Its all about our love
So shall it be forever
never ending
After all this time
After all is said and done
We have seen some
suffering baby
It has not always been perfect
After all this time
After all is said and done
Darling we know it
Whatever may come
We can get through it
As if its just begun
Oh its just begun
Its all about our love
So shall it be forever
never ending
Darling we know it
After all this time
After all said and done
After all this time
After all said and done
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
How Beautiful .... By Amir Sulaiman ...
How beautiful are you?
You didn't think you were beautiful enough to say
I want to be loved
Not taken advantage of
You must have not known you are dove
Aflying far above dark valleys of tears and blood
Of those that know sex
And carnal pleasure
But not love
You didn't think you were beautiful enough to say
Don't talk to me like that
You didn't think you were beautiful enough to say
Don't touch me like that
You didn't think you were beautiful enough to have
Any position but on your back
You didn't even think you were beautiful enough to fight back
So you laid lifeless
As you innermost chambers were
Attacked and torn
And attacked and torn
You closed your eyes
Trying to find some place black and warm
Somewhere you are safe from the storm
Of the norm
Of beast holding from you legs neck and arms
As your innermost chambers are attacked and torn
Attacked and torn
You lie being thrown
From your back to your front to your side
From your back to your front to your side
Bare cold and naked and desperately trying to hide
And any sign of pride has been torn from your insides
And you can't even conjure up the emotion to cry
You don't even spend your time wondering why
You simply wonderIf you'll ever be a wife or mother
Or if you'll ever be gently touched instead of grabbed
Or if you'll ever be gently guided instead of dragged
Or if you'll ever be appreciated
[As] opposed to just had
You didn't think you were beautiful enough to say
I don't want to be raped
By the time you are ugly enough
To know that you were beautiful it will be too late
By the time you are ugly enough
To know that you were beautiful it will be too late
I swear by God you are beautiful
Don't wait until it's too late(c)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Gaza #1 ... By Matt P ...
What is the greater love? Fighting for your children’s freedom
or ensuring their peace.
The father in the photo
used to believe it was peace
next to his children
who almost seem asleep.(c)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Kahlil Gibran ...
"Half of what i say is meaningless,
but i say it so the other half will reach you"
"We live to discover Beauty, all else is a form of waiting"
"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.
We fell them down and turn them into paper
that we may record our emptiness"
"The resting place of my soul is a beautiful grove where my knowledge of u lives"
Kahlil Gibran ...
"If you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
and to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips."
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
and to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips."
Kahlil Gibran ...
"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
the most massive characters are seared with scars."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Mevlana Rumi (ra) ...
“Love is the only melody welcomed by its sufferer,
who never desires to recover from it.
All the sick hope to be cured, but this sick one sobs,
crying “Increase my Sickness”
The Eyes of Love never turn away from its Source
There are times when we just sit in isolation and ponder over why our hearts erupt into such feelings. Feelings that plunge us into attachment for someone close to us. We wonder why our hearts flutter graciously whenever we are around that special person in our lives and even when we are not in their company, our heart aches in yearning and remembrance of that person.
Perhaps the key lies to the source of love. It is impossible to describe love in its whole, just as it is impossible to describe its Creator in whole. Even substituting expressions of our dimension doesn't wholly amount to what it really feels inside when the heart feels love. Love is exquisite. It is a name of His that He has reserved in a special place for His creation. In a place where the entire body is sustained from its core, with all vessels connected to it. It functions as a life support pumping existence to every outlet.
Surely, one who truly treasures and acknowledges the splendours he has been endowed with looks to the origins of its intricate beauty and glorifies its Maker. What love beholds really, only He knows, for it came from Him and surely to Him it must return.
Possessing Love
The ones who look to love as something that has been simply given to them for their possession fail to capture its true essence. As soon as it comes to them, they savour it with all their might, grasping it tight, hoping it to never fade away. To them love is of material possession, for when it exists, to them it exists as theirs. Hence, when it departs, they feel that a part of them departs along with it, caving a crater of emptiness within their hearts.
Those who greet love like a fountain spring cleansing and soothing them at every chance truly acknowledge its existence. These are the hearts that detect the Eternity of Love, acknowledging love in every corner of existence, knowing that it is the Name that drives creation, the battery of survival. To them love is immaterial. It never begins and it never ends.
There are times when we just sit in isolation and ponder over why our hearts erupt into such feelings. Feelings that plunge us into attachment for someone close to us. We wonder why our hearts flutter graciously whenever we are around that special person in our lives and even when we are not in their company, our heart aches in yearning and remembrance of that person.
Perhaps the key lies to the source of love. It is impossible to describe love in its whole, just as it is impossible to describe its Creator in whole. Even substituting expressions of our dimension doesn't wholly amount to what it really feels inside when the heart feels love. Love is exquisite. It is a name of His that He has reserved in a special place for His creation. In a place where the entire body is sustained from its core, with all vessels connected to it. It functions as a life support pumping existence to every outlet.
