the eye..

The eye is always associated in traditional cultures with light and spiritual perceptions. According to ancient beliefs, the eye was not a passive receiver of light, but rather a source of light.

It is believed that such was the power of the eye that certain creatures would have magical powers in their eyes. It is the case of Medusa in Greek mythology that would petrify anyone that would look at her. In Ancient Ireland, Balor, the king of Fomorians,, would use in the battlefields his bad eye against his enemies.


This belief in the bad eye gave rise in many cultures, especially Mediterranean ones, to many amulets supposed to protect people.The positive connotation of the eye is nevertheless wider and thus the eye is associated with knowledge and by extension with the power of foresight.

But the access to this type of vision – that goes beyond the mere appearance of things - is usually achieved by the sacrifice of this very organ.

The wise man Tiresias, Apollo’s priest, was blind. The Scandinavian God Odin also gives one of his eyes to the Giant Mimir for knowledge.

In Christianity the All Seeing Eye of God is represented inside the sun of a pyramid – which means that God sees all everywhere and always.

I asked this week to friends to stare a blank wall – what do you see?


In my case, I’m used to stare to a blank wall or a candle – but I don’t try to empty my mind because this is impossible. I rather try to follow my train of thought on what happens inside of me and I’m not entirely conscious.When I wrote the post on staring at the blank wall, I remember I was trying to think about songs, then about the name of the artist, at the same time I was thinking about of the plumber that had to show up in order to fix something in the house. Then I started to thinking about useless things and then I felt like having a coffee – but I still had two minutes to go. So these two minutes took an eternity and then I tried to make time run faster. This is when I get distracted and think about nothing. Then, all of the sudden, you realize that three minutes of your life have passed.Having said that - meditation is quite interesting. If you do that every day, for only three minutes, if you relax and try to calm yourself by starring at a blank wall or candle, or even closing your eyes and say to yourself “I can spend 10 minutes of my life in silence”

then you will see how things will improve. Because you unconscious mind goes to your conscious mind and somehow you start having intuitions that once were buried and now you can see.

Rainin..

my moment of solitude, this moment of rain,
silence ventriloquist, and the initial aroma,
touches the earth, with love and ardour,
the fragrance that dwells in this divine aqua,

I envisage at the splenduour of God’s envision,
this drizzle, this rejoice, the freshness, the culmination,
frankinsence of love, the ecstasy imprisoned,
soaking in rain, profundity of my imagination,
this night so dark, yet so brilliant, so effulgent,
luminiscent my soul, an emblem of glee,
the trees that embrace, this state of seduction,
the mystical liberty, mythical, the sense to be free,
I am immersed in rain, wash my torments,
falling on my self, playin with the air–fragrant,
wash my sins, subject my sighs to erosion,
erotic prognostication, majestic navigation,


a wolrd of merry, delightful predicitons,
travelling with this rain, to a zone of oblivion,
abone these shrines, this earth, domains of agination,
to a world of joys, radiance, self satisfaction.

(c)

I weep for Mumbai in the wake of the horror, and for Baghdad and Kabul, for Gaza and Jerusalem, for Karachi and Kashmir and Kosovo. Tears fall like rain for Darfur, Burma, North Korea, Tibet, Nigeria, Somalia, Congo, Zimbabwe. Where there is terror, imprisonment, torture, war, murder, genocide, rape, disease, poverty, and famine, how can anyone be at peace in the world?
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.- The Talmud
Perhaps to be just, loving, merciful, generous, kind, and to walk with humility in spirit, is the beginning of the solution, one person at a time, for as long as we are able. Little by little, the enormity of the world’s grief will diminish, and slowly, slowly the spirit of loving-kindness, the spirit of God, will spread and rise in the heart of His creation. This ordinary work may not be completed in our lifetime, or in our children’s or grand-children’s lifetimes, but if we continue to teach the next generation, and they the one after them, to paraphrase Dr. King, justice will indeed flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Imam Shafi' said, "All humans are dead except those who have knowledge ... and all those who have knowledge are asleep, except those who do good deeds ... and those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere ... and those who are sincere are always in a state of worry."


The problems and worries besetting Muslims often seem so enormous, complex and inter-connected that there just does not seem any way out. Solutions offered by experts and well-meaning people seem sketchy or impractical. Still, the range and enormity of our problems is no excuse for inaction. Staying paralyzed is no way to conquer the tall mountain looming ahead. We have to start scaling the mountain the only way we can one step at a time. Every step, however small, however simple, is one step closer to the goal, InshaAllah.What is the one small step we could take to restore faith in the universal principle of justice for all and in creating an environment that not only treats everyone with respect & dignity but offers equal safety and protection? In the aftermath of recent mayhem in US, Afghanistan & the ongoing slaughter in the Occupied Lands of Palestine & Pakistan, these are concerns that mock us, fears that agitate us, despair that threatens us all. One solution, and it is not "the" solution, is small and a simple one, "a heart that feels for all".When the world becomes a seething cauldron of blood and hate, conscientious people must lead the voice of justice and reason and uphold the timeless rule of "speak the truth". This must be done not to demonstrate valor, but as a matter of duty. Our allegiance is only to the One Creator of all, and our duty is to "proclaim the good and forbid the evil". Far from being rewarded for proclaiming good and forbidding evil, one must expect punishments from detentions to life threats. The degenerated culture of double-standards justify baseless accusations and secret detentions to those calling for justice and reason. And when these honorable people are detained or threatened, we again respond with our predictable insouciance and without an outrage. Why? Why cannot we, the so-called enlightened citizens, erect a wall of protest making it impossible for expedient politicians to push through such arbitrary and unjust laws? The way politicians today blatantly use and abuse the constituents as lackeys is appalling. Even worse is the brazen impunity with which the injustices are done and without any accountability. If citizens do not band themselves into vigorous, active lobbies to stop such offensive actions of the political establishment, legal bandits also known as armed agents will be at your doorstep soon.The biggest mistake is to assume bad things happen to other people in other places. If this curse is not stopped today, tomorrow it will be stones smashing through your window, your daughter's being handcuffed or shot at and your son being bulldozed alive. There will not be a Suraida Saleh or a Mohammad Durra (may their souls rest in peace) to save you because when they were being kicked out and shot at, you did nothing.Humanity's greatest strength is that despite much that goes wrong in the world, the glimmers of hope lies in your action and not in-action!

May Allah fill our hearts with the Nur of Muhammad(SAW)