LAYLA'S LAMENT - God, Man, Love and the Language of Music

Layla's Lament

Oh Majnun, 

Say not that you love me, 

And Majnun, 

Say not that you care, 

For it is you 

Who has always denied me, 

So couch no lies in your words so fair,

Oh Majnun, 

Say not that you seek me, 

And in your search 

Oh how you despair, 

For I am always

There beside you, 

It is you who act 

Like I am not there,

Oh Majnun, 

Say not that you believe, 

And in your heart 

You do not deceive, 

For I am often 

The One lied to, 

Oh, how shall it be 

If I am as untrue? 

Oh Majnun, 

How hollow is your smile, 

For in your life 

You mix truth with your lies, 

And the crown that you wear 

Was never meant for you, 

And the path you choose 

Will take you no where. 

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

A Love Story. Everyone (I assume) have heard or read the story of Layla and Majnun. About the poor love-struck Majnun who was utterly, helplessly besotted with Layla, a woman with the unfortunate condition of being someone else's wife. Uh oh. Trouble.

Adam, my nephew, recording Layla's Lament first rough (very rough) cut.
We have passed it on to our singer and composer friend, Azri to flesh out
the song and add a little sparkle. 

God and Man. The story of Layla and Majnun was also read and interpreted as a parable of the love between Man and God. And it is in this context that Layla's Lament was written, way back in 21st November 2005. The date was in fact its original title, and just to add another level of myopia, the poem also had a second name, being 'Qubruz Bluez 2'. So Layla's Lament is its third and final (let's hope so!) incarnation.

I am forced to this rare change because the poem is being adapted for music, and let's face it... '21st November 2005 (Qubruz Bluez 2)' is a little long and vague for a song title. I am no musician, but with a little help from some very gifted friends, we hope to have an acceptable song within the next couple of months. 

My Infidelity. And I guess this is where I must confess... that I have been spending a lot of my free time working on the lyric and music for Layla's Lament. I am having an adulterous affair with music, leaving this almanac untouched for days on end. And it is not just Layla... but many, many other songs and prose, including instrumentals that have torn my attention away from my writing. I have been a bad, bad boy.

But to be honest... At 43, I am thankful to God Almighty and the Prophet (saws) for giving me another chance. Reawakening an ancient passion to fill my days. For I am enjoying becoming a student once again... learning the language of music, making my first untutored, awkward steps to God-knows-what-end. And finding the infinite space in the syllable of each word that is uttered or sang with love. 

184. Cathedral of Beauty

If Layla had not sent Majnun to guide us,

How long would we stray still in the temples of lesser devotions,

Never to set foot in the Cathedral of Beauty?

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

I have the story already, you see. Thousands upon thousands. But now I want someone to sing it!

Wish me luck, sunshine, in this new adventure, and for those still yet unknown who will be my travelling companions in this journey.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

IF THIS WORLD IS A DISH, ALLAH IS THE PLEASURE - war, conflict, politics... what of such trivial things?

...And Win

Lay to rest thy weary mind,

Ever in conflict with this world unkind,

Brothers fighting shouting aloud,

"This is not thine! This is mine!"

Lay to rest your sword of right,

Forget the glories that might have been, 

Say to the rabble, "This is not my fight,"

Turn to God, turn to the Prophet 

Know thyself 

And win.

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

Every spoken word, written or heard, if it does not meander its way ultimately to the only true worthy thing that you can gain in this world, why say such a word? And why bother to write or read it?

Beautiful Garnish. It is this driving love, that propels the dervish, the sufis, the mystics to disdain wasted words, and wasted breaths. For the shining beacon on the shore of this world is Allah (swt) and His Muhammad (saws), the only true absolute discovery that you may ever find through this transient and illusory world. Everything else are only beautiful garnish and signposts to mark your way to God Almighty and His Messenger (saws).

This is not my war. The newspaper, today, yesterday and tomorrow will be full of hateful things, hateful people and hateful conflict. But this is not your war. This is not your conflict. The very definition of words and names for which people are killing or killed does not resonate in your heart. Money, power, religious authority, political gain, global domination, usurious profit and exploitation of the world are words meaningless to you.

Allah the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful has already picked you, and your eyes are forever drawn to the unseen and unknowable behind the curtain.  

This divine love does not make you an alien to this world. It does not leave you loveless with no affection for this world and its inhabitants. It will make you and those you touch better...