Surely, one who truly treasures and acknowledges the splendours he has been endowed with looks to the origins of its intricate beauty and glorifies its Maker. What love beholds really, only He knows, for it came from Him and surely to Him it must return.
Possessing Love
The ones who look to love as something that has been simply given to them for their possession fail to capture its true essence. As soon as it comes to them, they savour it with all their might, grasping it tight, hoping it to never fade away. To them love is of material possession, for when it exists, to them it exists as theirs. Hence, when it departs, they feel that a part of them departs along with it, caving a crater of emptiness within their hearts.
Those who greet love like a fountain spring cleansing and soothing them at every chance truly acknowledge its existence. These are the hearts that detect the Eternity of Love, acknowledging love in every corner of existence, knowing that it is the Name that drives creation, the battery of survival. To them love is immaterial. It never begins and it never ends.
Love is like a seed waiting to blossom. It lies beneath every surface waiting to be nourished. Every drop it is fed sprouts a new petal, its growth stimulated through the pleasure of commitment; for commitment breeds great pleasure. As each essence unfolds from within, it manifests itself outwardly, scattering its comfort to the surroundings. The blossoming of this love emulates into a source of illumination that guides the wandering, nourishes the deprived and calms the distraught.
Love is delicate. There are those who are reckless with love often letting it slip from their grasp with improper attention and lack of commitment. There are those who devour it in one gulp, swallowing without digestion. The value of true love is hidden from them or rather it melts upon consumption, denying them of an everlasting taste. Their hearts are left cold and emptiness within them persists.
It is only those who savour every drop of it while preserving its value, ensuring that it becomes a part of them and moulds them into the essence of their being, whose hearts wholly benefit. They let the stalk of love remain firmly rooted while receiving the fragrance of its scent and the sweetness of its taste, always admiring its precious and timeless beauty. They regard love as a life support that connects them with its Owner.
Like an admirer of an art piece, ever longing to meet its artist.
Love is delicate. There are those who are reckless with love often letting it slip from their grasp with improper attention and lack of commitment. There are those who devour it in one gulp, swallowing without digestion. The value of true love is hidden from them or rather it melts upon consumption, denying them of an everlasting taste. Their hearts are left cold and emptiness within them persists.
It is only those who savour every drop of it while preserving its value, ensuring that it becomes a part of them and moulds them into the essence of their being, whose hearts wholly benefit. They let the stalk of love remain firmly rooted while receiving the fragrance of its scent and the sweetness of its taste, always admiring its precious and timeless beauty. They regard love as a life support that connects them with its Owner.
Like an admirer of an art piece, ever longing to meet its artist.
LOVE ...
Love is based on two main foundations that hold it up firm and give it strength. Without these pillars, love is reduced to superficiality, to a delight that melts at the begining of tasting, to something that one would never attain satisfaction from despite excessive attainment of it, for they would have failed to grasp it, just like how the admirer of a rose rips its stalk out to devour its beauty, to savour its pleasureable sight smell and touch, minutes before it withers away lifelessly.
Ikhlas (sincerity) is the nourishment of love from which it roots from and it blossoms. Ikhlas serves to affirm the hearts connection to what it loves. Without ikhlas, the heart would never know, feel and understand. One minute it could be in ecstacy of what it admires and the next minute completely oblivious. A heart without ikhlas is a heart of confusion. Ikhlas is something that doesn't sprout suddenly. It has to be nourished and developed. Once the heart knows ikhlas, the heart knows love.
Tawwakal (trust and reliance) is the backbone of love. There can be no love if there is no trust. One who truly loves is one who sacrifices his ego to trusting his love and there can be no greater sacrifice than to sacrifice to the Source of All Trust, The Disposer of all Affairs. The Source chooses whom we are meant to love. Loving Him ultimately with complete reliance and trust is what affirms and stabilises our love with whom He choses us to love.
Ikhlas (sincerity) is the nourishment of love from which it roots from and it blossoms. Ikhlas serves to affirm the hearts connection to what it loves. Without ikhlas, the heart would never know, feel and understand. One minute it could be in ecstacy of what it admires and the next minute completely oblivious. A heart without ikhlas is a heart of confusion. Ikhlas is something that doesn't sprout suddenly. It has to be nourished and developed. Once the heart knows ikhlas, the heart knows love.
Tawwakal (trust and reliance) is the backbone of love. There can be no love if there is no trust. One who truly loves is one who sacrifices his ego to trusting his love and there can be no greater sacrifice than to sacrifice to the Source of All Trust, The Disposer of all Affairs. The Source chooses whom we are meant to love. Loving Him ultimately with complete reliance and trust is what affirms and stabilises our love with whom He choses us to love.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Enlightened Ascensions II ... Honoring Gaza Through Poetry And Song ...
A night of Poetry, Song, and Rememberance...
A night to honor Gaza and its people...
A night of literary indulgence...
Come Join us on Friday, March 20, 2009 for an enlightened evening with family and friends. Witness the utter beauty of the rising of talents today. Be prepared to immerse yourself in inspiration, soulful music, and a liberating literary experience.
