- 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.