- in the name of Allah -

There's just one issue with the wellspring of the Future; it isn't the Present yet.
):

 

- in the name of Allah -


Among the steps one takes in life, sometimes the endings are just as important and necessary as the beginnings. The journey I began in getting married last March concluded recently, after long and extensive deliberation. Took many people's opinions and insights, weighed as many factors as I could fathom, made istikharah on my decision, and so it was made.

There was enough of pain and friction in that time, but still have to say alhamdulillah that it forced me to grow in ways I just hadn't accepted ever before. I never got into it expecting or hoping it would end, my only rationale and purpose in it was to have a chance at finding light down the road in life. I didn't assume she would be the light, but it was amazingly ironic that the ex made my desire to find that brightness so much more intense and tangible, while herself turning out to not be part of that road for long. Regardless, I hope Allah forgives her and I both of our mistakes, and makes our way to Him exceedingly easy, ameen.

If I hadn't felt through this experience what I did, my ambition wouldn't be nearly as defined as it is, my resolve not remotely as strong. What Allah says about His tests is true, He created life and death to see which of us is better in deed, gave people wealth and children and made some as trials for others - to test the claims of their belief. Can't fall backwards now, have to press onward, keep the sight trained on the end it seeks, perhaps finding along the way someone who wants to be part of that goal inshaAllah.

- in the name of Allah -


even as words of patience tumble from the tongue, there's still a part inside that crumbles at dunya's insistence of people or a person at distance. no doubt it's better, safer, and I won't mind sooner, or later, but this very second it's a tiny thorn's prick of what's doubtless a test for the waiter. I wish I could see the moon through the clouds Allah placed, through the fog of rain and things that condense and evaporate, but the journey is still there to be made. there's a folly of mine that runs so deep it might as well color me blind, but by His mercy and what He orchestrates of fate, there's not a thing in life had I the choice I'd choose to change; this momentary pain, this credible lapse in my defenses, just a flicker of my mortality breaking through the fortress, reminding me the journey only for now seems endless. 

 

- in the name of Allah -


Somewhere along this road I've walked, I picked up the talent of dreaming. Not really daydreaming, nothing so absent-minded, but more akin to mental visualization on a whole other scale. It wasn't always true of me, for awhile there I was just one who thought deeply. Then, after the first evolution, it became one who thought and felt deeply. Later, now after years of near-drowning in those figurative depths, alhamdulillah the key to balance became clear: becoming one who dreamt as deeply as I thought and felt.

Couldn't have found the sparks on my own, needless to say Allah gave me the chance to take this path in a way where I could connect all of the dots, take as much time as I needed, frame from a lifetime still being lived not just the meaning of the past evolving into the present, but a wellspring for the future. To reach the peak of peaks, to give myself the chance at Allah's mercy and ridwaan, will take a great deal of patience. Patience to be content with life moving as fast or slow as it does, patience with not being able to know some things I would like to (like how one is faring), patience while feeling like I'm moving or thinking a million miles a second while life around is nearly standing still. All of it though, worth it in the end, bi ithniAllah. 

- in the name of Allah -

Sometimes, it's the smallest of victories won that need to be cherished, the ones to give and sustain hope in the face of odds made immense by our weakness. I find the path of imaan isn't a linear road, or even simply up/down, even within the highs and lows there are more slight bumps or depressions (physical, and otherwise). Any particular chance one finds to revel in as success against the shayateen, any opportunity that did not go entirely to waste, has to be celebrated. Life is so short, the uphill climb at times gets so steep, each of these mini-victories is something that should bring about its own joy and sense of gratitude to Allah for having seen it. 

Once I read that one whom Allah put in people's company should not wish for solitude, for he was placed there for a reason and purpose: either to find reminders from them or warning of attitudes/actions that he himself should avoid; likewise, one whom Allah put in solitude should not be found wanting for the presence of people's company, as those moments of quiet are ripe for contemplation on Allah and one's life with respect to Him. Lol interesting I find myself often enough tugged towards either end, either missing people when they aren't around or missing solitude when people are there. Such remains the paradox of living I have yet to overcome >_>. Of course if I had my own guess I would always say it's the right company being missed, that not just anyone can suffice, but 'tis not a thing I can seek in dunya anyways. Still, the moments are there where we aught to look for the blessings underneath even and especially if they aren't apparent to our eyes at first.

 

- in the name of Allah -


Hear me, O beloved pieces of my heart, the happiness you wished for me wasn't where we thought it would be found, not in any mortal's hands, all along it was with Allah, in submitting to Him, seeking Him at journey's end and its start. I beg of you: look towards your Rabb for each and every need, make Him your lasting Friend and Comforter, releasing into His care all your pains and pleas. Our journey here is so short, value here so fleeting, let us keep our eyes upon those highest plains of Paradise; worry not your that your deeds may not suffice, for I know neither will mine, but rather all my hopes and aims, I've packaged to Allah and leave it to Him to make sublime. For the love of all that is good and true, hold dearly to Allah's Rope, His Words, fear His anger, crave His mercy, know your weaknesses and use them as seeds for humility in prostration to Him, there will never be a greater gift He gives than His guidance, for it leads to all His blessings, a mercy enveloping His slave, to lift us out of darknesses towards His light.

- in the name of Allah -


I've come to know that of the things I have imagined in Firdaus, the completion of the heart is quite literally among the smallest of blessings that await. In a place where the khair is always increasing, where the only company is of the good and the better and the best, where every joy is magnified over time instead of diminished, the heart being whole is truly just the very tip of the iceberg. 

