“Our task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ― Rumi
Let's say the forest represents the being of our hearts. It was the heat from the sun that triggered the fire.
We realise the existence of the forest but it had been a passive realisation. Not more than a normal landscape that we'd pass by everytime we drive on the highway. We'd ignore the first spark, assuming that it would pass and heal by itself. That is until, the fire spread to the surrounding trees and so on, escalating into an uncontrollable wildfire, with smoke polluting the air.
I've pondered and realised that this occurence is so similar when we want to talk about our hearts. It started with what we thought is a "harmless" habit but one that doesn't necessarily bring good to our hearts. Then we ignore it, thinking that it won't harm our hearts. It then escalated to a sin, overtime so uncontrollable, leaving black spots all over. But Allah is the most Merciful and most Forgiving.
When we start feeling uneasy and guilty about our state... know that it is our iman. Our faith is still there, meaning we still get the "touch" of our Allah's love no matter how much we've sinned.
Had the firemen not extinguish the fire, the whole forest would burn, leaving only ashes. Had we not start acting upon cleansing our sins, our hearts would continue to blacken, eventually leaving a hard heart.
While we are still breathing, hope is never lost. The guilt, the emptiness, whatever sign it may be, you have to stop ignoring it. Don't let the shaytaan trick you thinking that you are hopeless and sinful. Allah's Mercy is bigger than everything. We just have to stop ignoring it by crashing our ego.
Hence the hadith that says there is a flesh in men, when it is good, the whole state of him will be good, and it is the heart. Nourish your heart while you can, just like how the water and rain "cured" the forest.
Be grateful that we still get to nourish it. Alhamdulillah.
#friday #friyay
Sometimes I regret that I don't record my "aha moments" thinking that I'd be able to remember it again once I'd have the time to sit down to truly dedicate my time to writing.
As life continues to happen, only a few part of these "aha moments" were caught but not as sweet or clearer as when I first received it.
It is frustrating to say the least. (🙂 this is my sarcastic smile to my perfectionist self)
But, as an optimistic person, I believe nothing that we go through in this life is random because our Creator is Al-Lateef, the Subtle One, kind to His slaves for every moment and breath that we exhale hold another opportunity for a deeper realisation. (😭 this is a sincere cry when I've realised Allah's mercy encompasses everything, more than we can ever comprehend)
It was this: our ibaadah, our remembrance of Him and so on (i.e our pursuit be closer to Him everyday) are more important than the outcomes, so so so opposite to our fitrah. We want immediate results. So impatient with His wisdom. Naudzubillah.
So this triggered me to be less perfectionist in any of my creative pursuits as it feels like a waste of time that I am resisting from sharing something that might give benefit to others, even to just one person.
So here I am writing this on another warm night that I struggle to sleep (😔 this is me pretending to sleep but my mind continues to wander to new ideas). Guys, it's not about how perfect you think your outcome would be. We have no control over it. What's more important is that you start somewhere, no matter how small. Because when done consistently, it would amount to a mountain that you never thought you could achieve in the first place. For any aspects of our lives especially, I repeat, especially our ibadaah. He is more Merciful than you and I can ever understand.
Progress over perfectionism.
#creativenight
#whenonecannotsleep
The scariest thing for so many of us is to be vulnerable. Because being vulnerable means you are showing your flawed and a self that you are afraid to display for the fear of being misunderstood or being misused or hurt.
I'd like to believe that I am an advocate for vulnerability. Because it is only by being vulnerable that you'll find your authentic self, and eventually will attract those who are without you even having to try so hard. Then, it is also knowing what kind of thoughts and feelings are actually good or not for you, and whether it is serving your closeness with Allah.
It is only knowing your authentic self that you'll be able to understand your difficulties and that it is a mere act of cleansing yourself so that you'll only be closer and closer to Allah.
Ps/ So my friend and I are thinking about creating a podcast with topics revolving around self-growth etc, out of our curiousity to try a new thing. Would anyone be interested to listen to it? 😂
#self #reflection #podcast #selfgrowth
I remember there was this old man whom I had met during one of my field trips. "I'm just visiting a dying friend whom I used to hike with" His dying friend lived in Scotland but he was from Australia. He travelled all the way just to see a dying friend.
I haven't reconnected with him ever since but his wisdom remains with me. He, despite his old age, armed with a walking stick, never stopped living.
Sometimes we contemplate too much that it becomes paralysing for us from getting back up and trying again. In the end, we'd waste our age, our youth from growing for the temporary benefits of this world, for ourselves when *life is more than for ourselves.* Maybe it's our fear of failure or simply because... we've lost our purpose along the process.
Then the question arises, what would we do if we were in the position of that dying friend? Who would be the people to travel, near and far, to visit us on our last day here to pray with hopes that we'll see each other again in His heaven? (Amiin Ya Rabb)
Do we want to remain like thatches, attractive to the eyes yet attract pests and diseases, or the plants that benefit?
We are more than what meets the eye. We are.. what's within us.
#reminder #reflection
There's nothing more authentic than the relationships that I've seen between 2 kids (or within a group of children) as they are united by play. The friendship was formed simply by their fitrah that is... to play.
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All they wanted was to play that we, of course had to set some rules for if we didn't, things would have been too chaotic and uncontrollable.
Which reminds me of Surah Al-Hadid (57), ayat 20, that summarises the world as merely a place of play, an amusement and adornment.
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When you were kids, do you remember either of your parents reminding you what time to come in after playing outside? To go home before Maghrib, before the sun sets? Because it's so, so difficult to stop as we were too animated during our playtime. But coming out of place of love, our parents would scold us to come back inside before the sun sets.
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This very state of excitement and hype is exactly our state with the dunya sometimes. We forget that this world is just temporary and an amusement, so much so we might even forget of our true purpose in life if we don't snap ourselves back to the reality
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The reality is, our fitrah is to find our one true Lord, Al-Kabir (the All-Aware) no matter how much we try so hard to find other purposes in life especially when we know it's the truth and the whole truth.
May Allah preserve our hidayah and that we might never take it for granted. Amin.
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#reflection #ayat #amusement #quran #kids
لَـئِنۡ شَكَرۡتُمۡ لَاَزِيۡدَنَّـكُمۡ "Surely if you are grateful then, I will give you more" Ibrahim:7
The past 3 months had been a roller coaster to me that I started burning myself out these past 2 weeks. I had not taken the time to reflect like I used to and ended up "killing myself" on the pursuit of whatever goals, achievements etc etc. My body had already started giving me signals since last month to slow down but I resisted.
Then this week particularly, I've learned about gratitude.
I literally have been stumbling upon the ayat above everywhere I go, Subhanallah! Social media, whatsapp, the news (from last Friday's sermon), commercials, YouTube, you name it.
Here's the thing. When you worry about things too much, it's not that your worries are invalid... they are valid and they should be acknowledged. But what it shouldn't do to you is "kill you internally" that you are paralysed by them. So you'd end up trying to control things that are beyond you.
Gratitude... once you fully internalise it, calamaties may shake you but you'd then learn to find tune with your values, purpose and principles, and find balance again in your life. I've also learned that it's not about being on a constant high but finding the place where you feel completely balanced.
Practically, it's easy to do but how it becomes a part of you is difficult because gratitude is not only in the tongue but in the heart.
الحمد الله
#gratitude #grateful
Well quoted 👌👌💯
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