Thursday 25 August 2016

Generosity II






This morning i was communicating with someone who is dealing with huge challenges on many fronts.  Without going into details, I want to stress that I do not use these words - huge challenges on many fronts - lightly and I do not exaggerate.  This person has their plate full to overflowing with challenges that they must deal with alone.

I offered some little help but the person said they would not take something for nothing; they would only take what I offered if they could make a contribution in return.  

How often do we complain about our little aches and pains, our dashed hopes and fantasies of vacations and material goods, about the petty behaviour of others, about the amount of work we have to do?  

And here is a human being who is offering to do do MORE, despite what they must confront, with great difficulty, every day of their lives.

I am filled with admiration and respect.  And my faith in humanity, in the Divine Generosity behind All This, is once again reaffirmed.

Alhamdolillah<3

image with thanks via Iraj Jahanshahi on Facebook

Wednesday 24 August 2016

The Curse Is The Blessing





Our lives, our bodies, our every breath is a miracle.  But all this is so easily given to us that we take it for granted. Once in a while something so astounding happens that we become completely still and silent, awestruck, when we get a glimpse of just how Great the Genius behind our lives is.

One of the most astounding and awe-inspiring realizations is when you realize that the thing that you had been complaining about for years, maybe decades, is actually an incredible blessing.

It's like you're locked up in a tiny room and you're staring at the wall and complaining bitterly about how awful it is and how awful your life is, and suddenly, very gently, Allah turns you around 180 degrees and you see that all this time, the door to the sun-lit meadow was lying wide open.  All you had to do, was turn around.  But you were so stuck to the wall, to its ugliness, to the unfairness of your situation, to your sob story, that you never thought of looking anywhere else.  This was all you could see. 

This is what we do.  We create our cage, then sit and complain about it.  While all this time, the door to freedom is lying wide open.

If we remain stuck to our story, we refuse to see His Text, which is staggering in its ingenuity, in its breathtaking design.  The incredible blessing appears as curse, until He grants us an opening to see.

It's easy to see a blessing that is clearly a blessing; to really see and to be amazed and thrilled is to see the curse IS the blessing.


We can never truly fathom the Beloved's Greatness or Generosity or Patience. Or indeed anything about Him. 


image with thanks via Iraj Jahanshahi on Facebook

Self Mastery




Self mastery implies you are not manipulable. A mature person cannot be tempted or intimidated into doing what is incorrect. The more s/he is willing to lose, the greater her/his self mastery.
and Allah knows best.


photo: with thanks via Iraj Jahanshahi on Facebook