I bit my lip, betrayed my own eyes
fell short of perfection, became the epitome of lies.
Swam through an ocean, parted at the seam,
walked along a desert road, thinking it was a land of green,
it is easy to make my kind believe.
Unravel the ball of a deep deception,
Study it, memorize its motion.
Commission strength,
in a heart broken,
bleeding dry,
for a future that is passing me by.
Fixated with the past,
looking for moments to define,
what is there to life?
Any resolution or solution to a mixed fantasy?
Lost faith
Why do do I even try?
Be warned,
break the silence with a storm.
Doom will not disappear with tears
Struggle because you are a soldier, of Allah, be brave.
It was always meant to be this way.
The valley of disregard, its mine.
I live here, impervious to honest eyes.
Stranded, paranoid and suspicious...these feelings are justified.
The lethal wounds and emotional ambush are a symphony of daily life.
Cast a thousand stones without a crime, these blighted souls in righteous disguise,
Their assigning, rationalizing, spiritualizing .... is a facade, a mirage...it dies.
Forgive, be kind and sincere. Do good, give your best and Islam you should galvanize,
Seek only Allah's Face as the ultimate Prize.
fell short of perfection, became the epitome of lies.
Swam through an ocean, parted at the seam,
walked along a desert road, thinking it was a land of green,
it is easy to make my kind believe.
Unravel the ball of a deep deception,
Study it, memorize its motion.
Commission strength,
in a heart broken,
bleeding dry,
for a future that is passing me by.
Fixated with the past,
looking for moments to define,
what is there to life?
Any resolution or solution to a mixed fantasy?
Lost faith
Why do do I even try?
Be warned,
break the silence with a storm.
Doom will not disappear with tears
Struggle because you are a soldier, of Allah, be brave.
It was always meant to be this way.
The valley of disregard, its mine.
I live here, impervious to honest eyes.
Stranded, paranoid and suspicious...these feelings are justified.
The lethal wounds and emotional ambush are a symphony of daily life.
Cast a thousand stones without a crime, these blighted souls in righteous disguise,
Their assigning, rationalizing, spiritualizing .... is a facade, a mirage...it dies.
Forgive, be kind and sincere. Do good, give your best and Islam you should galvanize,
Seek only Allah's Face as the ultimate Prize.
Yes, I write poetry sometimes. In any relationship, betrayal is definitely a hit below the belt. You feel intense anger, hurt, bewilderment and shock. You just want to go to bed and never get up. You shiver and shake uncontrollably with grief and rage. Could this really happen? Is it true? Can a best friend divulge your secrets and use them against you? Can a sibling humiliate you? Can a business partner deceive you? Can a spouse walkout on his/her commitments? Can your confidante, someone you trust and understood .... plagiarize your idea? Rob you? Lash out on you? Threaten you? Yea actually it happens all the time.... The more we live and work with people, the more we will fathom the ugly side of humanity. The more dedicated we are to a relationship, or to the Deen, to its studies and service, the more people will erode our faith, hack our intentions, swap our sincerity and excitement with stress, fear and anxiety. The more they will exploit our insecurities and vulnerability. Its brutal and depressing...but its true! What are you going to do? Write poetry? It doesn't help, trust me.
Yes, humanity is far from perfect. Even as individuals, you and I are not exactly ideal either. Ergo, we should never do anything, expecting honour, honesty and mercy in return from people. Because human beings, myself included, cannot maintain these lofty qualities all the time. We are not intrinsically capable of eternal sympathy and selflessness. It is unrealistic and unfair to demand such a thing from a person.
I was moping and mad over some hardcore betrayals from from my closest colleagues and friends a few days back until I discussed the meaning of سورة الفاتحة with some kids.
Yeah kids...what do they know right? Its sad many adults scuff children off thinking what will these hooligan understand? What do they know about the world? Its none of their business anyway! Kinda like Finster during Recess. To tell the truth, its grown-ups who don't know. We are lost. Kid are cute, frank, poetic, spiritual, smart, athletic, unprejudiced and best of all...curious. Kids are always searching for novelty, for adventure...They are easily fascinated with even the most mundane of things. They want to learn and explore. Some will run to the end of the park before we have blinked and others will ask "why, why, why" a dozen times. They mean well; give them a chance.
