of the Prophets and Angels

May be known as the supernatural world,

And the world of the Devils and the Djinns

May be known as the subnatural world...

Lo, the regret for those

Who think that the world of the Devils and the Djinns

Is equal to or greater than this natural world!

Lo, greater the shame and loss for those

Who think that the world of the Devils and the Djinns

Is even comparable to the world of the Prophets and the Angels! 

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

There is but one God. And His vision over His countless worlds and creatures is perfect and manifest. May we always be reminded of this, wherever providence may bring us temporarily, on our way towards the only place worth chasing... the Divine Presence of Allah (swt) and His Most Beloved, Muhammad Habibullah (saws). Pray for me, sunshine!

The Utterly Incomparable

... And nothing created is comparable to Him,

The incomparable One, absolute in His Uniqueness,

Utterly Alone in His Praiseworthiness,

Inexplicably Different in His Difference to His Creation,

Unimaginably Breathtaking in His Beauty,

Completely Absolute beyond any created understanding

Of completeness and absoluteness...

Thus my prose collapses into ruinous words,

Turning songs and poems
Into sighs and moans for the Unknowable 

Who desires to be known!

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

Someone said to me, "Lo! How long have you been lost? Desiring something other than His desire? Desiring something other than Him?" Yes, that is me alright. So you, see. It is only natural that I ask for your prayers, sunshine.

Have a lovely Sabbath.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

INDEPENDENCE!! - independence for what purpose?

Wearing the Rain

I wear the rain like a dress,

And I drink the golden Sun

From a cup of love.

Whither the worry for tomorrow

When this day is not ended yet?

I wear the dusky sky

Like a bridal train 

Through the aisle of a church,

A mosque, a temple

And a synagogue.

Whither the sorrows for tomorrow

When this day is not ended yet?

................................ 

It is unfashionable to talk about submission. Not when the entire world is motivated towards independence, freedom of choice and individuality. 

In an exchange on Facebook on Malaysia's 56th independence day, a good friend asked me, "Are we really independent?" The question can be answered at many levels of course. The sovereignty of our country, and also the independence of our thoughts, words and actions, as a community and ultimately, as an individual. But to turn the question around, I began to ask myself, independence for what purpose? Freedom of choice and sovereignty to what end?

An ancient friend shared his two pennies worth and said that independence is only worthwhile when one uses one's independence on the path to submission to God. And this is regardless whether they are choices you make while grocery shopping, or as a diplomat in a multilateral summit on international trade. As a common man, minister or a King, we all have our decisions to ponder over.

I guess it is paradoxical... this independence in the path towards submission. But as God Himself revealed in the Holy Quran through divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)... 

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil 

and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. 

And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (Quran 2:256, Yusuf Ali)

Something to think about, sunshine, on this wet Sunday here in Kuala Lumpur. So don't bother about tomorrow, it hasn't happened yet! 

He he he.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD - contemplation of our days and humanity

Dawn in Bukit Damansara.

Meet Monday

I am a Day,
Nestled in the cradle of time,

Waiting for the moment that the Sun

Rises in the East of your Conscience,

Bright and Luminous like Angel Wings,

Feathered heralds of a Lord 

Most Compassionate, Most Merciful!

I am a Day,

And I was created to be yours,

To fill me with love, affection and knowledge,

For you to awake and recall the bounty of your Lord

And to take what is fated to be yours,

And to give freely, as your Lord gave freely!

I am a Day,

And I was created for work, remembrance and play

For how joyful is life in this world when your hand

Turns on the plough of honest toil and remembrance

Of the Lord who gave you this Day

That is me!

I am a Day,

And I am Monday,

Tomorrow you shall meet my sister, Tuesday

And the next my brother, Wednesday,

And thus the world turns,

As the Sun rises and sets,

And the Moon shines upon your twilight,

Rich and bountiful is your Lord's blessings upon you,

Your soul flying high in His sky like a kite!

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

I planned to write something different. Some note on the enjoyment of the Mosque, the gathering and association of friends and strangers to the Pool of Remembrance. But perhaps that is meant for another day.

