An Extraordinary Soul Garbed in Humility and Courtly Courtesy - The Prince Part 21

No pretense here... 

24. Pretensions

May Allah save me from faith’s pretensions

And away from pretensions of no pretensions

Until I become but a passing moment

Indistinct from the rest of the ocean.

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

Hullo, sunshine. It is difficult to have no pretension, not when we are living in a world of pretense - a transient reflection, a momentary glimpse of God's power upon His own mirror. An artifice built upon the orbit of the smallest sub-atomic particle and the turning of the most gigantic star in the heavens, yet still nothing but the smallest manifestation of His grace. Thus He calls unto us - come to Me and let rest your worry. In this world of make-believe, verily you were made to look for Me, to find Me, and to seek your very best succour from none other but Me. With Me, there is no uncertainty, no worry. No pretense.

35. Brightest Star

Even the brightest star must diminish

When the morning sun appears

As do all sad songs finish

When eyes run out of tears.

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

None who met him, none who knew him shall ever forget him. For forgetfulness is the plaything of the human ego, subservient to nothing else. But those who have met him, find their eyes bowed and shy, instinctively knowing to be in the presence of an extraordinary soul garbed in humility and courtly courtesy.

The 100th day and more... has it passed so fast?

al fatiha

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Questions Your Soul Wants Answers To - The Prince Part 20

al fatiha...

3. N Ode 2 Hu
I am lowborn, who will raise me?
I am highborn, who will bring me down?
I am rude, who will teach me manners?
I am vain and proud, who is oft-bearing with me?

I am in love, who is in love with me?
I am yearning, who is yearning for me?
I am ablaze, who will quench the fire?
I am drowning, who will drain the ocean?
I am dying, who shall bury me?

I am a bird, but who gave me wings?
I am the sky, but who painted me blue?
I am a face, but who taught me to smile?
I am a prose, but who is the poet?
I am a lantern, but who is the light?

Who is asking? Who is answering?
What am I? Who am I?
Like a shadow on the wall?
Like a ripple in the ocean?

I am coming home, but who am I returning to?
Was I ever away?

7. Shams-al-shams

O’ Pale Shining Moon

Bridesmaid of the Sun

How many veils have been drawn

Between this one

And the Sun of the Sun?

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

Today the weary and the spirited, the wise and the foolish, the sparkling nova and the timorous mouse-like friends, mureeds, lovers and groupies of al-marhum Shaykh Raja Ashman Shah ibni Sultan Azlan Shah (Ku Ash) are making their way to the palace of his father, the Sultan of Perak to observe the tradition of the 100th day tahlil (traditional Muslim prayers for the deceased) for the passing of their beloved Shaykh.

They are a mixed bunch, you know, for Ku Ash has gathered them all under his shadow, with no discrimination, while he himself is under the shadow of the Grand Shaykh and thereafter connected through the Golden Chain to the Prophet(pbuh) himself.

Connections in the spiritual world, just like in the world of business and social networking is important - It gets you places. And it helps you to find answers to question your soul longs to ask...

May you too, have a memorable day, sunshine. Use it to remember someone good and beautiful in your life.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Atheism blames Religion, but the fault lies in Man's Hubris and Bigotry

It is Bigotry and Hubris, not Religion that is the Disease

It is not religion that is adding

A new volatile ingredient into the soup of bigotry,

It is instead racism and hubris that is adding

A new abhorrent ingredient into religion,

Making it all distasteful...

And not just religion,

But Atheism too!

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

Religious right-wing nuts and some Atheist left-leaning elites are selling the same soul-rotting candy but just packaged differently. In their own unique way they are equally narrow-minded, regarding any idea, faith or philosophy coming from the black, brown and yellow people as really second-class stuff.

If people lose their sensibilities and good manners (Adab), it really doesn't matter whether they are religious or Atheists, Caucasians, Latinos, Slavs, Chinese, Indians, Jews, Nordics, Arabs or Malays. For 'knowledge' has possessed them, and they need to be exorcised of their inner demon called the human ego disguised as 'being right all the freakin' time!'.

