“…Often through delay are gifts received..”

Should you not gain your wants, my soul, then be not grieved;
But hasten to that banquet which your Lord’s bequeathed.

And when a thing for which you ask is slow to come,
Then know that often through delay are gifts received.

Find solace in privation and respect its due,
For only by contentment is the heart relieved.

And know that when the trials of life have rendered you
Despairing of all hope, and of all joy bereaved,

Then shake yourself and rouse yourself from heedlessness,
And make pure hope a meadow that you never leave.

Your Maker’s gifts take subtle and uncounted forms.
How fine the fabric of the world His hands have weaved.

The journey done, they came to the water of life,
And all the caravan drank deep, their thirst relieved.

Far be it from the host to leave them thirsty there,
His spring pours forth all generosity received.

My Lord, my trust in all Your purposes is strong,
That trust is now my shield; I’m safe, and undeceived.

All those who hope for grace from You will feel Your rain;
Too generous are You to leave my branch unleaved.

May blessings rest upon the loved one, Muhammad,
Who’s been my means to high degrees since I believed.

He is my fortress and my handhold, so my soul,
Hold fast, and travel to a joy still unconceived.

 Shaykh Ali bin Husayn al-Habshi

Translated by Sh. AbdalHakim Murad

Even if it stings..

I recently read this beautiful piece by Mark Nepo called “The Spider and the Sage”. Btw, I’d recommend this book to anyone struggling in life, especially those battling cancer. Aside from some sufi-ish elements (he’s a kaafir afterall), its an excellent book with some amazing reminders on how to keep up the fight.
Anyway, here’s the piece. Enjoy:

“I would rather be fooled
than not believe.”

In India, there is a story about a kind, quiet man who would pray in the Ganges River every morning. One day after praying, he saw a poisonous spider struggling in the water and cupped his hands to carry it ashore. As he placed the spider on the ground, it stung him. Unknowingly, his prayers for the world diluted the poison.
The next day the same thing happened. On the third day, the kind man was knee deep in the river, and sure enough, there was the spider, legs frantic in the water. As the man went to lift the creature yet again, the spider said, “Why do you keep lifting me? Can’t you see I will sting you every timebecause that is what I do.” And the kind man cupped his hands about the spider, replying, “Because that is what I do.”
There are many reasons to be kind, but perhaps none is as compelling as the spiritual fact that it is what we do. It is how the inner organ of being keeps pumping. Spiders sting. Wolves howl. Ants build small hills that no one sees. And human beings lift each other, no matter the consequence. Even when other beings sting.
Some say this makes us a sorry lot that never learns, but to me it holds the same beauty as berries breaking through ice and snow every spring. It is what quietly feeds the world. After all, the berries do not have any sense of purpose or charity. They are not altruistic or self-sacrificing. They simply grow to be delicious because that is what they do.
As for us, if things fall, we will reach for them. If things break, we will try to put them together. If loved ones cry, we will try to soothe them — because that is what we do. I have often reached out, and sometimes it feels like a mistake. Sometimes, like the quiet man lifting the spider, I have been stung. But it doesn’t matter, because that is what I do. That is what we do. It is the reaching out that is more important than the sting. In truth, I’d rather be fooled than not believe.

“With Her”, For You & I..

This time is difficult. Wait for me. 

We will live it out vividly.

Give me your small hand:

we will rise and suffer,

we will feel, we will rejoice. 

We are once more the pair

who lived in bristling places,

in harsh nests in the rock. 

This time is difficult. Wait for me

with a basket, with a shovel,

with your shoes and your clothes.

 Now we need each other, 

not only for the carnations’ sake, 

not only to look for honey—

we need our hands

to wash with, to make fire.

So let our difficult time

stand up to infinity

with four hands and four eyes.

- Pablo Neruda

The Lesson is to never close.

“God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open.”

- Inayat Khan.

When young, it was my first fall from love. It broke me open the way lightning splits a tree. Then, years later, cancer broke me further. This time it broke me wider, the way a flood carves the banks of a narrow stream. Then, having to leave a twenty-year marriage. This broke me the way wind shatters glass. Then, in Africa, it was the anonymous face of a schoolboy beginning his life. This broke me yet again. But this was like hot water melting soap.

Each time I tried to close up what had been opened. It was a reflex, natural enough. But the lesson was, of course, the other way. The lesson was in never closing again.

- Mark Nepo

 

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

The Step to Others

All the promises we make
from the cradle to the grave,
when all I want is you.
- Bruce Springsteen

We imagine that so many conditions are prerequisite to finding love, when allt hat is required is that, like a man stepping from a boat to a dock, we step over the small gap that exists between us. Often there is nothing to prepare for, nothing to set up in advance – just to step over what separates us and to land in what is before us.

But, giving in to our fears, we widen the gap by creating conditions that must be filled before stepping toward another. This is how we invest in the building of credentials and lifestyles and bank accounts that are often distractions from the simple and essential need to be held. In this way, we move  up and down and around, but seldom straight into what will give us love.

