"What is all this melancholy?"

Let’s call my mood melancholy; let’s call it remembrance. Or maybe let’s call it longing. Yes, let’s call it longing instead.

(Shannon Celebi) 

Believer's Firasa: Light of Allah

Shah al-Kirmani says, to increase the strength of one's insight:

1. Turn eyes away from the unlawful
2. Restrain passionate drives
3. Self-scrutiny and vigilance (muraqaba)
4. Eat only lawful food.

(Qushayri's Risala)

Declaration of Geneva!

Declaration of Geneva Amended by the World Medical Association, September 1994, and by the University of Liverpool’s Faculty of Medicine, January 1995. 

“At the time of being admitted as a Member of my Profession: I solemnly pledge myself to consecrate my life to the service of humanity; I will give to my teachers the respect and gratitude which is their due; I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity; The health of those in my care will be my first consideration; I will respect the secrets that are confided in me, even after a patient has died; I will maintain by all means in my power, the honour and the noble traditions of my profession; My colleagues will be my sisters and brothers; I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, or social standing to intervene between my duty and my patient; I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from its beginning, even under threat, and I will not use my specialist knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity; I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour.”

All Yours

(( البلاد بلاد الله، والعباد عباد الله )) 

It is all Yours, my Lord. I make no claim to affect anything. All with You, may You protect. And every baby, child, adult, human, animal, plant - may they all be secure under Your gaze. O Allah, grant them ease and mercy, and make their endings beautiful. I miss the Prophet, peace & blessings upon him. I miss him sending forth Ali with love in his heart and pride in his eyes. I miss Abu Sufyan loyally holding onto his blessed stirrup. I miss Zubayr riding to and fro in front of him, wounds and all. I miss the accuracy of Nusayba's arrows, guided by the light of his prophecy. Madad, ya ahl Allah.

His affair

Over a year ago, when many a heart broke at the loss of Sh M S. al-Bouti (Allah have mercy upon him), my teacher reminded me: "Find comfort in Allah and in the fact that His affair shall be completed."

And through the shockingly overwhelming grief, that was comfort like no other. It is God's affair. It doesn't matter what people say, think, do. People have lived and suffered and died. But the mission remains the same. The aim of every human soul remains the same.

Worship God. Know God. Love God.

Be kind to His people.

Return. 

This affair is with Allah. No safer Hands, no greater Vision, no vaster Mercy.

Praying for equanimity in every heart.
Allah protect all our hearts.

Ya Hayy
Ya Qayyum.

A'isha

 (قالت أم المؤمنين عائشة رضي الله عنها:  (نعم النساء نساء الأنصار، لم يمنعهن الحياء أن يتفقهن في الدين 

Our Mother A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her) said, "How excellent are the women of the Ansar! They do not let their modesty prevent them from learning the religion."

Allahumma yassir, Allahumma yassir, Allahumma yassir!

to my sacred city, with love

"Because, he said, "I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you - especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you, - you'd forget me.” 

(Mr. Rochester, Jane Eyre)

Thank you for everything, my beautiful, beautiful home. You were a most generous host for five most blessed years. And I pray to God I do not take to bleeding inwardly.

shade of swords

Abdillah ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: On one occasion of battle, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) waited until the sun came to Zuhr time, then he stood before the people [army] and said: "O people, do not desire to meet the enemy [i.e. do not wish for war], and ask Allah for well-being. But if you do meet the enemy, then be patient, and know: indeed paradise is beneath the shadows of swords."

Then the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) prayed: "O Allah, Sender of the Book, Mover of the clouds, Destroyer of the alliances: destroy them, and grant us victory over them." 

[Bukhari & Muslim]

God is beautiful, God is kind

Blessed to deliver a baby from a uterus during a caesarean-section yesterday. First time. Beauty.

Alhamdulila, God is kind, kind, kind.

Option to Cancel

There was a companion named Hibban b. Munqidh. He used to be constantly ripped off in sales, and so his family brought him to the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him. The Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, said to Hibban: "When you buy something, say: 'no deception! and I have three days to cancel'."

This meant that those who contracted with him were reminded to be fair, and if they didn't give him the option to cancel, he could move onto the next seller. If anyone did make him pay extortionate prices, once his family realised, Hibban could return the goods.

This is the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him and his family! Fixer. Sorter-of-all-sorts-of-problems! :-)

Abu Dharr

Allah have mercy upon you, Aba Dharr! You will live alone, die alone, and be resurrected alone. 

Yearning for the journey's end

O my soul, come, cast away from fantasy,
O my soul, come, cast away from fantasy,
Dive into this sea of love if you would see
With your heart’s eyes wonders known in prophecy.

                               ♦

Lovers follow Love alone as their imam,
Drunk within but outwardly serene and calm,
Love is older than all else that man has known,
Who can say who ruled before this great sultan?