Featuring:
Awakening Artist - Maher
Halal Meat
Sofia Baig
Nader Khan
Imran Baysal
Jafar Alam
Critical Mood
Wafa Aouchiche
and much more!
When: March 20, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Where: Glenn Gould Studio, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Ticket: $25 [Limited Seating]
http://www.enlightened-ascensions.com/
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Rumi ... Mathnawi ...
“My heart like a mirror is silent
and speaking in the hands of an amazing mirror holder,
for when moment by moment there shines in the mirror an amazing figure of beauty.”
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Rumi's poem about aging ...
Why does a date-palm lose its leaves in autumn?
Why does every beautiful face grow in old age?
Wrinkled like the back of a libyan lizard?
Why does a full head of hair get bald?
Why is the tall, straight figure
That divided the ranks like a spear
Now bent alomost double?
Why is it that the
Lion strength weakens to nothing?
The wrestler who could hold anyone down
Is led out with two people supporting him,
Their shoulders under his arms?
God answers,
"They put on borrowed robes
and pretended they were theirs.
I take the beautiful clothes back,
so that you will learn the robe
of appearance is only a loan."
Your lamp was lit from another lamp.
All God wants is your gratitude for that.
For Rumi, it is not aging that is loss. On contrary, life itself is loss, a nostalgia for our Origin from which we find ourselves separated. For Jalal ad-Din, the"last of life" is that for which "the first was made," even includes death itself:
Inside the Great Mystery that is, we don't really own anything. What is this competition we feel then, before we go, one at a time, through the same gate.
Why does every beautiful face grow in old age?
Wrinkled like the back of a libyan lizard?
Why does a full head of hair get bald?
Why is the tall, straight figure
That divided the ranks like a spear
Now bent alomost double?
Why is it that the
Lion strength weakens to nothing?
The wrestler who could hold anyone down
Is led out with two people supporting him,
Their shoulders under his arms?
God answers,
"They put on borrowed robes
and pretended they were theirs.
I take the beautiful clothes back,
so that you will learn the robe
of appearance is only a loan."
Your lamp was lit from another lamp.
All God wants is your gratitude for that.
For Rumi, it is not aging that is loss. On contrary, life itself is loss, a nostalgia for our Origin from which we find ourselves separated. For Jalal ad-Din, the"last of life" is that for which "the first was made," even includes death itself:
Inside the Great Mystery that is, we don't really own anything. What is this competition we feel then, before we go, one at a time, through the same gate.
Muhammad Iqbal ...
Be aware of your own worth,
use all of your power to achieve it.
Create an ocean from a dewdrop.
Do not beg for light from the moon,
obtain it from the spark within you.
Rumi ...
Love isn't the work of the tender and the gentle;
Love is the work of wrestlers
The one who becomes a servant of lovers
is really a fortunate sovereign.
Don't ask anyone about Love;
ask Love alone about Love.
Love is a cloud that scatters pearls.
Love doesn't need me to translate; it translates for itself.
If you journey to the seventh heaven,
Love is a useful ladder.Wherever a caravan journeys,
Love is its qiblah
May this universe not deceive you,waylaying you from Love,
for this universe comes from you.
Let's go!
Close your mouth like mother of pearl.
Be silent, for this tongue of yours
is the enemy of the soul.
Love is the work of wrestlers
The one who becomes a servant of lovers
is really a fortunate sovereign.
Don't ask anyone about Love;
ask Love alone about Love.
Love is a cloud that scatters pearls.
Love doesn't need me to translate; it translates for itself.
If you journey to the seventh heaven,
Love is a useful ladder.Wherever a caravan journeys,
Love is its qiblah
May this universe not deceive you,waylaying you from Love,
for this universe comes from you.
Let's go!
Close your mouth like mother of pearl.
Be silent, for this tongue of yours
is the enemy of the soul.
Ibn 'Arabi, Futûhât al-Makkiyya ...
It is He who is revealed in every face, sought in every sign, gazed upon by every eye, worshipped in every object of worship, and pursued in the unseen and the visible. Not a single one of His creatures can fail to find Him in its primordial and original nature.
Hafiz ...
Dear Ones,
Beware of the tiny gods frightened men
Create
To bring anesthetic relief
to their sad
days
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Shaykh Muhammad Badr al Din al Hasani ...
[Shaykh Muhammad Badr al Din al Hasani(middle) - (1267-1354 AH/1850-1935 CE)]
All scholars and shaikhs of Syria accepted him as their teacher, and those living in Damascus used to attend his daily lessons.
He had a photographic memory. Knew by heart all the hadeeths of Bukhari, Muslim, and the remainder of the six most famous books of Hadith, including the biography of all narrators of all chains of every hadith, their dates of birth and decease, and their status of authenticity.
Also, he used to explain the Qur’an by heart from al Baydawi’s Tafsir (explanation of the Qur’aan). His ijazah was especially besought by Hadeeth scholars for being the closest one of his age to the Prophet Salla’ Laahu `Alaihi Wa Sallam (counting the number of men in the chain).
Doctors and engineers who attended his classes used to say: ”We exhausted our life learning our profession, and he knows it more than us.”