Masjid Umar al-Khattab, Bukit Damansara

The world is good and beautiful. Today, this Monday morning, my attention was turned to my left, as a luminous sky heralds the new day. And so passes through the ken of Man, sometimes unnoticed, the divine signs of Beauty in this world. For however insignificant this world is compared to the reality of Allah (s.w.t.), however transient its nature, this world cannot be anything but good and beautiful, because the Creator, God Almighty is the Absolute One, absolute in His Goodness and in His Beauty. 

The Fountain of Fitrah. And because this world was created as a stage, as each member of humanity looks to understand his role better, to speak his lines perfectly, to immerse himself in his inner character, that fitrah which is the rightful inheritance of all mankind. Your own fitrah, that natural skill and inclination which flows from the Fountain of Fitrah that is Abu Arwah (Father of Souls), Muhammad, Prophet of God (s.a.w.s.).

So have a good day, sunshine. For the day is good already!

Your soul flying high in His Sky like a kite!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Silver Medal but Golden Heart - Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and the heart of Malaysia

Not Olympic champion, but our champion.

Last night, at about 9.30pm I left my house to pick up Mikhail. The road was empty with only a few cars making their way through the overcast Malaysian night. I knew where everyone were... they were at home in front of their television, recovering from (watching) an epic battle between David and Goliath, between our Lee Chong Wei vs the People's Republic of China's Lin Dan in the finals of the men's badminton competition in London.

After winning the first set and trouncing Lin Dan at 21-15, Chong Wei faced a resurgent Lin Dan who won the 2nd set with a confidence-boosting 21-10. In the nail-biting see-saw battle of the final set, the PRC player, seen by many badminton pundits as one the most talented and dominant player in the sport's history finally overcame our Chong Wei at 21-19. The scores barely hint at the drama that was being played on court and in the homes of millions of Malaysians as once again, our champion lost to the amazing Lin Dan.

Because truth be told, I suspect many Malaysians, when they knew that Chong Wei was to face Lin Dan in the finals, kinda sighed a mute resignation, "Oh, well... silver is already an achievement." That is the level of awe inspired by the unquestionable ability of Lin Dan.

Lin Dan. Simply amazing. 

I was close to tears watching the last few minutes of the 79-minute ordeal because my gut feeling was that Chong Wei was not going to make it. And alas, the hopes of millions of my countrymen perished after Chong Wei lost the battle of nerves with only 2 points away from our country's first gold medal. 5 minutes later I was on the road to pick up my son.

Don't fret, my friend. For you have won your place
in the hearts of milions of us back home.

But during the drive I recalled the British female commentator when she exclaimed that Lin Dan had once again broken the hearts of millions of Malaysians rooting for our champion, and it got me thinking... Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), that we as Malaysians had a heart to be broken. And for that thrilling 79 minutes, we forgot our communal and religious differences, our political agendas and historical baggage, our gripes and complaints... to find a common cause and a common hope in the heart of that thin lanky young man standing alone in the centre court of Wembley Arena, London.

Yes, I am right. Alhamdulillah that we had a heart to be broken. For it is a precious thing in this strange and often troubling times that we live in.

Thank you for sharing our sadness and happiness this morning, sunshine. God bless you.

Postscript 10.46am - And after the match the fella actually went and tweeted an apology to the 28 million Malaysians that were rooting for him to defeat Lin Dan... How can you not but love this guy? *smiling through tears...*

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Equations, The Wahdatul-thingy, Ibnu Arabi and the Umbrella...

Oh ho, umbrella is enough, is it?
Wahdatul Wujud that, sunshine!

In an earlier posting entitled 'The Divine Mathematics of Love' (Click Here), this brief equation was sketched…

On a Facebook comment, a reader adjusted the equation thus ….

So I had to contend with two different equations, and the outcomes (Surprise! Surprise!) are different. This is my conclusion (take into consideration that I am bad, bad, bad at maths. In fact, come to think of it, I am bad in general.): -

For this equation the solution must be that the Heart, at all points of the equation must have the value of One. Ergo, 1 x 1 = 1. I call this the Wahdatul Wujud stage. Which speaks of the Absolute Oneness of God, beyond which there is nothing. Not even ‘nothing’. There is only God, and He is One.

