Your Love ... By Jafar Alam ...

Your love is like a cloud,

That passes the sun kissed sky ...

Unable to differentiate a breeze from the wind

As time floats by ...

Love tore through the veils

In my heart it did reach ...

For this kind of love

No imam could even preach ...

Guide me now

For I have lost my way ...

Do not deny me Your love

For this I do pray ...

What use do I have,

With worldly things ???

I've been pierced now

With Love's beautiful stings ...

Along with the wind

Do take me away ...

To that Eternal Garden

Where the Angels do pray ...

To that place, where everyone's

Free like the dove ...

To that place

Where every moment there is only Love ...

I make sujood, for I love You

More and more ...

O Allah,

I pray that You would lower the floor ...

So I may humble myself

To the King of king's ...

Like the Shakoor

I don't care what this life brings ...

This life will end

And then everyone will see ...

The Truth was You

It was never we ...

Who are we, but a creation of Thee ???

Break these chains

And set me free ...

They'll wrap me in shrouds

And lower me in the ground ...

I was once lost

But now I am found ...

Now I'll leave, to go and pray ...

Pray that today, would be that day ...

The day they'll lay me

And over me they'll pray ...

Pray that I would reach such a place

Where everything is beautiful and full of grace ...

I couldn't ask for anything better

Because You and I would be together (c)

The Goal ... By Jafar Alam ...

The paths are many

But we search for only One ...

Forget dunya, forget everything

Now we have begun ...

Remove the veils, and then you'll see

This is what makes mere mortals reach ecstacy ...

Understand tawheed, understand taqwa

Then you shall understandwhat's known as muhabba ...

Drown in the Ocean of Love

Again and again ...

Leave your "self" for Him

Just try it my friend ...

Don't submit your will

To a vain desire ...

Leave aside these things

And burn in Love's fire ...

Don't waste your lifejust teasin' and pleasin'

The prophet of Allah came for a much better reason ...

We own nothing of this world

Not even our breath ...

The reality of it is

The reality of death ...

So prepare yourself

For Allah is the goal ...

Prepare yourself

Before Azra'eel takes your soul (c)

Don't Be Afraid ... By Jafar Alam ...

Just as the reed bed cries

Of seperation from the flute

So too, does my soul cry

For union with the Beloved ...

People chase after the shadow

And forget about the Real ...

Why take the shell

When you can have the pearl ???

Don't be afraid

Dive deep into the Ocean 

Dive deep ... And forever be drenched

With the sweetness of Love 

The rock that is touched by rain

Shall always be a rock ...

So be ye, like the earth

Which softens with each blessed drop ...

How foolish I am trying to

Explain Love with words ...

Silence ...

I shall speak no more ...

What you need to know about Love

Lays in your hearts core (c)

After So Long Love Has Come ... By Jafar Alam ...

After so long Love has come 

After so long I am awake ...

Such a Love this is

Not even sleep could overtake ...

Where shall you go once I depart ???

O my friend, not to my grave ...

But to those who knew me 

For I shall live in their heart ...

I am so small

Yet this great love exists within me ...

I have come to speak of Love 

For Love shall set us free ...

I speak of Love, so that you may learn

We all come from Love ...

And unto Love 

We shall return ...

So lose your SELF

That you may cleanse your heart ...

The Lover shall come 

When YOU depart (c)

Reflections In Ramadan ... By Jafar Alam ...

Ramadan this year seems to be flying by ... We've already completed the first half, and my heart is finally starting to settle in ... The Prophet (pbuh) was right in saying "The love for Allah and the love for the dunya can never sit in a single heart" ... For the last 8 months, I've struggled back and forth with deen and dunya ... I prayed that Allah would remove the love of dunya from my heart ... That He would make me fall in love with Him and His Prophet (SAW) ... That He would make my best deeds come, before I die ... That He would make me among those who are Shakoor ... I waited patiently... For a sign or a feeling ... Tonight I realzed that His delays, are not His denials ... Tonight was the 2nd time in the 14 days of Ramadan, that I went for the Taraweeh prayer ... And as I prayed side to side, foot to foot beside my best friend, leaving no room for Shaitaan, I remembered praying to Allah this morning that He bless me with the sweetness of Imaan ... Even if it be for a moment ... Then I remembered my conversation with my fathers this morning as he drove me to work ... I told him a story about Zaynab (RA), the daughter of Ali (RA) and Fatima (RA) and the granddaughter of Muhammad (SAW) ... Zaynab (RA) asked her father Ali (RA), "Do you love us ???" and Ali (RA) replied "Ofcourse I do, you are my family" ... Zaynab (RA) asked her father, "How can you love Allah and the dunya in the same heart ???" Ali (RA) replied " What do you think I should do ???" Zaynab (RA) said " How about you love Allah, and just take care of us ???" ... SubhanAllah ... She was 5 years old, and she had already graduated from university ...She graduated from the university of Muhammad (SAW) ... After that, my dad told me not to be among those who come into the deen and then leave it ... To keep up my prayers and ibaada ... That you can lose that sweetness of imaan just as easily as you get it ... And remembering all this while listening to the beautiful recitation of the imam started to stir up emotions inside of me that I had no control over ... My soul was crying ... Longing to come back to its natural state ... I began to weep ... Beside my best friend, who had never heard or seen me cry before ... I realized the beauty of the Qur'aan ... The words of Allah are so powerful, that when the soul penetrates it, it can no longer contain itself ... My heart cried tonight ... Even the heart cannot contain that much truth ... (c)

A Letter From The Prophet (PBUH)

In 628 C.E. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) granted a Charter of Privileges to the monks of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai ... It consisted of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights including such topics as the protection of Christians, freedom of worship and movement, freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property, exemption from military service, and the right to protection in war ...