He was also instrumental in the organization of the revolution against the French occupation.
The following are quoted from {Al Durar Al Lu’lu’iyyah} by Shaikh Mahmood al Rankusi who was his special student for the last twelve years of his life:
- He knew Sahih Muslim and Bukhiri by heart, including individual chains of narrators and their biographies. It is not improbable that he also knew by heart their commentaries from “Fath Al Bari”, al `Ayni and al Nawawi.
- Egypt’s Mufti Shaikh Muhammad Bakhit said: ”If he was with us in Egypt, (out of respect) scholars would carry him over their shoulders.”
- Shaikh Muhammad al Qayati said: ”He is among the rarities of this age… We were present one night when he was reciting “Saheeh Al Bukhari”. He recited more than one hour, discussing topics and explaining Hadeeth by heart.”
- The great Hadeeth scholar Abdu’l Wasi` al-Yamani said: ”I have heard teachers and preachers in numerous countries but I have never seen anybody similar to him concerning his expertise in all Sciences.”
- A scholar from India said in a long biography: ”He is the Qutb (pivot, pillar) of our time and the Mujaddid (renovator of religion) of our age.”
- Shaikhu’l Islam in Istanbul, Musa Kaazim Afandi said: ”He is the Qutb of the Muslim world.”
- Al Sayyid al Kabeer al Kittaani al Maghribi said: “There has been no one comparable to him since five hundred years.”
Experts in engineering and mathematics would often attend his lessons and concede his superiority in these sciences saying: ”We spent all our life learning but did not reach his level.”
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Ahmed Hussain (1974-2006) ...
"I'm someone who cares about the inward more than the outward but realizes that what is percieved is a reflection of that which is imperceptible. I'm relatively crazy and love crazy people. That having been said there is nothing or very very little in this world that is mundane. I always seek people who transcend their own limitations and attain to greatness yet know that sometimes dwelling in the situation that fate/destiny/karma has put one in is itself a means of transcendence.
Transcendence = Trance + Dance
Who I'd like to meet: People who are intelligent and perceptive. People with hearts of gold and intellects of mercury. Im tired of people who have mediocre spirits. Everyone has an amazing potential and its time we realize what our destinies are."
-Ahmed Hussain (1974 - 2006)
[Today marks the third year, since Ahmeds passing.Please remember my friend and his family in your prayers]
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Love Poem ... By Jafar Alam ...
My heart left
And so did she ...
I don't know whether I should go after her
Or after my heart ...
So I asked myself,
"Self" ... "What do I do ???"
Self said: "Go in search of her,
Because you need a heart
In order to find her ...
If she's not there,
Then what would you do with your heart ???"
Distant shadows are moving closer ...
Every path I choose, I will see its results ...
I made her cry ...
So many nights, she wished
That she could drown me in a pool of her tears ...
I always showed my face, but never my heart ...
She is a voice to my heart ...
Her words
Are like sweet melodies that penetrate souls ...
And just like that
She was forgotten ...
Like a passing love, and a rose in the night
She was forgotten ...
And as I stood outside and looked at the sky
With its kohl darkness
I had never felt so alone ...
"Life is beautiful with you",
I wanted to tell her ...
I remember when I first saw her ...
She was alone ...
And I was in front of her beauty alone ...
The hours are never the same ...
Each minute is a memory ...
And what will I write after her to another lover
If I ever love another ???
I used to see her in my dreams often ...
And she gave it meaning ...
She was healthy and happy ...
Smiling ...
Her smile made my soul want to fly away ...
Eyelashes long ...
Lips red like pomegranates ...
She was full of life ...
I don't see her anymore ...
Haven't in a while ...
But I pray she's alive and well ...
Or maybe she died ...
Because death loves suddenly, like me ...
And death, like me, doesn't love waiting ...
But for her, I will ...
Waiting for hope ...
Waiting for a lover who
Perhaps
Might not arrive ...
Maybe this longing is my way of surviving ...
Lovers, the likes of us don't die ...
Not even once ...
From being in love ...
She said: "What will we do with love ??? Should we take it with us
or leave it behind ???"
I said: "Let it go wherever it wants ... It has already grown" ...
I pray a moon will rise from my darkness ...
And I pray for her
The salaam of Heaven and Earth ...
My soul looks upon my body through her fingers ...
We were extensions, of each others soul ...
We were two strangers from two far away lands a while ago ...
Yet
How much of me is you ???
Tell me I'm necessary for you, like sleep ...
There is no limit to me with you ...
I was given your love to subsist on ...
And if you ever come back
You'll find what you left here
Waiting for you ...
My heart was too heavy for my body
So I let it go ...
Tie a rope around my heart ...
Hold on tight ...
Don't let go ...
Take my hand,
Let us laugh the night away ...
There was a love that passed through us ...
Without us noticing ...
And neither it knew nor did we ...
We will soon return to our tomorrow, behind us
Where we were young in love's beginning ...
Our time wasn't enough to grow old together ...
Memories of a shy beginning
Put a smile on my face ...
