The Rain

As the pools of water formed on the floor, they reflected the library lights and shadows. I was awed as I stared at the shivering lights and shadows, as though the rain drops were invisible fingers playing the yellow and black keys of a piano, the music being the rain’s pattering.

The cool breeze was refreshing and the scene was one that made you turn your attention away from the distractions of life. It was one to make you stare and wonder…

Can the rain wash away the pain in your heart?

Can the wind carry away your worries and cast them so far away?

No matter how bad your day had been, can the scene make you forget all the miseries of your life, and plant the seed of hope again?

Can you lose yourself in that one moment?

One moment that takes your breath away.

Small Words, Large Impact

Once upon a time a girl was sitting on the main stairs of a university campus with her brother. It was already night time, and she was exhausted, but she knew that after her brother left, she’d have to go back to campus and get back to work. There were so many papers due the next day, and she was upset because not only did she not know how she could finish everything on time, but she didn’t even know where to start.

His advice?

“Ista3eeni bi Allah.” (ask Allah for help)

He could have delayed going home that day. He could have stayed back to help her. But no. He did something better. When the cab came, he left. He left her with those words…

“Ista3eeni bi Allah.”

Sometimes people don’t realize how the smallest reminders could make the biggest difference in their lives. If you are going through a difficult time, don’t go to people with your problems, for some of them don’t care, others will try to convince you how bigger their problems are, and there are those who might be glad you’ve got them. Instead, just turn to Allah with a sincere du’aa wa Allahu almusta3an. And this is today’s small reminder.

Excerpt from “Whispers From A Brother”

If you like this, share with a friend


//

Definition Of Hope

“A lot of times we find ourselves in the midst of a whirling storm of hurt, and no matter how hard we try to think positively about it, we just can’t, because some feelings hurt especially if we allow ourselves to feel in the first place.
Why can’t there be a gate to block these feelings out?
Simply because they emerge from deep within.
Then why can’t there be a hole where these feelings can be buried in and never be seen again?
Simply because we are human.

So what is it that some people do to deal with the situation? Some sink deep into themselves, wrap themselves in their own world, like a snail curling up inside its shell, and try to nurture their hurt, and balm their pain in hopes of feeling better. Maybe they try to distract themselves but things keep on happening that reminds them of their pain, and it’s like trying to climb out of a hole; the harder they try to climb out, the deeper they sink in.

But then something happens.

A door squeaks open in the dark.

Light slants in.

In the form of a person, or a voice, or a dream, or words drawn in the middle of the air…

Something always happens.

And from a child’s laughter, joy crosses over if they learn to listen. On endless green fields, gratitude fills voids if they learn to forgive. In the driver’s seat, a scene starts a smile if they learn to watch. On the back of a horse, control is restored if they learn to trust. A seed grows into a plant, if they learn to be patient. In the middle of a forest’s clearing, their breath is taken away, if they learn to look up. And on a boat at sea, peace engulfs them if they learn to believe.

And that’s the definition of hope.” – Excerpt from “Whispers From A Brother”- another fiction piece I was supposed to be working on


//

The fellow next to the Cab

For some reason, the image above reminded me of a certain person who used to work as a bus driver in our high school. The students in our school used to always call him names and make fun of him because he wore a shilwar kamees and looked like one of the most wanted men after the 2001 attacks on the trade center, and yet it never seemed to bother him. He used to walk with assurance in his steps. Before the call for Dhuhr prayer, you could watch him walking outside school in the direction of the neared masjed. You could look at his walk, his face, his eyes on the floor, and you could tell that this guy was at a total peace with himself, because he understood the true meaning of life.