An English translation of that document is presented below:

This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them ... Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens and by Allah, I hold out against anything that displeases them ... No compulsion is to be on them ... Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries ... No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses ... Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet ... Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate ... No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight ... The Muslims are to fight for them ... If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval ... She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray ... Their churches are to be respected ... They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants ... No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world) ...

This charter of privileges has been honored and faithfully applied by Muslims throughout the centuries in all lands they ruled.

Rumi ...

Where there is pain ... Cures will come ...

Where there is poverty ... Wealth will follow ...

Where there are questions ... Answers will be given ...

Where there are ships ... Water will flow ...

Spend less time seeking water and acquire thirst ...

Then water will gush from above and below ...

Look at Love ... Rumi ...

Look at Love ...

How it tangles

With the one fallen in love ...

Look at spirit

How it fuses with earth

Giving it new life ...

Why are you so busy

With this or that ... Or good or bad 
Pay attention to how things blend ...

Why talk about all

The known and the unknown

See how unknown merges into the known ...

Why think separately

Of this life and the next

When one is born from the last ...

Look at your heart and tongue

One feels but deaf and dumb

The other speaks in words and signs ...

Look at water and fire

Earth and wind

Enemies and friends all at once ...

The wolf and the lamb

The lion and the deer

Far away yet together ...

Look at the unity of this

Spring and Winter

Manifested in the equinox ...

You too must mingle my friends

Since the earth and the sky

Are mingled just for you and me ...

Be like sugarcane

Sweet yet silent

Don't get mixed up with bitter words ...

My Beloved grows

Right out of my own heart

How much more union can there be ...

Smile ...

The Mysterious Thing Called LOVE ...

If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you
Be gentle with yourself ... 
There is nothing wrong with you ... 
Love just didn't choose to rest in the other person's heart ...

If you find someone else in love with you and you don't love him/her
Feel honored that love came and called at your door ... 
But gently refuse the gift you cannot return ... 
Do not take advantage ... Do not cause the pain ...

How you deal with love is how you deal with you ... 
And all our hearts feel the same pains and joys ... 
Even if our lives and ways are different ...

If you fall in love with another 
And he/she falls in love with you ...
And then love chooses to leave ... 
Do not try to reclaim it or to assess blame ... Let it go ... 

There is a reason and there is a meaning ... 
You will know in time ...

Remember that you don't choose love ... 
Love chooses you ... 

All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life ... 

Feel the way it fills you to overflowing ... 
Then reach out and give it away ...

Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you ...
Give it to others who deem it poor in spirit ...
Give it to the world around you in anyway you can ...

There is where many lovers go wrong ... 
Having been so long without love ...
They understand love only as a need ... 

They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled with love ... 
And they begin to look at love as something that flows to them ... 
Rather than from them ...

The first blush of new love is filled to overflowing ... 
But as their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as need ... 

They cease to be someone who generates love ...
And instead become who seeks love ...
They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift ... 
And that it can be made to grow only by giving it away ...

Remember this ... 
And keep it to your heart ... 

Love has its own time ... 
Its own seasons ... 
And its own reason ... 
For coming and going ... 

You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into staying ... 
You can only embrace it when it arrives ... 
And give it away when it comes to you ... 

But if it chooses to leave from your heart ... 
Or from the heart of your lover ... 
There is nothing you can do ... 
And there is nothing you should do ...

Love always has been and always will be a mystery ... 

Be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life ...

The Night of Power ...

In the darkness, silent whisper breeze of night

Descended from Heaven the book of guidance

From Allah, the one to whom belongs all wisdom, might ...

To intellects it brought knowledge, to heart it brought light ...

To the Beloved Prophet, Muhammad, the pure, the one with open heart

The Absolute Wisdom of Allah did the book impart ...

We too, like him, should try to be pure

So in our hearts, as in his, Allah would his message ensure ...

Try to imagine the span of Gabriel’s wing

Descended from highest Heavens the message to bring ...

Yet the heart of the Prophet and his followers true

Transcend all creation when they the message include ...

Time too, like, space, this night is bent

Believers, gather themselves, this night to repent ...

Return unto Allah, with sincere overture

Of all evil, and forgetfulness let your soul be spent

- Ahmed Hussain (1974-2006)

I've had the opportunity to know many people in my short time in this world, but very few have had the ability to really touch my heart ... Ahmed Hussain is one of those few ... And I thank Allah for giving me the opportunity to have known such a remarkable and beautiful human being ... I've learned so much from Ahmed, through others ... One thing I will always keep with me, was Ahmed's approach to life ... He always had a smile for everyone, and made sure that he never hurt a human heart while on this journey that we call life ... I pray that Allah grants my brother, the higest level of Junnatul Firdaws ... Ameen)

Life's Flame ... By Awhad al-Din Kirmani ...

