Knight of the night

You do a sin.
You think,
"What's done is done.
I'll rise in the night to atone".

You sleep through.
It dawns on you,
"Prayer in the night is an honour,
for he who sins not in the day".

Practising Arabic

"Hazrat Maulana Syed Asghar Hussain Sahib (Allah's Mercy be upon him) was a man of extraordinary spiritual qualities, and I was blessed with his loving affection. One day I presented myself to him and he said, 'Today let us talk in Arabic'. This rather amazed me because he had never before expressed such a desire. He then himself stated the reason why he wished to converse in Arabic. He said, 'Neither you nor I are able to speak Arabic fluently and freely, so we will talk less'. He then continued, 'Our case is like that of a traveller whose money is about to finish so he spends every penny very carefully'."

(Source: 'The World Within' by Mufti Muhammad Shafi (Allah's Mercy be upon him))

This quote is about avoiding meaningless talk. But it got me thinking nonetheless: It's been a long time since I spoke in Arabic (beyond "kayfa haaluk" and "alhamdulillah"). Maybe over a year. I really urgently need to find me an Arabic speaking partner.

Snowflakes and Raindrops

When I look to the great Companions of the final Messenger of God Muhammad (upon whom be the Peace and Blessings of God), men and women, (may God be pleased with them all,) I see individual personalities with unique character, built of course upon Islam.

Today, like raindrops, each person is the behaviour of his group, devoid of thought. Missing is the realisation that each one of us, in his individual uniqueness, has the potential to become a beautiful snowflake whilst still remaining true to his Islam.