For the second equation the solution (I am thinking) must be that the first Heart must have the value of One, and the second having the value of 0. Ergo, 1 + 0 = 1. And of course this kinda brings the doctrine of Wahdatul Shuhud into the picture, which expresses the state of witnessing by the created (us mankind and the rest) towards the Absolute Oneness of God. And since there cannot be any addition to God (He is after all beyond adding or subtracting in any sense that we know), necessarily the second Heart (you and I and the cat named Moses) must have the ultimate value of 0. Yipee. Just like my form 1 maths teacher who once prophesied, "Taufiq, you will amount to nothing!"

So you can call me Mr.Smarty Pants, but what does this all mean to our daily life? How does this ‘knowledge’ improve our standard of living? But its usefulness on a general basis is limited, because even in a spiritual or theological debate, bringing in the wahdatul effect is like closing the topic down for good, because no sense can came out of it, and really there is no reply to it…

14. Whao.

To bring wahdatul wujud

To confirm your argument

Is to bring a Sun

To light a candle.

In the past I have been gently rebuked by concerned citizens that even Ibnu Arabi (the current Saint-in-station of the wahdatul wujud – wahdatul shuhud dichotomy) warned aspirants of the Path from contemplating this unique dogma which seems to suggest that God must be everything and nothing all at the same time. Are we really here? Are we not here? Is God here? Where is here? As for me, I am not too worried. Because if I see grey skies overhead, I make sure I carry my umbrella…

8. Rainy Days & Wahdatul Wujud

In rainy days,

It is my umbrella that shelters me,

And a beggar is better comforted with coins and food

Than any understanding of Wahdatul Wujud.

And at the end of it all, ‘understanding’ without experience is like having the Kama Sutra manual but going to bed alone every night. It just adds to the frustration, you know?

Have a joyous day, sunshine. And I promise, no more maths after this.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Earlier postings on Wahdatul Wujud / Shuhud:
• Wahdatul-Wujud
• The Magpie and Ibn Arabi, Wahdatul Wujud and Wahdatul Shuhud

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Wisdom of Not Knowing - When Nothing is More than Everything

The Wisdom of Not Knowing -

When Nothing is More than Everything

Do not let your knowledge

Get in the way of your learning, my son.

Do not let your understanding

Get in the way of your experimenting, my son.

Do not let your opinions

Get in the way of your inspirations!

Never say “I know.”, my son.

Say “I don’t know

And I am here to learn

And to be guided."

Never say “I will lead,”

Say instead, “I am here to listen

And to obey.”

This is an important lesson, my son;

Once you know nothing, you are nothing -

Then see how the Sun and the Rain comes and goes

At your beck and call.

For you have given yourself to nothingness and

Into the embrace of our One Lord, God,

You have given your all…

You have given your all…

Then,

Give more of your all…

Give more of your all…

For don’t you know?

Once you are nothing,

You become bigger than everything.

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

I try not to give knowledge to my son. Who am I after all? Am I so knowledgeable that I can condescend to pour knowledge into my son's mind? My school grades were pretty average, and my spiritual grades? Oh dear. I am too embarrassed to share with you!

We parents are not treasure troves of knowledge after all. We are merely stores of happy and painful lessons from our own lives. We cannot teach our children True Knowledge, but hopefully, we may yet be a lesson for them to the Path of True Knowledge - 

Parent to Child

When it comes to True Knowledge, my child,

I cannot dictate, I can only share. 

And I cannot command you, I can only advise...

Seek the Path!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

You Cannot Close the Door I Want to Keep Open - an apologia

You Cannot Close the Door

You cannot own me,

I am not yours to possess,

You cannot say that I am yours alone,

You cannot tell people that you are better than them

And you cannot tell people that

You deserve me more than them,

You cannot monopolize me and my history,

You cannot sway me from my destiny,

You cannot decide who is for me and who isn’t.