Asking them to stop bothering you or giving them answers like "I said so" will just retard their motivation for real knowledge. They will hop along to Mama Montana and Daddy Dwayne (The Rock Johnson) for advise and to idealize. Children are gregarious by nature. If parents don't give them company, they will make friends with the likes of Franco and Farrell, they will bow their heads to Justin Bieber and Bernie Mac. Then parents wonder why kids misbehave? Why they get into dating, drugs and apostate? Parents run after this Imaam and that Shyakh. Where were you when your kid wanted to to talk to you? Why did you switch on the television and sit them down in front of half naked Tarzan, lying Pinocchio, King of thieves Aladdin, lazy Sleeping beauty...Snow White who lived with seven guys and Cinderella who would come home after midnight?
So some kids and I were talking about the meaning and lessons in الفاتحة This Surah really is curative for those whose hearts are cut in half. We sort of induce these aches and outrage upon ourselves. We let people become our God; the center of our aspirations and hard work. We serve them and seek their affections when the ultimate Praise, Thanks Love, Respect and Obedience rightly belongs to Allah. We are miserable when we become slaves to the people when we should really be submitting wholeheartedly to Allah.
Being bitter over a betrayal and backitting is only going to burn our good deeds. I know it is hard and will take a lot of practice but try this...instead of pulling your hair over how bad someone behaved with you, emerse yourself in Allah's Benevolence and Beneficence. Forget everything about the person who betrayed you for a second...do you who Allah is? We throw around the ayah الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ in every occasion but do we know what it means?
الحمد is from محمدة which means to praise...to praise Allah because of Excellence, His Exaltedness, Superiority, Goodness and Uniqueness. ََتحمد means to express favour. Allah expresses His favours upon ups through infinite gifts and blessings we experience everyday.
رب is from ربا which means the One Who sets right, brings in correct position, One Who makes beautiful in smell and appearance. One Who manages and takes care. He Owns and Controls.
رب بالمكان is to lead and to call to order, to support and strength, to make pleasant and remove from it everything that is foul, defective, obscene or upsetting. ربب تربيبا الولد - to raise someone and look after them until they reach the age of maturity. To educate, train and discipline; to grow and nurture.
Allah is رب He created the universe and continues to sustain it. He nurtures every living soul. He thrives from infancy to maturity. He gives us support and strength. He made us beautiful and pleasant in body and in purpose.
Allah is الحمن الرحيم .... Not just Merciful and Compassionate but رحمة / مرحمة / ورحما - which means to have a soft heart, to be generous, kind, caring, lenient and understanding. Its like looking after a baby - a mother does everything for her child out of love. From carrying it for nine months, give birth, feeding it, changing its diapers, putting it to sleep...when its older, teaching it to read and write, to walk, teaching it from right and wrong. The mother forgives her baby for sticking for burping...for its ignorance. She aches and grieves for her baby. She feels hurt when her baby is hurt, she feels happy when her baby is happy. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said Allah loves His servants more than seventy mothers could love a single child !!!
الرحم والرحم is to be close, to be intimate. To have nothing in between but the best interest of the other person in heart. Also refers to relatives. To be and treat like family. To be very near and dear to heart, to be very protective. The link between Allah and us is a based on oceans of mercy, love, peace, reassurance and well being. Look at the universe, the night sky, the stars, the pandas and bears and butterflies, rabbits and roses, rivers and strawberries...Allah created this for us, out of His mercy. One time this woman lost her baby and she was frantically going from person to person in search of her precious thing. When she finally found it, she caressed it with love and kisses. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) asked the companions if they thought this mother would ever cast her baby into the fire. They said no. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said likewise Allah will never [unjustly] cast His servants into the fire. Allah created us for Paradise...Adam (a.s) originated in Jannah so Jannah is our real home.
الله is from اله which means to worship, to obey, to devoute oneself to and surrender. To take as God, Deity and Owner الهت عليه is to turn to Allah with love and obedience. الاله / الهة is the One God Who is Worshiped.
Good times are always followed by difficulty. With hardship there is ease. 2005 - 2009 were the best years of my life. 2009 - 2011 however were quite rough. Where I found tremendous guidance, mentoring, closeness and love from a person, I also found people who tried to misguide me. They mowed me down with their venomous jealousies, greed and politics. They lied to me, they tried every rancorous means to do away with me. Everyday was warlike with them. I was tense all the time, becoming increasingly pugnacious because of their attitudes....but I thank Allah for this. He brought me to my knees through these people so that I would come closer to Him.