Another image that crossed my mind was of another day, this time in Kenya, in a place with a name I no longer remember, but to reach it one had to take the Likoni ferry. You can say that the place was in the middle of “nowhere.” There was just greenery all around it. It was a boarding madrasa where young students were taught the Holy Quraan. The way they lived was an eye opener. It was so simple. Water well; a small masjid that was barely covered by janvi, a boarding house with mabamba for windows and yet people lived. Women with their full hijab and neqab welcomed us with madafu. They were  there to attend regular darsas. The strangest part of the story – which shouldn’t be so strange anyway – is that they were African women, African women who would put some of us Arab women to shame. Some of them had moved away from their families who were involved in Shirk and they called the trip their own Hijra. What held them together there, in the middle of nowhere, was the love for this Deen, and one could tell that they understood the true meaning of life.

The final incident happened during the only time I went to Emirates Palace. We had some guests over from Kenya, and wanted to show them around. Since I was the only driver in the family at the time, the task was delegated to me naturally. Inside the Palace, there was a huge Christmas tree. Underneath it, young men who looked Omani (one could tell from the headwear) were being photographed under it. Leaving the Palace behind, the maghrib prayers called and on the grass strip between the two roads just in front of Emirates Palace, stood a line of construction workers in green coveralls, praying Jama3a, and one could tell that they understood the true meaning of life.

And all those people return to me over and over again, to remind me that no matter where you go on this planet, that no matter how much money you have, no matter how many languages you speak, these people might never know the difference between invincible and invisible, or never heard of a person called Shakespeare, or never knew the difference between a PBR and a PFR, they really understood the true meaning of life.

mabamba = corrugated iron (Swahili)

Janvi= type of carpet

madafu= coconut milk


//

No Second Chances

Sometimes there’s no next time, no time outs, no second chances. It’s now or never. Sometimes you need to take the leap of faith into the unknown and see what happens…

Five seconds left till the end of the game. The basketball is in your hands. The basketball hoop is right in front of you. The audience goes quiet. All eyes are on you. Other players are jumping around you but you can’t see them. Your eyes are so focused on the hoop. You can feel the pressure, a chunk of heavy solid in your chest. You can barely breathe. You can hear the blood throbbing loudly in your ears. You shoot the ball… it arches above everyone’s head…heading towards the hoop….

In life we go through similar situations, where we wish we can go back, but the only way we can go is forward, whether we win or lose, there’s no way back. We have to pull the trigger, and make a decision, whatever it is…

A decisive moment. A moment that can change the course of your life forever…

A relative once related how she experienced it when she was getting married, and she was asked if she accepted the guy who had proposed. The word, “No,” was at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t say it. Maybe she thought of her family and his. Maybe she thought of the consequences of the word. What came out eventually was a “yes”. She pulled the trigger and it changed her life forever.

Others experience it in their moment of Hidaya from Allah (Subhaanahu wa ta3ala), and this story describes it perfectly…

So remember sometimes there’s no next time, no time outs, no second chances. It’s now or never…


//

Moments

Close your eyes and go back to that frozen moment…

Maybe you woke up to the sound of the muathen at the crack of dawn calling, “Allahu akbar.” And you were  stuck in that twilight stage between sleep and wakefulness.

Maybe you were in the car and your five year old cousin, Jameel, pointed out the window and said, “Look! The moon is following us.” Maybe it was the day you took your baby cousin, Jawaher swimming and she sat there splashing water at the edge of the pool, too scared to go in.

Maybe it was that moment when you handed in your last final exam and you were officially an engineer. Maybe it was the time you carried a baby for the first time.

Close your eyes and go back to that frozen moment when you were walking with your father, and within one second the whole place plunged into darkness due to power outage, but then you looked up and the star-studded sky was all that filled your sight that you felt dizzy.

Close your eyes and go back to that one moment in life and relive it with all your being. What sound was playing in the background, how was the weather like, what were you feeling…

Innocence of childhood,

Life milestones,

Moments that take your breath away,

Do you ever think?

Could it be more perfect?

For those who are stressed out since it’s midterm week…just close your eyes and go back to that moment…

Quote of the day, “In life we get brief moments…but sometimes in those brief moments we get memories that last a lifetime.”

//