Innocence and admiration known
But not said ...
So we let love be unknown ...
And the unknown a kind of love ...
I am who saw his tomorrow, when he saw you ...
In the hazel of your eyes, I feel small ...
You are loves confession ...
Got me love sick ...
I like you a whole much of a lot ...
You are priceless, and worth nothing ...
You remind me of what the world feels like
And I will be in your history forever ...
No one knows what I keep behind my eyes ...
She looks at me
Like she's looking at me for the first time, and says:
"You want me to feel regret ??? ... There are no tears left in my eyes"
But she's inseprable from my heart ...
My eyelids never close
Except that she is between them and my eyes ...
To me, she is a rose ...
A woman who loves my deep brown eyes ...
She is a jelly bean ...
Hard on the outside ...
Soft on the inside ...
Like seeds dreaming under the snow
My heart dreams of Spring ...
Take me back to the water
Before the storm ...
Leave nothing out ...
Tell me the whole story ...
I ride misery through the night
Love sewn in my chest ...
Stumbling through the dark
I failed to see your light ...
Now your fire burns me ...
May our flames dance again someday ...
I'm trying to find answers for questions ...
And questions for answers ...
Not all those who wander, are lost ...
We are those wanderers ...
I struggle for sleep
But am denied
By the screams
In my ears
As they beg
And yearn,
For your gentle voice again ...
They remember a smile in your voice ...
"There is no greater sorrow than to recall
In misery
The time when we were happy"
The world aint all sunshine and rainbows ...
The mystical realization of our existence ...
She was the melody of a weather storming in my heart ...
We were luminous silhouettes in moonlight ...
She is a rare pearl filled in the inside with many jewels ...
She remains precious in my heart ...
And there is no other reason, but reason itself ...
I was willing to destroy myself
If it meant bringing her closer to me ...
You know this song
So I don't have to sing it for you ...
I could write you forever ...
You are as beautiful as a bird filled summer ...
My tongue is fragranced with the mention of your name ...
Memories of a distant past
Emersing me with emotions
Of a time I once used to love ...
What more can I say
That hasn't already been said
Or isn't already known ...
Meet me at the crossroads
So I can have someone to walk with ...
"Loneliness is the most terrible poverty"
Often I feel a whirlwind of emotions ...
The kind you get when moms and dads fight ...
Like those who live in beautiful houses
But have broken homes ...
My heart waited for an eternity to be touched ...
I sent kisses to the wind ...
Hoping the wind would touch your face ...
Will we remember
What we forgot
We already knew ???
We will fill the book of our life
With brilliant pages ...
Whether we are together or not
You will always have a piece of my heart ...
And this kind of love makes you never feel alone
Because we'll always have each other ...
The kind of love you can't predict ...
A spontaneous combustion of our hearts.
A time will come ...
A moment when
A light will shine through the dark ...
When you will no longer have to fill in the blanks ...
When we will be free of the worry's of the world ...
The moment we learn to love ourselves ...
The moment you're ready to share your world ...
At that moment ...
I will come for you (c)
#JafarAlamPoetry
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lao Tzu ...
"Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
Rumi ...
"The pure have left behind fragrance and colour;
each moment they see Beauty without hindrance"
"We have placed in you a substance, a seeking, a yearning, and
We are watching over it and won't let it be lost, but will bring it
to its destined place"
Approaching Allah ...
The idea of seeking this inspirational urge, once it is aflame in one's heart, is one of the antecedents of the inspirational urge itself. If you were to reflect upon your life and how it peters away, for instance, (in asking) : I am now 15 years old, or 20, 30, 40, or 50 years old, yet what is the state of my salat (prayer)? What is the state of my fasting? What is the state of my heart when I say Allahu Akbar (God is Supreme)? What do I experience in prostration when I prostrate? They are many in number, in terms of image and form, but my presence of mind with Allah is minimal. What is my experience of the meanings of dhikr when my tongue says La ilaha illa'Llah (there is no deity but Allah)? And what is the weight of this phrase upon my heart? Does this utterance have an impact upon my heart? Or is my life to dissipate, whilst I have never experienced the taste of these words? Is my life to dissipate whilst I have never understood the reality of the meaning of these words; my heart has not understood; and my soul has not understood - even if my mind has? At the moment of death a man's mind has no sovereignty, rather, sovereignty belongs to the Heart. Thus, whatever has impacted the heart will emerge at the time of death and departure.
READ THIS BOOK !!!
[ Wayfarers to God, Habib 'Ali Zain Al 'Abideen Al Jifri ]
READ THIS BOOK !!!
[ Wayfarers to God, Habib 'Ali Zain Al 'Abideen Al Jifri ]
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
From the lips of the Prophet Muhammad {pbuh} came the saying,
Mutu qabla an tamutu (Die before you die): leave this world with your own will before you are faced with the necessity of leaving it at the end of your life.
There are three steps to achieving eternal life by dying to the world.
The first step is to protect oneself against the love, the ambition, the lust, the pleasures of this world, whose attractions pull us down to it and whose illusions distract us from Truth.