                               ♦

Death and day of dazing terror cannot end
This love that burns us, yearning for the journey’s end,
Mend us, Friend, our lazy hearts awake and tend,
Through love of You, Lord, all sicknesses that us rend.

                               ♦

We were born to serve an Emperor that cannot die
Prostrate before Him before He made earth and sky,
Our hearts still tell us that our rank with him was high,
Only Love can join us to His friends brought nigh.

                               ♦

So Lord we pray, accept our prayers for Muhammad,
Send peace and blessings like pure rain on Muhammad,
On companions and all kin of Muhammad,
And guide us home, Lord, for the love of Muhammad.

                               ♦

Niyazi Misri (d.1694) 

Translated by Sh AbdalHakim Murad

Companion of my heart

"I have made You the Companion of my heart.

But my body is available to those who desire its company, 

And my body is friendly toward its guest,

But the Beloved of my heart is the guest of my soul." 

- My Lady Rabi'a

dear student: your precious path

What a precious path. Paved with tears, and sorrows and griefs. 

And every tear, and every sorrow and every grief beautifies the road ahead. I see yours glistening, may Allah protect you. And I really do wish sometimes, that it was easy for you, and your choices were facilitated. But I know that isn't how it works, and looking at your glistening path, I am comforted.

What an excellent sufficiency is our Lord.

Alhamdulila. 

Allah bless students

When you sit before your teachers, and you bask in their wisdom and intelligence, don't forget to remember - even if only for a moment - that there were long trials and dark days that they went through, to finally sit there before you. There were times when no body believed in them and their parents refused to give permission or refused to be content, times when they had no money, times when they struggled with health, and even times when they had little time.

So when you sit with your teachers, appreciate the miracle of God that has occurred for a teacher to be made. And when you see students, setting off on their studies with high aspirations and constricted means, pray for them.

O Allah, when they dedicate themselves to you - please don't reject them. Grant them the support and prayers of their parents, endow them with health and sufficient wealth, and bless them in their time and aspiration. Ya Allah, please don't reject them.

O Allah, bless the students and make us of them.

Peace

Few sounds more beautiful than the voice of a teacher narrating hadith.

Tranquility.

God is kind.

Fiqh

قال سيدنا الإمام ابو حنيفة – رحمه الله – ((الفقه معرفة النفس مالها وما عليها))

Fiqh according to our imam: knowledge of the self, to know what is for it, and what is against it.  

Zarnuji Notes

Piety for the Student

Part of piety is to refrain from eating excessively, sleeping excessively, and speaking excessively in non-beneficial matters. If possible, abstain from eating the food of the market places because such food contains impurities, distances one from the remembrance of Allah, and is more likely to cause negligence. Also, the sight of the poor falls upon it while they are unable to purchase it. This causes them distress, as a result of which its blessing decreases.

[...]

An ascetic jurist advised a student, "Abstain from backbiting and do not sit with people who gossip. Whoever speaks a lot will steal the years of your life and he will waste your time."

Piety is to keep away from the people of transgression, sin and idleness. Keep the company of the pious as this is very effective. Sit facing the qibla, and follow the sunna of the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him). Value the supplication of the pious people and protect yourself from the prayer of the oppressed.
 
It has been narrated that two men went out in search of knowledge. They were colleagues and returned after several years to their hometown. One had mastered jurisprudence, while the other was bereft of knowledge. This made the scholars of the town ponder over their condition and they began enquiring about their conditions, their revision of lessons, and their sitting down to study. They were informed that the student who became a jurist used to revise his lessons facing the qibla, while the other student would sit with his back to the qibla, facing some other city. The scholars unanimously agreed that the one who became a jurist did so due to the blessing of facing the qibla as this is the sunna method of sitting except at the time of necessity.

[...]

The student should always carry a notebook with him in order to continue studying. It has been said that the one who does not have a notebook in his pocket will not receive wisdom in his heart. He should keep a blank notebook and a pen in order to note down whatever he hears from scholars.

(Imam Zarnuji's Manual, translated by Ebrahim Muhammad)

J. Alfred Prufrock

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (T.S. Eliot)
S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero, Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.

LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats	5
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question….	10
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,	15
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,	20
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window panes;	25
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;	30
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
In the room the women come and go	35
Talking of Michelangelo.
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—	40
(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)
Do I dare	45
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,	50
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?
And I have known the eyes already, known them all—	55
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?	60
And how should I presume?
And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
Is it perfume from a dress	65
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
And should I then presume?
And how should I begin? .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets	70
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!	75
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep … tired … or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?	80
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,	85
And in short, I was afraid.
And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,	90
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—	95
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: “That is not what I meant at all;
That is not it, at all.”
And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,	100
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:	105
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.” .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .	110
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,	115
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.
I grow old … I grow old …	120
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.	125
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown	130
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

The Marriage of Fatimah b. Muhammad

The Marriage of our Lady Fatimah Zahra & our Master Ali – (peace be upon them both)

It occurred in the 2^nd year after the migration to Medina.