To know love we must do more than understand, we must land and enter. Before we step, the gap to others seems like a canyon. But stepping anyway, the separations we move through look so much smaller once crossed. Often the thing feared, once crossed, turns out to be an unexpected bridge from which we can see who we were and who we are becoming.

- Mark Nepo

One of the most soothing sounds..

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ بُشْرًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْ رَحْمَتِهِ ۖ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَقَلَّتْ سَحَابًا ثِقَالًا سُقْنَاهُ لِبَلَدٍ مَّيِّتٍ فَأَنزَلْنَا بِهِ الْمَاءَ فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نُخْرِجُ الْمَوْتَىٰ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ

“And it is He who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy until, when they have carried heavy rainclouds, We drive them to a dead land and We send down rain therein and bring forth thereby [some] of all the fruits. Thus will We bring forth the dead; perhaps you may be reminded.“

I absolutely LOVE rain. The sound of soft and steady rain has an amazingly soothing effect on the brain. Gentle sounds of nature generally have this affect but rain [and a little thunder] tops the list for me. I usually listen to it on my way from uni [after long hours in the lab!] or at work, and especially when I’m studying.

Anyway, here’s a few clips and sites for rain crazies like me out there:

• Rainymood.com - just click, sit back, grab your mus-haf, and let the sounds of nature and the beauty of Allaah’s Words sink in your heart and mind
• Amazon Rain Forest
• Sounds of Rain

It blew like the strong wind..

It blew like the strong wind;

It burst like a bright flame;

It became like a youth in its determination;

It flew like a hawk, with pride;

Welcome, my caravan;

My caravan of wisdom;

O generation of the future, let’s go;

Let’s exert ourselves and work hard;

Let’s always rise to the top;

And never accept to be less than the best;

My friends, let’s go about;

And learn different fields of knowledge;

Let’s excel in five or six;

And help a brother or sister;

Leave your laziness and slumber;

The lazy person has never succeeded;

And stop criticizing and blaming;

As Allah is the Helper of people;

Revive the glory of this Ummah;

When it was at its peak;

And brush this dark cloud away from it;

With your high aspirations…

[Translated by our dear Abu Sabaya]

Even if it takes a lifetime, I’ll wait.

On every journey you take, you are met with options. At every fork in the road, you make a choice. These are the decisions that shape your life. - Mark DeWine

Sometimes.. you don’t know where your decision will lead you, but you take the risk, that leap of faith, simply because you believe – Not only in yourself but in the Wisdom of Allaah, His Power and His Plans. When I read these words below, written by a prisoner, I found them to be quite uplifting and it helped renew my faith in my own decisions.

First, what waiting accomplishes: Waiting isn’t just something you have to do in order to get what you want. No, waiting produces patience, understanding, maturity, and character. What God accomplishes in you while you’re waiting is often more important than the thing you’re waiting for. It also forces any potential weakness to the surface. The truth is that time spent waiting is time spent learning and growing!

Second, what waiting isn’t: Waiting is not an excuse for dodging reality, shirking responsibility, or not doing the right thing.

Above all else, waiting means making a daily decision to trust and obey God, even when things aren’t going the way you planned.

My Heart is Free

They say I’m a butterfly
I say, what with clipped wings?
They say I’m a nightingale
I say, slashed chords can’t sing!

They say I’m a velvety rose
I say, then why fear my thorns?
They say I’m like the moon
I say, because my light is a loan?

They pierced my wings
“To protect you, my love”, said they
They confined me to a cage
“So your enemies can’t hurt you”, said they

I say I’m a bird, born to fly free
I’m a mountain standing tall and high
I say, in humble dignity, why can’t you see
Bowing to only One Who’s ever-nigh

I want to soar over the highest top
Through the strongest wind, glide
I want to burn and melt
Like a candle, to spread the light

I want to devour every verse
Of my Most Beloved, His every word
I want to walk through His Garden
And sail in the heart of a green bird

So clip my wings, chain me up
My heart is free, it knows no slavery
Except to the One, the Majestic
With Him as my Patron, I have no worry

Your smile is all I see

I look into your eyes and I see
I can’t sleep
I see pain and screaming memories
flickers of hope dying but burning
I see,
I see a child’s struggle for undying amity
I can’t sleep
I can’t dream because all I see
is pain and misery
I see shackles around your feet
Your feet, that tread the path of integrity
pillars of strength, valor and humility
handcuffed wrists, sore but sturdy
I can’t sleep
because I see your smile
your smile, a facade shrouding the agony
screaming memories, my mind they pierce
this smile I see, my safe haven, my sanctuary
my tears blurring, like a rainy scenery
I’ll hold on, hold onto your faith
We’ll rise from this calamity
They can clip our broken wings, but
we’ll hold on, hold onto our faith,
fearless, we’ll keep the flicker alive, they’ll see
we’ll unite, unite in everlasting felicity