Freedom

Freedom

Tied up, locked down is my desire to fly. Like the instinct of a caged bird.

I have been told that freedom is the perception of reaching the impossible. Did not make much sense to me at the time. Today I look back and I see all the impossibles that knocked on my door and I did not open. I did not answer, I was not there. My flesh was present, my spirit was not. Where did my freedom go? I ask. Who is there to answer? No one.

Freedom, the scariest feeling of all. Beyond love, faith and desire. Freedom, the bridge between my hand and yours.

(This is probably the last contribution from Silent Reader)

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak 2013

About Eid, the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, `They are days of eating, drinking, and remembrance of God.´

(Reported by Bukhari in his Sahih, an authoritative collection of the sayings of the Prophet)

I wish all Muslims a happy and blessed Eid!

Ramadan Mubarak!

Clouds and rays of sun

Believers! Fasting is enjoined upon you, as it was enjoined upon those before you, that you become God-fearing.

(Qur’an 2:183, Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari’s translation of Syed Abul A’ala Maududi’s Tafhim Al Qur’an)

With these words from the Qur’an, I wish the Muslims of the world Ramadan Mubarak!

The Tree

2013-06_Tree

I am the tree.

Always rooted strongly to the ground, looking up at the sky.
Always staying still, while others pass me by.

Some times things get caught in my branches.
But that they will stay with me, there are little chances.

Because all it takes for them to fly away,
is a gust of wind on a stormy day

They leave me behind alone,
and go to places to me unknown

I stay back, right or wrong,
because this is the place to which I belong.

With time I will grow old.
All my stories untold.

Until the day of the big storm.
My roots too weak to perform.

Memories will flash me by,
as I try one last stretch towards the sky.

Beauty

Beauty

BEAUTY asked God one day
This question: ‘Why
Didst Thou not make me, in Thy world, undying ?’
And God replying-
‘ A picture-show is this world: all this world
A tale out of the long night of not being;
And in it, seeing
Its nature works through mutability,
That only is lovely whose essence  knows decay.’

The moon stood near and heard this colloquy,
The words took wing about the sky
And reached the morning‐star;
Dawn learned them from its star, and told the dew—
It told the heavens’ whisper to
Earth’s poor familiar;
And at the dew’s report the flower’s eye filled,
With pain the new bud’s tiny heartbeat thrilled;
Springtime fled from the garden, weeping;
Youth, that had come to wander there, went creeping
Sadly away.

by Muhammad Iqbal, the “Poet of the East”, from “The Call of the Road”

Wizard

Wizard

It’s not that I don’t cherish every moment we’re together. It’s not that I am not thankful for your every breath. It’s not that my heart doesn’t melt every time your eyes meet mine.

But it’s when I cradle you in my arms like this, that magic happens. The world is blocked out. Time comes to a standstill. And when our eyes meet in that fleeting moment that seems to linger for a lifetime, we are one.

You and me.

Transformation

Nothing is as serious as a piece of candy on a cold October evening. Its powerful call makes them defy the tiredness after a long day in school, after homework, after chores, after dinner. It makes them get ready, paying scrupulous attention to details, leaving nothing to chance. This has to be just right.

When the make-up is on, the outfit adjusted and secured, the empty candy bag suspended limply over the shoulder, ready to receive this year’s catch of sweets, and they step outside into the chilly, wet October darkness, their transformation is complete.

There will be nightmares tonight!

Untethered

 

All my life I have been tethered. To the tree that gave me life. To the park that was my universe.

There were good days filled with sunshine, bright and warm. There were days where all I prayed for was for them to pass. These were dark, rainy, cold, days on which the wind almost seemed to succeed in tearing me away. Eventually they all passed, the good and the bad, and I was still here. My time had still not come.

Time never discriminates. No matter how cruel or how gentle the days, neither stood a chance against its steady trot, never looking back, never hesitating, always moving forward.

I heard stories of other places, near and far. Tales of wonderful sights, terrible fates, daring adventures. And I imagined myself being part of the unknown, the mystery.

I started to feel the change some time ago, the coldness in the air and the shifting of color around me. Changes even in the way I feel. Then, on a crisp Sunday morning in early October, a strong gust of wind took me by surprise and tore me away. In a split second, something happened that could never be undone. I was tethered no more!

Of all the stories I heard about near and far, of other worlds, none were as surprising as my new reality. I am free! My home is anywhere and everywhere. Bonded only to the unpredictable will of the winds that carry me, I feel reborn and energized. Every day bringing new adventures under blue skies.

But I see angry clouds in the distant horizon. New adventures, no doubt. I am alone. This much I know: No matter how dark and angry, they will eventually find tranquility. Time does not discriminate, and it always triumphs. With it, I will see happiness again.