Intellectual arrogance and religious superiority... oh boy, that doesn't make for an attractive package... does it, sunshine? It rained earlier today, and because it was hot, the water steam up and you can actually smell the grass and the soil in the air. And I bet everyone can enjoy this good Earth, whatever belief or disbelief he may entertain in his heart. Thus it is rather a shame that we often allow our ego to colour our lives... 

It is a slippery slope, I know. If you see me stumble and fall into my own hubris and conceit, help me. For God knows I am weak too.

Easy does it... eaaasy does it....

Have a good Friday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Bring Your Extraordinary to Your Game - The Caliph of Islam and the Times (they are a changin'...)

15. Extraordinary Friend

Dear friend,

Your ordinary is already very good,

So your extraordinary

Must be something really special.

Were it for your sake alone,

I would be contented with the ordinary you,

But the days are growing short,

And really,

Only your extraordinary

Would be good enough now

for me.

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

Hi, sunshine. You, like many of my other friends, are really a good person. Charming, witty, kind and generous. Patient when times are tough and thoughtful when times are good. Unlike me, you are not easily swayed by your emotion nor do you stray far from the path of goodness. With your sort of people still walking on this Earth, I know that in humanity there shall always be hope.

The Caliph

But the days are getting shorter and shorter. The times are a changin' and after more than 80 years, the Caliph of Islam has made a reappearance in the form of King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And many saints and masters have discarded their earthly shell to find, as one Grandshaykh puts it, Real Power.

These changes, while occurring perhaps far from where you live, will have significant impact on the balance of the World, the ying and yang, a ripple in the Force, a blip in the Matrix. Oh, it is all good, of course, as things move in the manner, timing and momentum pre-ordained by God and managed by the Prophet, the Saints and the Angels. With such events happening, perhaps we need to up our game, to become stronger, to improve our lives, to eat better, work better, play and sleep better.

Ordinarily, I would not ask people to change for any reason. But we are at the cusp of an extraordinary age, and I want you to change for the better. So that I too might improve, following your extraordinary example. For I shall always be a follower, you see... and I would like to follow good examples.

God bless the Caliph, God bless the Saints, God bless you and may God forgive this weak, vacillating servant.

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Servants of The Lord of Forever - The Muslims and the Believers

1. I found Forever II

We have the form,

We have the essence,

And we have true measure

Of the enemy that

Stands before us!

And while they scurry

Like madmen to meet

Their deadlines,

We meet them at leisure

In the instructions

Of Forever.

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

The fearsome West think that they are against the Muslims, but they have not met them yet. The fearsome East think that they are fighting for the Muslims, but they too have not met them yet. Both peddlers of ancient hates and prejudices are so busy conquering and dominating mainstream mass media and the geo-political world, that they are not bothered with the Muslims and the believers. They are dressed as padres and preachers, evangelical crusaders and neo-jihadis, ulamaks and imams and priests, issuing forth from the pit of despair and bringing whatever creed they believe in as a religion of despair, death and destruction. They speak of God, on behalf of God and with God in a most unruly, angry and ego-driven tone. They have blood on their hands and have chosen to worship at the altar of terror and death.

But the Muslims and all believers of One God are biding their time, being servants of God, Most Compasionate, Most Merciful - Creator of Time and the Lord of Forever. And I think such benevolent men and women are everywhere, on all the points of the divine compass.

May we be blessed to be in the company of such people.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Birth of Democracy - when individual right seeks to overthrow Divine Rights, who wants to be servants now?

Arab Spring? What nonsense is this?
Only God grants Springs and Autumns,
Winters and Summers!

1. The rejection of the Saints III

The rejection of the saints,

The demise of the philosopher kings,

All paved way to

Tyranny of the Many.

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

Democratic Ulamak. If you ask some Ulamaks (religious preachers/scholars of Islam), they will say that political democracy is not incompatible with Islam. But I follow my friends, and the teachers and masters of my friends, who disagree vehemently with this proposition.