The second step is to try to live in strict accordance with the divine precepts -- not in a forced way but in seeking and assuming the divine attributes, the beautiful names of Allah, and in making them one's character in sincerity. The most ordinary sort of example of this is when a sincere man is dead and buried, beautiful memories of him live on.
The third and final step is to efface oneself, all that one has done, and all that one was -- including the divine attributes with which one has characterized oneself, such ass the Living One, the Hearing One, the Seeing One, the Knowing One, the Speaking One, the One with Power, the One with Will, the One Who Can Create -- all and everything, and to realize that there is no existence except allah. There is no you, but He and you are lost in Him, and you exist with Him. This is truly dying before dying.
Such a person is in continuous remembrance and continually conscious; his consciousness extends this world into the other. Therefore, he will be alive eternally.
Continuous remembrance, total consciousness, is the goal and the sign of the perfect man. It is also the beginning, the means, and the key to perfection. Perfection is in Allah and is from Allah, and man attains it in the measure of his closeness to Allah.
To come close to Allah is only possible through loving Him, and to love Him is only possible through remembering Him. The Beloved of Allah, Muhammad {peace be upon him}, said: Man remembers often the one whom he loves.
Frequent remembrance of Allah increases His love in one's heart. If one's heart and mind are preoccupied with other things, one will forget the Creator and Sustainer of that heart and will neither remember nor love Him.
It is impossible to realize the Creator only with one's senses and one's mind. It is not easy to submit to Him through reason. But if one remembers Him often, that remembrance will penetrate into one's being -- into every part, every cell, deep into one's essence, making one able to remember Him without effort, like a heartbeat. Then the effort to be conscious will be replaced by the pleasure of consciousness. That pleasure will bring the love of Allah. Allah says: Remember Allah so often so that you will find deliverance from heedlessness, and find happiness. (Juma', 10). And: Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides... (Al-i'Imran, 191) are the heedful who see the signs of the creation of the heavens and the earth and know that they were not created in vain.
Realization of this is the reward of remembrance. The pleasure of seeing the harmony in the creation, the love felt for the Maker of this creation, are the signs that Allah has opened the eyes of one's heart and the gates of His Paradise.
There are only two rewards which Allah bestows upon a human being that He never takes back. One is the pleasure given in the remembrance of Him; the other is the lifting of dark veils from the eye of the heart, so that wherever one looks one sees the Truth in the beauty and power of the Creator.
An excerpt fromInspirations: On the Path of Blame
Shaikh Badruddin of Simawna
Translation and commentary
by Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi
Mutu qabla an tamutu (Die before you die): leave this world with your own will before you are faced with the necessity of leaving it at the end of your life.
There are three steps to achieving eternal life by dying to the world.
The first step is to protect oneself against the love, the ambition, the lust, the pleasures of this world, whose attractions pull us down to it and whose illusions distract us from Truth.
The second step is to try to live in strict accordance with the divine precepts -- not in a forced way but in seeking and assuming the divine attributes, the beautiful names of Allah, and in making them one's character in sincerity. The most ordinary sort of example of this is when a sincere man is dead and buried, beautiful memories of him live on.
The third and final step is to efface oneself, all that one has done, and all that one was -- including the divine attributes with which one has characterized oneself, such ass the Living One, the Hearing One, the Seeing One, the Knowing One, the Speaking One, the One with Power, the One with Will, the One Who Can Create -- all and everything, and to realize that there is no existence except allah. There is no you, but He and you are lost in Him, and you exist with Him. This is truly dying before dying.
Such a person is in continuous remembrance and continually conscious; his consciousness extends this world into the other. Therefore, he will be alive eternally.
Continuous remembrance, total consciousness, is the goal and the sign of the perfect man. It is also the beginning, the means, and the key to perfection. Perfection is in Allah and is from Allah, and man attains it in the measure of his closeness to Allah.
To come close to Allah is only possible through loving Him, and to love Him is only possible through remembering Him. The Beloved of Allah, Muhammad {peace be upon him}, said: Man remembers often the one whom he loves.
Frequent remembrance of Allah increases His love in one's heart. If one's heart and mind are preoccupied with other things, one will forget the Creator and Sustainer of that heart and will neither remember nor love Him.
It is impossible to realize the Creator only with one's senses and one's mind. It is not easy to submit to Him through reason. But if one remembers Him often, that remembrance will penetrate into one's being -- into every part, every cell, deep into one's essence, making one able to remember Him without effort, like a heartbeat. Then the effort to be conscious will be replaced by the pleasure of consciousness. That pleasure will bring the love of Allah. Allah says: Remember Allah so often so that you will find deliverance from heedlessness, and find happiness. (Juma', 10). And: Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides... (Al-i'Imran, 191) are the heedful who see the signs of the creation of the heavens and the earth and know that they were not created in vain.
Realization of this is the reward of remembrance. The pleasure of seeing the harmony in the creation, the love felt for the Maker of this creation, are the signs that Allah has opened the eyes of one's heart and the gates of His Paradise.