Fatimah was either 15 or 16 years old. Ali was 21 years old. 

The beloved Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) said of his blessed daughter: “Fatimah is a portion of me.”

Before Ali married her, Abu Bakr and Umar both asked for her hand, but the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) did not respond to them.

The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) took permission from Fatimah for her marriage to Ali.

The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) gathered some believers - Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Abdurrahman – the prominent companions from the Ansar and the Muhajireen were all there, but Ali is not yet present. The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) delivers some words as a sermon, then says: “Allah has ordered me to marry Fatimah to Ali. I make you all testify I have married Fatimah to Ali for 400 silver coins – if Ali is happy with that.”

Then the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) asks for a plate of dates to be brought – and he shared them amongst the people.

Then Ali comes in, and when the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) sees him, he smiles at him. Then he tells him: “Allah has ordered me to marry you to Fatimah for 400 silver coins.” Ali expresses his happiness and agreement.

The Prophet (peace and blessings upon him & his family) then prays: “May Allah (mighty and exalted) bring you together, may He make your portion great, may He place blessings between you, and may He produce many pure offspring from you.”

(Anwar Muhammadiyya, by Imam Yusuf Nabahani)

And how completely was that prayer accepted!

God is kind.

Dorothea

‘Oh, my life is very simple,’ said Dorothea, her lips curling with an exquisite smile, which irradiated her melancholy. ‘I am always at Lowick.’

‘That is a dreadful imprisonment,’ said Will, impetuously.

‘No, don’t think that,’ said Dorothea. ‘I have no longings.’ He did not speak, but she replied to some change in his expression. ‘I mean, for myself. Except that I should like not to have so much more than my share without doing anything for others. But I have a belief of my own, and it comforts me.’

‘What is that?’ said Will, rather jealous of the belief.

‘That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don’t quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil— widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower.’

‘That is a beautiful mysticism—it is a—‘

‘Please not to call it by any name,’ said Dorothea, putting out her hands entreatingly. ‘You will say it is Persian, or something else geographical. It is my life. I have found it out, and cannot part with it. I have always been finding out my religion since I was a little girl. I used to pray so much—now I hardly ever pray. I try not to have desires merely for myself, because they may not be good for others, and I have too much already. I only told you, that you might know quite well how my days go at Lowick.’ 

‘God bless you for telling me!’ said Will, ardently, and rather wondering at himself. They were looking at each other like two fond children who were talking confidentially of birds.

‘What is your religion?’ said Dorothea. ‘I mean— not what you know about religion, but the belief that helps you most?’

‘To love what is good and beautiful when I see it,’ said Will. ‘But I am a rebel: I don’t feel bound, as you do, to submit to what I don’t like.’

‘But if you like what is good, that comes to the same thing,’ said Dorothea, smiling.

(Middlemarch)

voice so tender

Don't surrender your loneliness so quickly. 
Let it cut you more deep. 

Let it ferment and season you 
As few human and even divine ingredients can. 

Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft, my voice so tender, 

My need of God 
Absolutely
Clear.

(Hafez)

“My Eyes So Soft”
by Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinsky
Don't surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice so tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
- See more at: http://spiritualityhealth.com/blog/jc-peters/dont-surrender-your-loneliness-so-quickly#sthash.BNaIaMML.dpuf

“My Eyes So Soft”
by Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinsky
Don't surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice so tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
- See more at: http://spiritualityhealth.com/blog/jc-peters/dont-surrender-your-loneliness-so-quickly#sthash.BNaIaMML.dpuf

Middlemarch Jokes

‘My dear child, what is this?—this about your sister’s engagement?’ said Mrs. Cadwallader.

‘She is engaged to marry Mr. Casaubon,’ said Celia, resorting, as usual, to the simplest statement of fact, and enjoying this opportunity of speaking to the Rector’s wife alone.

‘This is frightful. How long has it been going on?’

‘I only knew of it yesterday. They are to be married in six weeks.’

‘Well, my dear, I wish you joy of your brother-in-law.’

‘I am so sorry for Dorothea.’

‘Sorry! It is her doing, I suppose.’

‘Yes; she says Mr. Casaubon has a great soul.’

‘With all my heart.’

‘Oh, Mrs. Cadwallader, I don’t think it can be nice to marry a man with a great soul.’

‘Well, my dear, take warning. You know the look of one now; when the next comes and wants to marry you, don’t you accept him.’

‘I’m sure I never should.’

‘No; one such in a family is enough...’  

(Middlemarch, by George Eliot)