Keep Allah in your heart and you will be in heaven wherever you go. Peace will never leave you, even if you were betrayed, imprisoned or exiled or killed. You don't need people in your life...Allah is sufficient for us in every way. Think about who Allah is and all Allah has done for you in your personal life ... do you need people? Should it even matter what people have done? Then let go of your anger or revenge. Allah will take care of your enemies on يوم الدين. Remove the rage and disgust from inside of you. Replace them with altruistic feelings; be motivated to learn, tolerant of others, confident in doing good deeds and optimistic of Allah's reward...because your commitment is not with people, it is with Allah. Your life and death, your grief and happiness...is for Allah. Don't settle for any person. Don't be disheartened by any organization. Become a one man show. Even after you give up on everyone, try again one more time for Allah. When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Stick to Deen ka kaam like a stamp sticks to an envelope and grow into it like a nut grows into a great oak tree.
u made this?
ReplyDeleteHere is a food for thought...for all the Muslim couples, siblings, relatives, neighbours, Masajid and NGOs who do not get along...
ReplyDeleteThe Jews have almost complete control over Washington policy-making. Wouldn't you agree? Specially the Congress, everyone in Bush admin was a Jew. Deputy Secretary, Department of Defense, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Police, While House Press Secretary, White House Political Director, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council, While House Director of Scheduling, White House Liaison to the Jewish Community [no other group has a special liaision] Director of the National Security Council's Office for Democracy, Human Rights and International Operations, Head of the Justice Department's criminal division are ALL Jews. This Jewish concentration of Power in the US gives world Jewry tremendous influence to enforce their agenda. They are the one calling the shots in Washington.
How is this possible when the American population consists of 10 million Muslims and 8 million Jews. We outnumber them 3:1!!! What do they have that we do not? They are freemasons...satan worshippers! They practice magic (Kabalah). So its definitely not religion. Is it skills? They are more educated and talented? No its not that either. Congressman from Indiana, Former mayor of Georgia, Congressman of Minnesota, Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Former U.S. Army chaplain with the rank of Captain, Director of National Institutes of Health in the US were once upon a time Muslims! The guy who engineered the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center in the US is Muslim. Inventor of the Ommaya reservoir is Muslim. Noble prize winner for femtosecond is Muslim. Many light heavyweight boxing champs, NBA, NFL, Wrestling and MMA stars are Muslims. There are many Muslim journalists, directors, producers, screenwriters in the US. Some of the best musicians in the US are Muslim. Akon, Ice Cube, Lupe, Napolen (co-singer with Tupac Shakur), Q-Tip, Nas (co-singer with Jay-Z) are Muslims.
Then why are we still dirt? Because we are not united. Allah says in 42:30 that whenever a man is afflicted by some misfortune, it is necessarily the result of one or more of his own actions. Muslims cannot stand the sight of each other. We cannot even breathe the same air together. The rest of the world is relentless and unfaltering in their goals while are resolute and uncompromising in fighting. From moon sighting to milaads, mortgages to marriages, Muslims have not agreed on or learned to work together on anything! So brothers and sisters, please yes...lets continue not to get along. What do we have to lose? hmm... I donno...the fate of Muslims everywhere? Thats not a big deal right? meh...
Surah Kawthar is a very minute Surah with profound meaning. Many of our problems are also minute that can be controlled with just Surah Kawthar.
ReplyDeleteالْكَوْثَرَ means al khayr al katheer, abundant and profuse quantities of tremendous good. Allah calls him "servant" in the Qur'an, Allah swears by his life. Allah comes to his defense and answers, even threatens his enemy. Al Kawthar also refers to the river or spring gifted to the Prophet (s.a.w) on the Day of Judgment. Moreover, he alone has an exalted position in Paradise (Muqaam al Mahmood).
Surah Kawthar was revealed with the Prophet (s.a.w) lost his son and Allah consoles him saying, you have in fact gained manifolds.
إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ
وهب - is to give a huge gift. To get tranquility from your spouse and children is a huge gift from Allah because a vast majority of people are not happy in their households.
يؤت - is a gift given but it can be taken away, it comes with responsibility.
أَعْطَ - is gift given because you are so happy from their obedience. It also conveys the meaning that the gift is already granted and it is guaranteed for its recipient. It's a done deal.