How blessed you are, sunshine!

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

THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE - the mercy in coming closer to one another...

What Have I Done?

The minister sitting behind his minimalist desk,

The drone-pilot fingering the fire button,

The fat cats purring in their towers of usury,  

The directors spilling ink across a deep clean sea,

The scientists tinkering far from the mushroom cloud...

The more distant you are from something or someone,

The more callous you may become,

So we wonder, if ever such people were troubled by doubt...

What have I done?

What have I done?

What have I done?

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

Ordinary people doing wrong. Save for the barely human psychopaths that paper the walls of salacious tv docos and websites that records (and lets face it, glorifies) violent crimes, evil, that is taking the right of someone (or something) without just cause often occurs in the most mundane of circumstances, and by people of unlikely malice. Many are married. Have good paying jobs, a nice house, children that they love and probably a pet dog or cat. They don't consider themselves bad people, much less evil. After all, evil is an epithet for the truly malignant, the infamous figures like Jack the Ripper, Hitler, Jeffry Dalhmer, Pol Pot, Attila the Hun etc. The pages of human history are red by the blood of their victims.

The distance. It is of course the distance that is the problem. Sometimes the distance between the action and the consequence is physical, like the drone-operator somewhere in the US raining hell with a drone in a remote backwater in Pakistan or Yemen. At other times the distance is wealth. After all, how become it possible for Wall Street CEOs to escape imprisonment for bringing devastating economic crisis in 2008? And no BP directors were jailed when they inadvertently leaked oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Yet in some ways, the tragedy that they have inflicted on mankind, and on planet Earth is terrible. It is of course quite simple, wealth can buy you a lot of smart lawyers and corrupt politicians.

The distant gods. God has no problem of distance. Many people looked up to the sky, wondering where He is and what He is doing. Others looked even further, and through their looking glass into the night sky, they try to interpret God's plan for Man's destiny in the movement of the celestial lanterns. They sought God through some strange Morse code that only they can understand. 

God Most Near. It is therefore an enlightenment of no small measure when the Prophet from Mecca, Muhammad (saws) brought the faith of a very near God. For this completion of knowledge in God that was championed by the previous prophets from Adam (as) to Jesus (as) is in direct contrast to the widespread perception held by Man that God is arrogant, prideful, wayward and can often be callous and indifferent to the pain of humanity... the gods of Mount Olympus or Asgard, or some further place, utterly remote from humanity. But God Almighty has revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (saws) that... 

We verily created man and We know what his soul whispereth to him, 

and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein. (Quran 50:16, Marmaduke Pickthall)

God is no oppressor. And for those thinking themselves safe and contented in their ivory towers who have oppressed thousands to millions of people blanketed in the anonymity of distance? They are committing a terrible wrong. In one of the blessed hadith (oral traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad (saws), God spoke clearly...   

"O My servants ! I have forbidden oppression for Myself, and I have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. 

The Future. Bringing this chit chat down to our daily life, I guess the lesson here is for us to be near to whomever we are considering to oppress. Reflect upon that man or woman's life. Consider their antecedents and history. Walk at least on day in their shoes, these poor, disenfranchised and forgotten people. If, as a banker, a politician, a king or a preacher we still oppress such people, well... maybe we do deserve the world that we have created. But what of our children's future and the world that they will inherit? We can fool ourselves that the 'little' evil we do is for their welfare.

Such is the blindness, self-deception and madness of Man. 

We are asking Allah (swt) and His Prophet (saws) to bless us and keep us safe always, despite our sins and forgetfulness. May we always draw closer together, regardless of our creed, colour or nationality. Perhaps then, we will not oppress one another.

Don't you agree, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way    

A FATHER'S MEMOIR - the shy doctor

A Memoir. My father is writing his memoir. After the unexpected passing of my brother, Abang Chik (a.k.a. Poone) last September, my dad turned rather quiet and sober. And this is for someone naturally quiet and sober. Talking about this with Mr. Ikhlas, my old friend suggested that this would be a good time for my dad to finally complete his memoir in time for his 80th birthday this coming March 2014. At the very least it would be a project to distract him from the painful memory of having buried his second son. So I mentioned this to my father, and since then there is no stopping him. He is now giving the finishing touches to his latest draft which he typed with an old manual Olympia typewriter. He is also sorting out some grand old pictures to be part of the memoir. 