You cannot close the door I want to keep open…

Really??

It would be the easiest thing for me to write (and I did - Click Here) that God is for everyone, but the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (pbuh) is only for us Muslims. But the moment the sentiments were put into writing, I had a strange sensation. A doubt in fact, an awkward question that keeps popping up in between the syllables of my soul, asking, “REALLY?”

Something from the Scriptures

For me, God has made it patently clear (in my hindsight...). His Beloved Muhammad was sent to us. To all of us grandchildren of Adam and Eve, in whatever colour or creed we are clothed in. And it includes terrestrials, extraterrestrials, Mankind, animals, sentient and non-sentients, and even Djinn, whoever they are and however they may exist in any form, shape or energy. So He said in the Quran -

(Sahih International translation)

And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.

(Pickthall translation)

We sent thee not save as a mercy for the peoples.

(Yusuf Ali translation)

We sent thee not, but as a Mercy for all creatures.

An Apologia

So the thing is, even if you do not accept Muhammad (pbuh) as a Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets, you are always entitled to His Mercy. After all, are you not a part of my world, my life and my own humanity? I think this is what my Prophet has been trying to knock into this stubborn head for the longest time. My bad for giving the wrong impression in my earlier posting.

Please forgive my lapse of judgment, sunshine...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Hallaj's Requiem - Wherever my head may be now...

21. The Law & The Path II

Sometimes the Path ends

With the retribution of the Law.

But Allah, shall they silence Your Friends forever?

By Allah, surely they must fail!

For what do they strike but a vessel of clay?

What can they decapitate

But a puppet’s head?

By your permission,

May my heart linger forever

In servitude to You,

Teaching, guiding and loving

The seekers whose seeds

You still hold in abeyance,

Let me do this,

Wherever my head may now be!

Mansur al- Hallaj is a famous Muslim martyr who was punished by the religious authorities for his ecstatic utterances of 'Ana al -Haqq!' (I am the Truth / God!). He was executed in 922. 

But you cannot keep a good guy down. For wherever his head may be now, he is still speaking to you and me. For who knows of Hallaj's executioners? Not many, but many, many more knows of Hallaj himself. I do not want to be a beheaded martyr, but I get where the man was coming from. He was drinking wine from the Fountain of the Beloved, and he got a little tipsy. People say the strangest thing when intoxicated. Have you ever heard your own stupendous sweet talk in the thralls of your courtship of THE woman, THE one true love? I have, and it makes me blush!

God bless God.

Have a perfectly nice day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE THIRD EYE, LOVE AND HER FURY - The future of Mecca

The Third Eye, Love and Her Fury

I whirled and twirled,

I turned and burned

Until the sky itself

Started to turn red around me,

And all of creation cascaded

In perfect symmetry,

Until no sound can I hear

But my own gasping death,

I could now see

Buildings standing higher

Than the holy stations,

As the Sun rises in the West,

And from the east, merchant ships come upon me,

To trade for my third eye their splendid cargo of love and fury.

I tell them that I am not he that they seek,

But they will not be swayed from their bargain

And asked again to see the celebrated third eye.

Relenting, I sighed and gestured towards the sky.

When I was in Mecca earlier this year I saw the tall hotels, malls and clock tower that now stand majestically and towering over the Masjidil Haram Mosque within which sits the Holy Kaaba. Aesthetically I think that it is rather unbecoming to have such high commercial edifice overlooking the single point to which all Muslims pray to.

If people think that God cares not for aesthetics and beauty, then perhaps they have been walking this earth with their eyes blind and their hearts stone cold.

May our eyes be open always and our hearts softened by remembrance of the Divine Gifts that the Lord has bestowed upon us. Have a lovely Sabbath, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Speed of Light & the Speed of God - Scientific Discoveries and the Holy Quran

31. Holy Scriptures & Scientific Discoveries

True revelation is not

The enemy of Science,

True revelation predates

And is the herald of all

Scientific discovery

In any given time.

While it may serve some purpose

That a scientific discovery

Is correlated to a scripture,

It is not the end of the story.

