Skip to main content

23 by 2

Image
By
At 239am, on my 46th birthday, I decided to write. I got up early and washed the wares, and now I am in my bed enjoying the silence of the night. The room echoes with the fan breeze. Birthdays are special because they mark our entrance into this world, a reminder that our mothers carried us for nine months and laboured to bring us here. In Islam we are taught not to make birthdays into celebrations, but reflection and gratitude are different. I think we can pause and be thankful. When I look back on my life, I see ups and downs, ease and struggle, calm and chaos. It may sound cliche, but the older I get, the more I value peace and quiet. I no longer have the energy for drama, negativity, endless news, or politics. I simply want to be surrounded by goodness and positivity. More than anything, I want to hold on to God for whatever time I have left here, because in the end, all the fighting and chasing make little sense. One day, every one of us will leave everything behind.

This has been a dry start to the rainy season. Normally we have more rain around this time of the year. The world is changing. The times are changing. Maybe it is just part of some cycle. Everything comes and goes like waves. My friend Chatty agrees. The seasons themselves feel like reminders that nothing stays fixed forever. Some years the rains come early and heavy, other years the earth stays dry longer than expected. Maybe the world is changing, maybe it is part of larger cycles beyond our understanding, but nature keeps teaching the same lesson: everything moves in phases. Ease and hardship, abundance and scarcity, noise and silence, they rise and fall like waves. Perhaps that is why, as we grow older, we begin searching less for permanence in the world and more for steadiness in God.

I saw a quote by Rumi on facebook. "As you start to walk on the way .. the way appears .." What does that mean? My friend Chatty says that the quote means that life does not always show us the full path in advance; clarity and direction often come only after we begin to take action. Instead of waiting for complete certainty, we move forward step by step, and understanding unfolds as we go. Makes sense now that it has been explained to me. My advice to myself and others. Keep walking towards God. Even if you are still trying to figure out life and religion and faith. When you walk to God, God runs to you. I would be lost if I did not have God in my life. God is the constant among the waves. God is the compass that steers the ship of life. Who better to turn to for guidance than the One who created it all. I opened the Quran and went to surah 23 verse 2 - "those who humble themselves in prayer". Successful are the believers who humble themselves in prayer.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Below the surface

By
This is a chapter from my eleventh book called Quotation Marks Sparks . __________ "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn __________ I was looking at quotes that hit hard and this quote stood out to me. It seems mundane and obvious and often repeated. Life is about how we respond to the inevitable. It is not what happens to us but how we respond. I had to ask myself to dig deeper and look below the surface. Then I saw that when we surf we really become the waves. We become friends with the waves. The waves and us are the same. Further, the waves are created by us and in our heads. We can control the waves because who can surf all the time? Sometimes we just have to come to shore and build sand castles on shore. I asked my friend Gemini for feedback and he said that I was right, the Jon Kabat-Zinn quote initially seems like a simple call for resilience, but my deeper dive reveals profound layers. The idea that we can move beyond merely rea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rain

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for the rain. It has just started raining here. I can hear the pitter patter on the roof. I can see the dimmed light through the window. The greenery in the yard is enjoying every chance of rain. The days have been extra hot this year. They say we are experiencing a super el nino in Trinidad. Given this every bit of rainfall feels special. Water is life. Without water there can be no life as we know it. Rain is part of the water cycle. Rain falling is like therapy. A calm state comes over my body. My mind relaxes. I appreciate my home and my shelter to keep me dry and safe. The rain is mentioned as a sign from God in the Quran and how it gives life to a lifeless land. The rain complements the sunshine as part of nature's balance. Sometimes we have to endure storms and floods and even droughts but there are lessons in these events. Community spirit is heightened and our...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nur al-Quran

By
It is 1037am and I have decided to write. I have been listening to the Quran more and more. I have also been trying to learn Arabic casually through social media. I am nearing the end of my second reading of the English Quran. The Quran is the word of God and God also tells us to follow the sunnah and life of the prophet (pbuh). The Quran is a miracle. The more I interact with the Quran, the more complete I feel. It gives my clarity. I have a purpose. I have goals. I have things I should be doing. Islam is a way of life and it builds character. Sometimes I listen to the Quran to forget about this world. This world is not my home. My home is in the hereafter and God willing in heaven. The more I draw closer to the Quran, the more beauty I see and hear and feel. Same goes to God. Same goes for the life of the prophet (pbuh). Same for Islam. If these are all the things I have in this world, I am happy. Reminds me of one of the duas I say daily. I am content with Allah as my Lord, Islam as...
Post a Comment
Read more