Consider, for example, meeting the anbiyaa'. Imagine the stories and experiences they have to tell, their knowledge and closeness to Allah, the fruits of their lives and the things they each personally enjoy. What unfathomable treasures of history and human fortitude and blessed company. On top of this, meeting our Nabi (saw) himself. What tale would he have to tell us, the first and foremost of our ummah, the human being who laid the seeds for spreading and growing Islam into the most beautiful deen the world will ever know? Imagine his pleasure at seeing those who followed him centuries later, holding on to his words for so long while having never met him in dunya. How much joy will he feel to see those among the latter generations? And how much joy would it be for us to simply revel in his? 

There is so much more to these potential blessings than I've given them credit for, even more degrees of amazing than I ever previously thought. Gazing upward, there truly are no limits to how far Allah's mercy can take us. 

 Still, with all of this excellence and immensity, the completion of the heart remains a key component of the overall vision. It is always hoped that my sun and my moon develop and retain their desire to remain in orbit, seeking not only their completion as well, but especially realizing me as just another means to seek Allah after all.

- in the name of Allah -


Just listening to a Bayyinah lecture* on Surah An-Nur, the part that includes the Ayah of Nur: SubhanaAllah. 

I thought I knew something of it, but now hearing it explained with its linguistic subtlety...my own ignorance just gets made clear to me. MashaAllah it's so beautiful.  

If there was a single ayah in the Qur'an that I had to pick to say that I loved it simply because it echoed and explained and reflected me, it's this one. I feel like every day I'm struggling to hold on to whatever light of guidance Allah shows, despite my failings and flaws and weaknesses, the brightest and best part keeps struggling to stay lit. There's no doubt about it, Allahu Nur us-samawaati wal-ardh.

 * = 03. An-Nur (Ayah 32-43) - A Concise Commentary

- in the name of Allah -


Alhamdulillah. This life is the time for sabrun jameel, a time for beautiful patience that never runs out, that never falls short when its needed most. Of course human beings by themselves are never enough, always in need of something. 

That's why we turn to Allah, that's why remembrance is so clutch. If Allah fades from our minds, then worries and anxieties overcome our senses and lead us to ruin one way or another. The moment we bring Him back, or rather the moment we run back to Him, is the second all of those aspects become secondary, just like they should be. 

Trials, they come and go, but Jannah(-tul-Firdaus) lasts forever.
[:

 

- in the name of Allah -

would that my words were clay in my hands, waiting for their Breath of Life, rather than unplanted seeds in my throat, choking down whatever time demands, leaving me adrift with no boat. 

I've sank and risen, more often than I can count with the digits of toes and fingers I'm given, from anarchy to submission to desolation. Walking my own personal Trail of Tears, blessings abound but only absence rings in the ears, a longing unmet stretches from years to decades to lifetimes, eventually leading me back here. 

going too deep, always adore the drowning, can never stay long though, Allah keeps bringing air to lungs, so the next moment is where I'm found in. an existence forced, the unpalatable becoming the bread and butter of a main course, unsuited I am but regardless the journey stretches forth, a string who's start I can see but ending beyond sight or ability to mourn. 

 

- in the name of Allah -


As human beings it's hard for us to fathom a drive that keeps on ticking time after time, that endures long after most other things turn to dust. It's made especially hard to have this kind of attachment when life itself is so fleeting, things are made to order, instant gratification rules ever larger parts of life around us. After enough time in this sort of existence, being around other people who crave worldly things, we might begin to crave them too. This is maybe the saddest thing to me about life, it's ability to so silently and insidiously seduce a person's heart and mind into overlooking the akhirah and wanting to find their needs met here. For who is this life enough? Can't say it is for me. So my drive remains in a place I can't see, with a joy I can't imagine, in a company far beyond me.

- in the name of Allah -

If no other human being ever read these words, except you, then their purpose would be complete. And if you weren't able to read them, then these words would revert to their natural state and become a collection of duas, all reaching out to Allah in hope that they are made complete. 

If life tends to make the heart shrink as we get older, make it more afraid and tentative and worried, then inside I'd rather remain in part a child, expanding its horizon until every thing I can see from the East to the West encompasses nothing but the mercy of Allah. There is no outgrowing Him, simply growing into Him, as a cloak against the elements, a shield against the spears, a wall against the horde of whisperers. 

In truth, there is no better Mawla, no better Wali, no better Guide. Seek Allah, and be found. 

- in the name of Allah -


On my Moon

The moon is not an easy thing to behold. Never clearly seen as I'd like, often clouds hide it fully or partially from view. Any night for bad weather, and it's almost totally out of sight. But the times it can be seen, in various phases and shapes, reveals a subtle beauty that is simply captivating and peerless in nature. The moon shines in a way that gives travellers respite, sheltering from the sun's unyielding glare with a tempered, soft glow. Being the traveller that I am, it's no wonder I found its shade so ideal. It's light may not be the most obvious, nor its appeal the most apparent, but for me it makes me whole.

- in the name of Allah -

even if every lamp on the earth, and every star in the sky, all blinked out and left in their wake, darkness from all sides, my prayers would be the same.

there are some anchors that reach into our core, that hold fast with everything we are and then some. when that anchor is Allah, there is no letting go, there is no going backward, there's just Him. if I find by His permission what I seek, it's nothing more than His gift to me, His mercy at work and me just being a human being. with His aid I'll keep these dreams lit, using them as a means to want to be closer to Allah than I've ever been, continually until the day I'm brought back to life. after that, there's no distance left, no veil to keep Him and I apart. by His permission I'll see a sight worth beholding for all my existence, and then, once this greatest joy has filled me past filling, I'll stroll over to His gifts and savor them next. I think the best aspect for me in all of this, will not simply be indulging in pleasure and perfection. to me, one particular feeling seems more fitting than anything else for this occasion: shukr. A gratitude so encompassing it is as if I no longer exist and all that I was or am simply a dream given form. Inna lilAllahi, wa inna ilaihi raaji'un.