Love is a source of many great troubles

But lacking love

Is a disgrace

For travelers upon this path

Love is the life force of the entire universe

Those who lack love

Are already dead

The Spiritual Sayings of Khalil Gibran

Just finished reading the "Spiritual Sayings of Khalil Gibran"... Beautiful book ... Might be hard to find, but if you can find it, definately a good read ... For those who haven't read it, I thought I'd share some of the quotes that I really liked ... Enjoy ...

- Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth ... I found the first in a loving heart ... And the second in a laborer's hand ...

- No lower can a man descend ... Than to interpret his dreams into gold and silver ...

- What shall I say of the man who slaps me when I kiss him on the face ... And who kisses my foot when I slap him ...

- How hard is the life of him who asks for love and receives passion ...

- To be closer to God ... Be closer to people ...

- Some hear with their ears ... Some with their stomachs ... Some with their pockets ... And some hear not at all ...

- We demand freedom of speech and freedom of press ... Although we have nothing to say and nothing worth printing ...

- Man merely discovers ... He never can and never will invent ...

- Worship does not require seclusion and solitude ...

- How distant I am from the people when I am with them ... And how close when they are far away ...

- Prayer is the song of the heart that makes its way to the throne of God ... Even when entangled in the wailing of thousands of souls ...

- My enemy said to me, "Love your enemy" ... And I obeyed him and loved myself ...

- Our worst fault is our preoccupation with the faults of others ...

- Fear of the devil is one way of doubting God ...

- Contradiction is the lowest form of intelligence ...

Azrael and Ibrahim ( a.s )

When the angel of death came to take the soul of Ibrahim, the latter said :

"Have you ever seen a friend take his friend's life ???"

The the Angel of death reported to Allah what the Prophet Ibrahim said ...

So Allah sent Azrael with a message to the Prophet Ibrahim ...

Azrael: "Your Lord answered: Have you ever seen a friend unwilling to see his

friend ???"

Then Ibrahim said: "O, Azrael, take my soul"

* The title of Prophet Ibrahim is 'KHALILULLAH' (The friend of Allah)

Rumi On Fasting ...

There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness ...

We are lutes ... No more ... No less ...

If the soundboxes stuffed full of anything, no music ...

If the brain and belly are burning clean with fasting

Every moment a new song comes out of the fire ...

The fog clears, and new energy makes you run up the steps in front of you ...

Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry ... 

Emptier ...

Write secrets with the reed pen ... 

When you're full of food and drink

Satan sits where your spirit should 

An ugly metal statue in place of the Kaaba ... 

When you fast, good habits gatherlike friends who want to help ...

Fasting is Solomon's ring

Don't give into some illusion and lose your power 

But even if you have ... If you've lost all will and control

They come back when you fast ... 

Like soldiers appearing out of the ground ... Pennants flying above them ... 

A table descends to your tents ... Jesus' table 

Expect to see it, when you fast ...

This tablespread with other food ... 

Better than the broth of cabbages ... 

Ali Ibn Abu Talib (ra) 600 - 661

Allah possesses a drink which is reserved for His intimate friends (Awliya) ...

When they drink they become intoxicated ... 

When they become intoxicated they become joyful ...

When they become joyful they become sweet ...

When they become sweet they begin to melt ... 

When they begin to melt they become free ...

When they become free they seek ... 

When they seek they find ...

When they find they arrive ... 

When they arrive they join ...

And when they join, there is no difference between them and their Beloved ...

Each moment contains

A hundred messages from God 

To every cry of "Oh Lord" 

He answers a hundred times "I am here"

The Soma ... By Jafar Alam ...

You won't know how I feel

And all the things I've gone through ...

Behinde this smiling mask,

I'm too hood to be true ...

Eyes well up with tears ...

And the soul just cries ... 

Nowhere to go to 

No girls nor guys ... 

Startin' to get tired of these minor spiritual highs ...

Hypocracy is evident

No matter how many tries

Cause these real eyes ... Realize ... Real lies ...

So I drank the soma 

And the world dissappeared for a while ...

Then He sent you to me 

And made my eyes smile ...

A blessing you are

But I'm still empty inside ...

Cause I went to the world ...

And from Him I'd hide ...

Should've seperated the love for Him and the world right from the start ...

Cause the love for Him and the love for the world 

Can't sit in a single heart (c)

A Lovers Cover ... By Jafar Alam

Don't speak of your suffering

When God is speaking to you ...

Many claim to love God

But the real lovers are but a few ...

None like suffering

Though they desire the cause of suffering ...

Veiling not only their eyes

But their hearts with a covering ...

So tear down the veils and then you'll understand

The answers are waiting to be taken by the hand ...

Inspiration descends down 

Like blessed pearls from above ...

Binding your eyes, heart and life into a thing called 

LOVE (c)