There are only two rewards which Allah bestows upon a human being that He never takes back. One is the pleasure given in the remembrance of Him; the other is the lifting of dark veils from the eye of the heart, so that wherever one looks one sees the Truth in the beauty and power of the Creator.
An excerpt fromInspirations: On the Path of Blame
Shaikh Badruddin of Simawna
Translation and commentary
by Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Increase Tha Peace ... By Jafar Alam ...
In an effort to increase the peace,
I'll read this piece,
for your consumption,
and my release.
Because I refuse to stop writing until
I can reach even one.
Cuz they say that the night is darkest
just before the dawn.
So I refuse, like Allah refused to raise the sun
until Bilal gave the adhaan.
And my words, like Islam,
are enshrouded in peace.
And Islam was a movement
cause the move meant that,
men, women and children would not accept defeat.
And it caused a nation to stand on its feet.
And colours didn't matter,
As long as they worked as an entity.
Cause as Muslims
we are empowered by our diversity.
And there is no justification
For gentrification
Human stagnation
Human rights violation
Female genitelia mutilation.
Coersion, apparatus, capitalistic oppression,
The cause of a people's great depression.
And being born a Muslim doesn't make you
the product of a violation.
You don't see anything wrong with piercing a child's chest with bullets,
or bulldozing houses with sleeping infants?
Holding back a mother by her hair, telling the father to calm her.
If it weren't for the power of Islam to give meaning and sanity
to the lives of people,
then everyone in Palestine would be a suicide bomber.
So I sat my 2 year old niece on my lap,
and asked her where is Allah's house?
She was so innocent and pure right from the start.
She said, "Allah's house is in your heart".
So I realized, that to know Him, I had
to go through His prophet.
Cause when he came to Medina
he eliminated all the plague and disease,
and then from this world he would depart.
Now ,if he could eliminate all the plague and diseases from a city,
then imagine what he could do for you if he lived in your heart.
And though the devil hides in detail,
the chains of Shaytaan weren't made so strong.
And it was a matter of time, until my birth,
that I too was born into this caged illusion
of air, moisture and earth.
And for what it's worth,
I want be able to say to everyone that, "I love you".
And if you draw a small circle and exclude me,
I will draw a bigger circle and include you.
Realizing that you are my brother in faith or my equal in humanity.
And it's insanity,
this world that we live in.
But I try to keep it together,
cause I'm, too old
to loose control.
And there are times when I want be left alone to meditate,
so I can prolong my spiritual state ...
and control my sins
and baptize the jinns.
And I'm sick of some girls
degrading their worth.
Running around half naked.
with not enough consciousness to say
"wait"
"this is a mistake"
and "I need to get out of this state" ...
cause the devils trying to seal her fate.
And I'm sick of reality TV and beauty pageants,
and every other sick institution
of glorified prostitution.
So I say reflect people, reflect.
On all that you were, and what you want be.
On all the people you saw,
And those you can't see.
And your forte,
should be the lyrical foreplay.
Cause expression
is the natural cure for oppression.
And a fuel ignited in my soul,
inside this bottle of tales.
Ready to explode like a
molotov cocktail.
And I will aspire,
until I expire.
Cause I was taught that words were meant to speak the truth.
And that you should evaluate your tongue,
before you've begun
cause it's hard to apologize
once the damage has been done.
And I was brought up to respect women,
and though many resist,
I still persist,
cause I still believe that chivalry exists.
So I want to teach the mind,
and reach the blind.
Though I'm a class clown
in a class of my own
I still have a strong perception.
And sometimes temptation is thrown in my direction.
And I have days when I feel oppressed.
And as a poet, sometimes I find myself obsessed
with things like love, music and revolution.
And dreams of finding a solution.
A solution for the spilled blood in the holy land
crying out to God.
A cry for peace.
A solution to end war, bloodshed and tears.
And weapons of mass destruction are between George Bush's ears.
And the problem isn't with Islam or Judaism.
The cause of the occupation is only Zionism.
And you can't kill innocent people and expect to go to heaven.
And terrorism didn't begin on 9/11.
Giving less taxations
to partnering associations.
And as much as the media filters things
They wanna run and hide
History will still tell you that America was founded on genocide.
And death to the Apartheid.
And I pray for a world
full of love,
Where things are just and fair.
And I may not be here
If we ever get there.
But I stay positive,
Cause it's never too late.
And a smile is a curve
that sets everything straight.
The world turns away from us,
faster than we can turn away from it.
A lot of laws,
but very little justice.
Internal wreckage of the soul,
Scatter and tatter
lost in the gray matter.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
But His delays are not His denials.
So learn to think for yourself,
it's knowledge with understanding that you want to acquire.
And ignite a fire,
that makes you wanna inspire,
And don't jut take my words,
cause I don't preach to no choir.
Let me decide how the truth will affect me,
don't make that decision for me.
And the one who has intelligence,
subdues himself.
And I wish I could sink my teeth into the core
of everyone's pain.
Turn around and plant a love sonnet
in the warm summer rain.
And poets make the language make sense of everything around them.