No Minister. When asked by a minister (yes, currently sitting in the Malaysian cabinet now) about democracy, one of the masters said that democracy had its origin from the Devil. Now that brought the conversation to an awkward point. And he was not wrong. Because what is democracy but a public forum where each of us fight for our individual rights? And this struggle supersedes the rights of everyone else, including that of the sovereign (the Sultan or the King or the Emir), and alas, ultimately supersedes the holy rights of the Sovereign of the Worlds, the Shahanshah (as the Persians would put it), the Kings of Kings aka God Himself.

Ana Khairun Minhu. For you see, if you recall the tale, the Lord commanded (as was His right) all of creation to bow before Adam. But the Devil, in his hubris and prideful piety challenged God (which he really had no right to), and asked why should he bow down to any other than God? But the Devil's inner sentiment was clear when he said "Ana Khairun Minhu!", I am better that he(Adam)!

And democracy picks up from where the Devil left off - My ideas are better than yours! My right is higher than yours! My family, my faith and my race is more noble than yours! My opinion ranks higher than yours! And so the whining goes on and on and on ad infinitum ad nauseum. Oh, people will always say that this is for the common good. But when they forget the Common God, the One God who has rights over everyone and all of creation, there is no common good really. People are easily provoked by populist politicians (and preachers), and the Rule of God is overturned by the Rule of the Mob. And behind the mob, the Devil rubs his hands together, grinning with satisfaction at his handiwork.

Thus do you see? Democracy suggests that all men are equal, therefore all men are kings. But if everyone is a king, who is willing to be a servant? And who will be the student when everyone is a teacher? When none will be servants or students, it is the human ego that will be the king and the teacher...

194. The Brethren

When buildings stand tall as mountains,

Where stand all my brethren?

When all men are kings,

Who will be servants?

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

Our friends therefore do not look at the Arab Spring with great joy. Because the protests and rallies have merely replaced one form of evil with another form of evil, one form of tyranny with another form of tyranny.

Arrogance. When we forget that we are merely servants, weak and not possessed with perfect knowledge, therein lies the door through which hate, hubris, vengeance and great despair will enter the body politic.

Stick to being servants, sunshine, in whatever faith you may be worshiping God.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

A Goat Jealous of God's Talents - physical beauty, spiritual beauty and the science of capturing both manifestations on paper...

I sketched this. Weird. 

Sketch and Draw, Sketch and Draw

I look at my mother,

I look at my father,

At my son and my Master,

I look at all whom I have loved

And all whom that I will love,

I look out of the window at the sky,

I look at the kitten that just passed me by,

I look at the trees and the flowers

At the butterflies and the bees,

I look at the sea and at the running brook,

I look and look and look,

Until from the sky fell a chalk, a pen and a pencil,

And someone said, “Sketch and draw, sketch and draw,

But ask ye not, for whom you are doing this for..."

……………………………….

A Goat Jealous of God's Talents. When someone commented in an earlier posting that Mika (my son) looked rather good in a picture, an unworthy thought grazed awhile in the pastures of my thoughts, "Oh yeah? But what about the picture I sketched?"

But the goat soon left and of course I know... how can i ever compete against God? It was He who sketched Mikhail when He dipped His pen into the Ocean of the Light of Muhammad and started to create. In fact God sketched and created us all... In wonderous and truly unimaginable physical and spiritual beauty. Wonderful stuff.

Art entitled 'Emina'. All rights reserved with the Artist Always known as Almighty God.

To Heck with Spiritual Beauty! But of course not everyone is doled out with the same amount of physical beauty. Someone has said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but you cannot beat history. And history has shown that time and again, there are some very clear and distinctive criteria by which people generally judge a woman (or a man) as physically beautiful. Skin, height, weight, eyes, nose, moles, hair, etc... all these conditions contribute to one's good looks. Spiritual  beauty is however less obvious. It is an inner glow that is not necessarily visible to everyone. Thus many people are saying "To heck with spiritual beauty! I will make do with physical beauty!"

To such discontented souls I can only repeat this advice of Saidina Ali (4th Caliph of Islam) that a friend posted on the Facebook wall - "Beautiful people are not always good. But good people are always beautiful."

And I cannot put it any better than that.

Have a beautiful day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way