musaafir-e dasht

Now here is something for which the Urdu expression, lamha e fikriya, suits best! Please visit THIS extremely thought-provoking post at Al-Miskeenah .

Centre has to be just one. It could be anything but it is one thing around which a man's entire life revolves; it could be wealth, (love of a) woman, or God! Two centres cannot coexist in one heart!

دل کی دنیا کو کہاں حاصل دنیا کہتے تم نہ ہوتے تو جہاں میں کسے اپنا کہتے یہ جہاں ایک تماشا ہے سبھی کہتے ہیں تم نہ ہوتے تو اسے ہم بھی تماشا کہتے حرمت دامن یوسف کے سوا کچھ بھی نہیں لوگ پھرتے ہیں جسے دام زلیخا کہتے یہ جو صحرا ہے سلگتا ہوا صحرا ہر سو آنکھ میں اشک جو ہوتا اسے دریا کہتے حال ہی دل کا عجب ہو گیا رفتہ رفتہ ورنہ ممکن تھا کہاں اشک کو سجدہ کہتے - شاہنواز فاروقی

  SOURCE A strange observation: I conducted an exam at my university last week. There was a test item in one of the questions which required the students to match the given meanings with their corresponding words present in the reading passage handed out to them. One of the given meanings was 'outcomes' which corresponded to the word 'consequences' in the passage. Interestingly, ninety percent of the class chose the word 'progress' as their answer! Since then I am constantly wondering as to the ways in which our mentality has been conditioned in the present day materialistic world. Were not we the ones who struggled till the last breath without even being bothered about the 'consequences', for we used to put our trust in the Supreme Being and enter the sea of Love without thinking if we had any swimming aids!? Nowadays, however, it is the thought of 'progress' that propels us to struggle so we could achieve the 'consequences' of our c...

... was an important day for many personal reasons. I can feel there are "infinite spaces (within), the eternal silence of which frightens me." At times circumstances demand us we choose between actions - our very own actions. It is clear that one act is wrong and we refuse to perform it. This refusal demands that we also pay the price. And well, we do that! No matter how heavy the price is, we are inclined to pay it in the hope of good that shall follow. A 'good' that shall materialise itself someday and stand before us in flesh and blood... One day. Yes, it will... انشاءاللہ! 

I am literally too stupefied to say anything at all regarding what's going on around us these days. Probably it was that fateful day (read: dreadful!) - 9/11 - which had us on our way down the slope! It would become this worse, however, we did not imagine in the wildest of our dreams. Some people might have envisioned this fate at that time only, but sadly they seem to be in a very small number. Or is it that we have stopped 'seeing'? Could be both ways... We are indeed living in trying times. May Allah save us from the fitnah that has started pouring into our shelters like heavy shower ... I am reminded of a couplet by Shahnawaz Farooqi: ہمارا دور اک دکھ کی گلی ہے جس کے آخر میں  خوشی کا پیڑ ہے جس پر بلائیں رقص کرتی ہیں 

From Ashrafiya Shaykh Shah Wasiullah Allahabadi (Allah have mercy on him) said that, ‘The author of Ruh al-Ma’ani has explained the meaning of ‘good of this world’ as sound health and serenity (‘afiyet).’ What is ‘afiyet? Our master Shaykh Ahmad Kabir Rifai (Allah have mercy on him) said, ‘Be considerate of the blessing of serenity. The reality of which is that the process of breathing continues without discomfort, the daily sustains is achieved without (much) hardship and the good actions are done without ostentation.” Mujmua e talifat e Muslih al-ummat ra, volume 2, page 12-13