So I say to you,
let's observe the world
like we've never seen before.
Through the eyes of
a child …
a newborn soul.
Violence was never the remedy,
so make peace, and pray for your enemy. (c)
*This poem was inspired by a good friend*
I'll read this piece,
for your consumption,
and my release.
Because I refuse to stop writing until
I can reach even one.
Cuz they say that the night is darkest
just before the dawn.
So I refuse, like Allah refused to raise the sun
until Bilal gave the adhaan.
And my words, like Islam,
are enshrouded in peace.
And Islam was a movement
cause the move meant that,
men, women and children would not accept defeat.
And it caused a nation to stand on its feet.
And colours didn't matter,
As long as they worked as an entity.
Cause as Muslims
we are empowered by our diversity.
And there is no justification
For gentrification
Human stagnation
Human rights violation
Female genitelia mutilation.
Coersion, apparatus, capitalistic oppression,
The cause of a people's great depression.
And being born a Muslim doesn't make you
the product of a violation.
You don't see anything wrong with piercing a child's chest with bullets,
or bulldozing houses with sleeping infants?
Holding back a mother by her hair, telling the father to calm her.
If it weren't for the power of Islam to give meaning and sanity
to the lives of people,
then everyone in Palestine would be a suicide bomber.
So I sat my 2 year old niece on my lap,
and asked her where is Allah's house?
She was so innocent and pure right from the start.
She said, "Allah's house is in your heart".
So I realized, that to know Him, I had
to go through His prophet.
Cause when he came to Medina
he eliminated all the plague and disease,
and then from this world he would depart.
Now ,if he could eliminate all the plague and diseases from a city,
then imagine what he could do for you if he lived in your heart.
And though the devil hides in detail,
the chains of Shaytaan weren't made so strong.
And it was a matter of time, until my birth,
that I too was born into this caged illusion
of air, moisture and earth.
And for what it's worth,
I want be able to say to everyone that, "I love you".
And if you draw a small circle and exclude me,
I will draw a bigger circle and include you.
Realizing that you are my brother in faith or my equal in humanity.
And it's insanity,
this world that we live in.
But I try to keep it together,
cause I'm, too old
to loose control.
And there are times when I want be left alone to meditate,
so I can prolong my spiritual state ...
and control my sins
and baptize the jinns.
And I'm sick of some girls
degrading their worth.
Running around half naked.
with not enough consciousness to say
"wait"
"this is a mistake"
and "I need to get out of this state" ...
cause the devils trying to seal her fate.
And I'm sick of reality TV and beauty pageants,
and every other sick institution
of glorified prostitution.
So I say reflect people, reflect.
On all that you were, and what you want be.
On all the people you saw,
And those you can't see.
And your forte,
should be the lyrical foreplay.
Cause expression
is the natural cure for oppression.
And a fuel ignited in my soul,
inside this bottle of tales.
Ready to explode like a
molotov cocktail.
And I will aspire,
until I expire.
Cause I was taught that words were meant to speak the truth.
And that you should evaluate your tongue,
before you've begun
cause it's hard to apologize
once the damage has been done.
And I was brought up to respect women,
and though many resist,
I still persist,
cause I still believe that chivalry exists.
So I want to teach the mind,
and reach the blind.
Though I'm a class clown
in a class of my own
I still have a strong perception.
And sometimes temptation is thrown in my direction.
And I have days when I feel oppressed.
And as a poet, sometimes I find myself obsessed
with things like love, music and revolution.
And dreams of finding a solution.
A solution for the spilled blood in the holy land
crying out to God.
A cry for peace.
A solution to end war, bloodshed and tears.
And weapons of mass destruction are between George Bush's ears.
And the problem isn't with Islam or Judaism.
The cause of the occupation is only Zionism.
And you can't kill innocent people and expect to go to heaven.
And terrorism didn't begin on 9/11.
Giving less taxations
to partnering associations.
And as much as the media filters things
They wanna run and hide
History will still tell you that America was founded on genocide.
And death to the Apartheid.
And I pray for a world
full of love,
Where things are just and fair.
And I may not be here
If we ever get there.
But I stay positive,
Cause it's never too late.
And a smile is a curve
that sets everything straight.
The world turns away from us,
faster than we can turn away from it.
A lot of laws,
but very little justice.
Internal wreckage of the soul,
Scatter and tatter
lost in the gray matter.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
But His delays are not His denials.
So learn to think for yourself,
it's knowledge with understanding that you want to acquire.
And ignite a fire,
that makes you wanna inspire,
And don't jut take my words,
cause I don't preach to no choir.
Let me decide how the truth will affect me,
don't make that decision for me.
And the one who has intelligence,
subdues himself.
And I wish I could sink my teeth into the core
of everyone's pain.
Turn around and plant a love sonnet
in the warm summer rain.
And poets make the language make sense of everything around them.
So I say to you,
let's observe the world
like we've never seen before.
Through the eyes of
a child …
a newborn soul.
Violence was never the remedy,
so make peace, and pray for your enemy. (c)
*This poem was inspired by a good friend*
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