A Typist. His draft needs to be keyed into the computer for editing, and originally I planned to get a typist to do it. But after glancing briefly, there is much I discovered in his recollections that I didn't know about his life... and I am keen to find out more. So I have volunteered my typing skills. Though it must have pleased him, since then my father has been strangely reluctant to part with his manuscript for me to type. Every other day, I keep nagging him for it, and each time he said it is not ready yet.

Is the doctor shy? I think he is just contented to have something cerebral to fill his days.

A Fathers' Poem. Some years back, I wrote something for my dad on Fathers' Day. It is a little late in the day to share it with you, but here it is...

5. Now That I am a Father

Now that I am a father,

Worrying becomes second nature,

As I look at my son and wonder,

How will he fare when

I am here no longer?

Now that I am a father,

I can share my father’s joy and sorrow

And his firmness that grated people so,

By taking the high road,

When easier seemed the low.

Now that I myself am a father,

I think, finally…

I know mine a little better.

And on this day,

Which celebrates fathers everywhere,

I have my own to share with you,

Abdul Khalid, my dad,

From the tips of his toes

To the ends of his white hair!

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

Have a lovely day, sunshine. Don't forget to tell your father and mother that you love them so. No matter that your love for them will never equal their love and sacrifice... and I think we certainly don't need a parent's memoir to realise this God-beautiful truth.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE DERVISH IN THE FLOWER POT... and his Lord of beguiling beauty and riddles

The Dervish in the Flower Pot

I found him entangled among the branches and leaves,

The little dervish caught in a flower pot,

 Upon his head rested a yellow turban,

Upon his lips rested praises of God,

And teardrops glistened like jewels

On his flowing robe of white.

The mark in remembrance 

of the Prophet and His Lord.

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

No Mundane Day. I saw this flower at a florist right next to the mini market where I normally buy groceries. It is some atonement for my sins that I notice such things. I do not know why, but it gladdens my heart. Giving a beautiful gloss over my otherwise mundane day.

We all have our work to do. Our  daily schedule of chores, appointments and datelines. But I think, if we step over the threshold of our house into a brand new day, there is always some divine garnish that awaits us out there in the world. And often it is in the most unlikely and surprising of places and times. 

"If you look for good, you will find God. And if you look for God, you will find Good.", so an old friend of mine says. But sometimes, you may be looking for neither, distracted as you are by the imposing realities of being mortal and very much human, with all our faults and forgetfulness. 

God does not forget. So I guess it is our blessing to be made by a Maker Most Loving of His creatures that He does not wait for us to turn to Him. He will intervene, as He does... daily, to remind us of Him. Through beguiling beauty, riddles and nuances which is all His own. Drawing us to Him like a cat to milk. Like a mureed to the mursheed.

"...meow... meow..."

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way 

THE HADRA... Immortals whirl and Nightingales sing!

The Hadra

You see guitars, drums, clarinets and cellos,

But I see instruments of worship with sounds hallowed,

You hear pop songs and think they sound wrong,

But I hear echos of choirs and heavenly songs,

You see kids jumping and dancing mad,

But I see bright young souls yearning

For the Hadra they never had

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

The Hadra. According to the Wiki.. "Haḍra (Arabic: حضرة‎) is a collective supererogatory ritual performed by Sufi orders. It is often held on Thursday evenings after the night prayer, on Fridays after Jum`a prayer or on Sunday evenings, and can also celebrated on special Islamic festivals and at rites of passage. It may be held at home, in a mosque, in a Sufi hospice or elsewhere. The term in Arabic literally means "presence"..."

Whirling Calling Praising

Whirling, whirling, whirling,

Words pour out of mortal hearts,

Calling, calling, calling,

Prayers stumble from human lips,

Praising, praising, praising,

While the tired pass the night in sleep

Immortals whirl and Nightingales sing,

Drinking the Ocean timeless and deep!

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

I have been out of touch with the band of dervishes that make their spiritual home not far from my house. Been busy, ya' know.... with dunya (worldly) matters. He he he.

Missing Kuching. The pictures above however are not from my neighbourhood, but was taken in Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Kalimantan/Borneo. I was there in February this year for the funeral and tahlil of a good man.

Many things in my life have turned and changed in the course of these past couple of months. I wanted to write about them now but strangely it is The Hadra that is written instead.

Perhaps there is a reason that I am unaware of. But sometimes it is okay not to follow too closely the clouds that pass through our thoughts... after all, we are just sinners here.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way