شَانِئَكَ - how filthy can these people be? Abu Jahl, Abu Lahb and their following. How cutoff they are from humanity. They have no compassion and no sympathy for Prophet (s.a.w) who has just lost a child? They are celebrating his lack of wealth and social backing? They are thrilled that his son died?
So Allah beings the Surah saying that, "do not let anyone ever doubt, Allah has given you more than they can imagine, lots and lots of it". Allah comes to calm down and ease the Prophet (s.a.w). This is also from the gifts of Allah. Allah knows how the Prophet (s.a.w) is feeling: hurt, sad, insulted. Allah knows already, his chest is heavy and suffocating from what they say. They hate him so much that they are dancing and laughing at his face over his son's death today and tomorrow he has to go back and call them to Paradise...worry about saving them from Hellfire.
Imagine the Prophet's pain (s.a.w). Our lives are not nearly has difficult, our opponents not remotely as vicious still we are consumed in rage and revenge. Is someone making fun of us the same us someone delighted to hear of our son's death? Someone cheating us in school or at work the same as someone trying to kill us and wage war against our entire family? No right...what was the Prophetic response (s.a.w)?
Allah beings Surah Tawbah without the Basmallah. He does not extend His mercy in the introduction but ends the chapter with the Prophet's mercy (s.a.w). In Surah Tawbah, Allah does not begin with His mercy but ends with the Prophet's mercy (s.a.w). On the onset, Allah says He is disassociated with the polytheists and they have only 4 months to clean up their act. Either leave Makkah so that it is pure from all defiant and filthy acts of paganism or get ready for a military attack. This Surah is hostile towards disbelief. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth will no longer tolerate nihilism in His Masjid. So let the skeptics, the dubious etc hear the Qur'an and decide what they want to do, stay or fight. Its an open ultimatum. There is no mercy but hardcore justice. Mind you, the Bible is full of passages where God is smiting the Jews for their sins.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time Allah says,"There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful." - Qur'an, 9:128 This was the character of our Beloved the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). He was forgiving, forbearing and magnanimous and benign even with his enemies. They mocked him, trashed him, hurled stones at him, broke his teeth, choked him, drove him out of his house, killed his relatives...and he is still sad for them! He is still distraught they might go to Hell for their disbelief! Remember this next time you are angry. What is your priority and concern? To protect your pride? To make sure people know who you are and they don't mess with you? Or you want to to take everyone to Jannah and you are bothered you are not doing enough to help people get there.
Can you find a political system or government that delivered better justice and mercy? How business was done, how women were treated? Public sanitation to environmental care? How people dressed, ate and slept - overall how they behaved and believed changed in just 23 years. It as a silent revolution that that rocked the world peacefully by the hands of this one man. His character was a timeless miracle.
Who are we, what and where are we compared to him? We say that we are his followers, that we love him more than we love ourselves than shouldn't we TRY to be more like him? Give up the anger and the grudges? Don't let hate dictate our lives? And did the Prophet (s.a.w) lose anything because he was overly kind? People say that in the real world we cannot afford to be gullible. People will exploit you if you were naive. You have to stand up for yourself, mark your turf and make sure no one crosses their line with you, otherwise you won't survive much. Right? Did the Prophet (s.a.w) have the same attitude? And say, we do become the next King-Pin, hard, calculated, mischievous, fearsome Top Dog....can we get الْكَوْثَرَ ? Will Allah bless us with khayr al katheer and drink from the hands of the Prophet (s.a.w) if we went around yelling in people's faces and bashing their heads against the wall?
Allah says "Ba3dukum li ba3din fitnah, a tasbiroon?" Some of you will be a fintah for others, will you then not be patient? So its confirmed that Allah will test us with all sorts of people...just be patient. Let it go. You may not be able to change them so change the way you view yourself with them. Don't give them any importance. Be merciful to them and mind your own work. You have goals in life don't you? Go get them done instead of going after people and being upset over them. The Prophet (s.a.w) said, "be merciful to those on Earth and the Most Merciful in the Heavens will be merciful to you." InshaAllah you'll be at a lot more peace if you didn't think everything was a problem ... everyone against you. As the Prophet (s.a.w) said to Abu Bakr in the cave of Thaur, "Why worry for the 2 with whom the 3rd is Allah." So you make sure you follow the Prophet Sunnah (s.a.w) and Allah will make sure He has your back.