For the meaning of a scripture

Grows and is given more and more

In its infinite exactitude

With each passing second,

So long as the Lord of the scripture

Does not stop creating

And recreating according

To His Will.

SPEED OF LIGHT. The speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second. There it is. Who says you don't learn nothin' in the almanac. But this sacrosanct speed, for the very longest time thought to be the highest speed capable to be achieved (at least in this world) is now being questioned. To quote a recent Reuters bulletin -

Einstein

GENEVA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - An international team of scientists said on Thursday they had recorded sub-atomic particles travelling faster than light -- a finding that could overturn one of Einstein's long-accepted fundamental laws of the universe.
Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the researchers, told Reuters that measurements taken over three years showed neutrinos pumped from CERN near Geneva to Gran Sasso in Italy had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than light would have done.
"We have high confidence in our results. We have checked and rechecked for anything that could have distorted our measurements but we found nothing," he said. "We now want colleagues to check them independently."
If confirmed, the discovery would undermine Albert Einstein's 1905 theory of special relativity, which says that the speed of light is a "cosmic constant" and that nothing in the universe can travel faster.
That assertion, which has withstood over a century of testing, is one of the key elements of the so-called Standard Model of physics, which attempts to describe the way the universe and everything in it works.

OH, WAIT A MINUTE. So it appears that these sub-atomic particles (known as neutrinos) were shot from Cern towards Gran Sasso, a distance of 500 miles. But they refused to keep under Einstein's speed limit of light, arriving at 60 billionth of a second quicker than a beam of light. Those damn neutrinos, why are they in such a hurry? So the scientific community is in a state of upheaval, but advising people not to jump to conclusions until the speed can be double (and probably triple) verified. But if proven true, this discovery shall have a great impact on Einstein's theory of special relativity and its application.

Little Einsteins

SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION OF RELIGIOUS TEXT. The al-Quran is known by many names, the Criterion and also the Book of the Universe. And it is in respect of the last epitaph that the above prose is concerned with. For it is historical and present fact that there have been many, many scientific discoveries that are reflected in the holy scriptures. So the "Gosh, How could anyone have known back then!" impact is there. And I guess for some people, such verification of the sanctity of the holy book with modern science is important. And I also mimicked them in my appreciation of the Quran as a genuine bona fide word of God.

GOD'S CONTINUING CREATION. But whatever scientific validation is important only at the point in time when it was discovered. For I believe that the Book, being a miraculous creation (just like us) continues to disclose its secrets through time, disassembling scientific truths and revealing new scientific truths as God wills according to His plan. The Universe doesn't stop changing, being created and recreated with the Love, Delicacy of Touch and Supreme Confidence of the Almighty. It is kinda like God going, "You think that is great? Wait till you see this!"

I wish I was a scientist. Or a mathematical progeny. Then maybe I would be able to string chemical formulas and mathematical equations to show the Unity of Design that is often the clue to the Divine origin of this Universe. But whatever IQ we possess, we cannot walk through this world without feeling humbled by the sheer diversity, beauty and wonder that is the natural world. Often I would turn to the night sky and ask God Himself, "O' Lord, where do I fit in this Divine Equation?"

I am still waiting for the answer. Have you found yours?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Unity of God, Worship and Acceptance of Others

196. Pray if you sin IV (about unity and acceptance)

Islam is about unity,

But it is also about the

Acceptance of man’s plurality,

And that each man and women

Are truly unique and different.

And that too is a reflection

Of the Uniqueness of God,

For there is only one you

That you are aware of.

If you cannot accept

People and their

Differing values,

Then you are denying

Your own uniqueness

And that of others,

And in so doing

You are denying

An important precept

In the Unity of God.

There are many of us, and it is fitting, because it shows (in comparison) the Absolute Oneness that is God Almighty. Indeed, if plurality does not exist, how will unity ever be evidenced?

