Reflections of joy, serenity and love

A true muslim’s life

Reflects joy, serenity and love,

Ever loving and forgiving,

Never forgetting caring and sharing

Enduring the thorns

Returning with roses,

Seeking not human pleasure

But Allah’s redha.

In a life full of trust and sincerity

To experience the amazing love and tranquility

In a spiritual journey returning to Allah

~10pm, 17th December 2009~

Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said,

“Richness is not in plenty of provisions; the (real) richness is the richness of the soul.”

(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Do not fall into despair if blessings come late,

Do not fall into despair if blessings come late,

even though you keep asking for them,

because Allah has promised to heed prayers.

Yet the wish to be granted will be granted

because He wishes it for you,

not because you wish it for yourself.

Ibn `Ata’ Allah

Happiness is a butterfly

MashaAllah...............

it's a beautiful metaphorical phrase,

wish i could know who wrote it.

Happiness is a butterfly,

which, when pursued,

is always just beyond your grasp,

but which, if you sit down quietly,

may alight upon you.

~unknown~

I looked at all friends

“I looked at all friends

and did not find a better friend

than safeguarding the tongue.

I thought about all dresses,

but did not find a better dress than piety.

I thought about all types of wealth,

but did not find a better wealth

than contentment in little.

I thought of all types of good deeds,

but did not find a better deed

than offering good advice.

I looked at all types of sustenance

but did not find a better sustenance than patience.”

[Umar (r.a)

My son, when you pray.........

My son, when you pray,

do it like a person who is bidding farewell to this world,

and don’t assume you will have

another chance to pray again.

My son, know that a believer dies in between two deeds,

one he offers for today,

where he will get immediate blessings,

and the second deed is what he offers

towards the day of resurrection,

and that is where he will gain the ultimate benefits.

Muadh Ibn Jabal (r.a)

“And that is not difficult for Allah.”

Ibn Ata'llah wrote in his hikam:

Do not leave the remembrance because of your lack of presence of heart with Allah therein, because your heedlessness of the remembrance of Allah is more harmful than your heedlessness during the remembrance of Allah. It may well be that He take you from remembrance in which there is heedlessness (ghaflah) to remembrance in which there is consciousness (yaqadhah); and from remembrance in which there is consciousness to remembrance in which there is presence of heart (hudoor); and from remembrance in which there is presence of heart to remembrance in which there is obliviousness to all but the One Remembered,

“And that is not difficult for Allah.”

How utterly amazing is someone who flees from something he cannot escape

by Ibn Ata'llah

How utterly amazing is someone who flees from something he cannot escape
to seek something that will not last!

"It is not the eyes that are blind,
but the hearts in the breasts are blind."

Do not travel from phenomenal being to phenomenal being.
You will be like the donkey going around at the mill.
It travels to what is set out from.

Travel from phenomenal beings
to the Maker of Being.

"And the final end is to your Lord."

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

by Ibn Ata'llah

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He is the One who is manifest by everything?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He is the One who is made manifest in everything?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He is the One who is manifest to everything?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He was the One who was Manifest before there was anything?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He is more manifest than anything?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He is the One with whom there is nothing else?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when He is the One who is nearer to you than anything?

How can you imagine that something else veils Him

when if it had not been for Him, there would not have been anything?

A marvel!

See how existence becomes manifest in non-existence!

How the in-time holds firm alongside Him whose attribute is eternal!

A feeling of discouragement when you slip up

by Ibn Ata'llah

A feeling of discouragement when you slip up

is a sure sign that you put your faith in deeds.

Your desire to withdraw from everything

when Allah has involved you in the world of means

is a hidden appetite.

Your desire for involvement with the world of means

when Allah has withdrawn you from it

is a fall from high aspiration.

Aspiration which rushes on ahead

cannot break through the walls of destiny.

Give yourself a rest from managing!

When Someone Else is doing it for you,

don't you start doing it for yourself!

“Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of the seasons."

(photo taken in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia)

This is Hibiscus rosasinensis or bunga raya, the national flower of Malaysia. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant throughout the tropics and subtropics. The flower has also medicinal properties, some local believes the roots and its juice can be used as a cure for fever, other ailments, relieving skin eruptions and glandular troubles.

I was truly amazed when my eyes set on the Hibiscus rosasinensis which has a unique size which is as large as the palm of our hand, MashaAllah, watching the bloomed flowers really moved my heart. The flower seems like a soul blooming in beauty capturing the heart which cannot bloom without water, soil and sunshine, just like human cannot live with joy, serenity and love……………the flower is like a blooming soul revealing to the nature that each of Allah’s creation has its own attributes and unique features………………..

Kahlil Gibran, a Lebanese born American philosophical essayist, novelist and poet once said:

“Love is the only flower that grows and blossoms without the aid of the seasons.”

How long will you ramble on the shore of the ocean, close your eyes to the wonders of the Quran?

How long will you ramble on the shore of the ocean, close your eyes to the wonders of the Quran? Was it not your duty to sail to the midst of the fathomless ocean of these meanings in order to see their wonders, to travel to their islands in order to gather their best produce, and to dive into their depths so that you might become rich by obtaining their jewels? Do you not feel ashamed of being deprived of their pearls and jewels by your persistence in looking at their shores and outward appearances?
[Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali]

Being steadfast

Imam Al-Ghazali said, "If you see Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, holding back this world from you, frequently trying you with adversity and tribulation, know that you hold a great status with Him. Know that He is dealing with you as He does with His Awliya' and chosen elite, and is watching over you, have you not heard His saying, "So wait steadfastly for the judgment of your Lord - you are certainly before Our eyes.[At-Tur 52:48]

The Rose

What Allah said to the Rose

And caused it to laugh in full blown beauty,

He said to my heart

And made it a hundred times more beautiful.

~Rumi~

Love's Call

At every instant and from every side, resounds the call of Love:
We are going to sky, who wants to come with us?
We have gone to heaven, we have been the friends of the angels,
And now we will go back there, for there is our country.
We are higher than heaven, more noble than the angels:
Why not go beyond them? Our goal is the Supreme Majesty.
What has the fine pearl to do with the world of dust?
Why have you come down here? Take your baggage back. What is this place?
Luck is with us, to us is the sacrifice!
Like the birds of the sea, men come from the ocean--the ocean of the soul.
Like the birds of the sea, men come from the ocean--the ocean of the soul.
How could this bird, born from that sea, make his dwelling here?
No, we are the pearls from the bosom of the sea, it is there that we dwell:
Otherwise how could the wave succeed to the wave that comes from the soul?
The wave named 'Am I not your Lord' has come, it has broken the vessel of the body;
And when the vessel is broken, the vision comes back, and the union with Him.
~Rumi~