And of course, being accepting of others is an important precondition precedent for marriage and making babies. I don't know about your parents, but my father and late mum are quite different. Ostensibly they are Malays and Muslims, but that is where it ends. On many aspects, they are significantly not ad idem (Latin - meaning of one mind). My father is careful with spending, my mum is pretty generous. My dad takes a while to take a shine on people, while my mother is shiny on the word go. But there are some aspects which they commonly share, they are both hard working and they love their family.

What am I trying to say? Oh yes, this is it. If your mother and father took a pause for a second and decided "Look, this doesn't makes sense. You like chocolate, I like vanilla. You like basketball, I like football. Naah... we are so not alike. Let's break up.", the likelihood is that you would not even exist right now. But here you are, healthy and good-looking, and spending your Sunday in a quality way, reading the sinners almanac. Kudos for you and kudos for me. Hehehe.

So have an accepting Sunday, precious. Accept God and accept people.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Get a job! says Rumi - The Appearance of Duality and the Reality of Oneness

2. On the Scale of al-Amin II

O’ seeker, be sincere,

Do not use our secrets

To make you negligent of your worldly duties,

Nor to put obstacles in your worldly affairs.

As Mevlana Rumi once said,

Worldliness is only forgetting God,

It is not having a family or goods.

And seeker,

There is nothing more worldly than insincerity!

NO EXCUSES. I know the form. They say such and such work is not for them because it will affect their piety. And they dither and wait for the 'perfect work' to come knocking at their doorstep. And all the while the world is moving and they are left behind. A couple of years ago a friend stepped in and gave me the advice inscribed in the prose above. "Don't use religion to excuse your laziness and procrastination!" He said. I try to follow his advice, not always successfully. 

SPIRITUAL AFFAIRS? WORLDLY AFFAIRS? It is all the same to me now. I met my friend again today and this is what he now confides in me- "Well, you know... I hardly knew you back then. But I guess by now you know that worldly or spiritual, it is in truth one path and one issue at stake. It is only thus distinguished because God in His Most Incredible Creativity simply chooses to sprinkle worldly physical dusts on the matters which pertain to our material world, and spiritual heavenly dusts on our spiritual affairs."

THE APPEARANCE OF DUALITY. But the appearance of duality in what is spiritual and temporal, between what is material and intangible is to me only just that - Appearances. And appearances can often be deceiving. I do not wished to be deceived any longer... Even if at times I can still be insincere.

Have a lovely Friday, sunshine. Thank you for dropping by.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

GOD IS THE UNION OF BEAUTY & MERCY. Whatever He hides, He hides in His name as the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate.

114. A veil is drawn

A veil is drawn

Between you and Me,

For you will not bear My Beauty,

And will despair

Just a moment

Away from Me.

O’ love,

Nothing do I do for you,

If not out of Mercy.

PATIENCE. God has always been kind to us. In a world where people are often uncompromising, God compromises with us, because He is unlike His creation. He has patience, and most honoured are those of His servants who reflect this most Divine Attribute and are willing to compromise in the name of Love and Mercy, and the latter being higher than the former.

BEAUTY. I cannot hint at the nature of Divine Beauty. I feel no need to do so. For you see reflections of God's Beauty in all that pleases and attracts you. A beautiful woman. A beautiful man. A kindly manner and a charming smile. A beautiful meadow, a graceful cathedral, a fine mosque. A cute little kitten, a majestic mountain. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say, but what we witness of beauty in this physical realm is but a drop of a drop of a drop from God's Ocean of Beauty. Were God to reveal Himself, what man or woman can behold the sight? It is like trying to pour all the beauty of Creation x infinity into a little cup. Beauty will overflow, the cup will be overturned and our tenuous grasp of meanings spill across the plains of our thoughts. We would be undone. Lost. Beauty would drive us mad, despairing to be a even single moment away from Beauty.

MERCY. It is thus with Mercy for us, His poor servants, that God withholds what He withholds and God hides what He hides. In God is the Union of Beauty and Mercy. And a little each moment, God is revealing a little of Himself, through Beauty that does not despair its worshipers, but Beauty that inspires us to be our better every day.

On that rollicking optimism, I bid you a wonderful Monday, sunshine!

wa min Allah at-taufiq