2014: Make it Good

Welcome 2014

There isn't much difference between 23.59, December 31st and 00.00, January 1st. I stopped up last night (typical) and ushered in the New Year. It was a quiet affair, at home reflecting on the celebrations being broadcast from around the world. I can't say I felt different from one year to the next.

This past year gone has been a work hard year. I'm reaching that stage in life where I know that I am caught between personal ambition and responsibilities. The latter appears to dominate and one of the reasons I appear to have opted for regularity is because the external pressures around me have grown. Responsbilities to others I believe in, to a point. but an honest confession would be that the head and the heart conflict on this matter, so I wonder what the future holds. As I get older I know that there are fewer opportunties, but ultimately we restrict ourselves don't we? 

We are just microspecs in the universe and yet we are still surrounded by too much conflict in the world around us and in our personal lives. Hope remains my favourite word because it allows our dreams and motivations to thrive, and prayers are made to Allah Almighty. 

Where we are responsible for controlling the events in our own lives, I want to begin 2014 with one simple thought. 

Make it good.

ستا په مخ - د رحمان بابا کلام

  ستا په مخ - د رحمان بابا کلام

I believe that a timely reminder is due and so I share a rendition of Sta Pa Makh from the works of Rahman Baba. I love the haunting beauty of the words that reminds us how we are but tiny specks before Allah. Rahman Baba's words never cease to amaze.

Tor_Khan تور خان

Beloved Allah

Beloved Lord, Almighty Allah
Aside from Whom there is nothing else
Please help us
To love Thee more.
Teach us to realize
That the sole purpose of Love is Beauty.
Bring us to know Thee as Thou art

And to find Thee in the one place
That is big enough to contain Thee
The hearth of Perfect Man.


Ameen.

Rumi

A Tale of Three Apartments

... Actually, a Tale of Four

A week ago, I lived in the high rise towers looking over the busy commercial heart of Abu Dhabi around Airport Road and the area known as Madinat Zayed. For a few years now, it has been home, but I've always been aware of the transience of living in a place like this. Enjoy the sun, the little perks, soak up the culture, walk safe and so on. Avoid growing roots - that's the nature of change in the Khaleej - a basic reminder, I give to myself. 

I've had many visitors over my time here; people who have come especially to stay and have always had room to keep them comfortable. This year - with my family and I shuttling between continents, I've been equally lucky to have had staying visitors most weekends throughout the year. Melmastiya, is a Pashtoon duty and one, that on most occasions has been an honour rather than a duty.

My work has been a drain at times and balancing things has been testing. Still Allah is Merciful and I ask only for patience, faith and the will. Then, my company decides to move me and this accelerates my desire to move on. It was fated to happen.

To be honest, I resisted being moved, but in the end lease contracts on my apartment ended and I was obliged to move.

So, I end up in this apartment on the other side of town, just weeks before my contract closes. This is not intended to be a home, just a place to rest my head whilst I work on my dissertation and see my contract out. I move in and within a day, I suspect some kind of infestation in the kitchen. I have insect bites at night and I request a visit from Pest Control. They tell me cockroaches, and after they leave, there are many dead ones in the kitchen and they are now in the bedroom on the bed. 

I walk out of the apartment and decide that I will not stay in there and I check into a hotel apartment studio suite. Very nice; very clean and I get my first good nights sleep in days. I call the company and tell them I will not go into work and I will not return to the apartment. They move me into a cleaner unit but I spend the day off work cleaning, scrubbing and yes, getting rid of the cockroaches that had crept into my boxes.

So here, I am. Four Apartments in one week.

Counting down the days.

Coffee Shop Farewell

About a week ago, I sat alone in an Abu Dhabi coffee shop and looked through the tinted/frosted window. I took a photograph. Those who know me, and those who can guess, will know why. In my own mind, I just wanted to capture the moment.

 

Today, I sit amidst boxes - in a more or less dismantled room and on the move once more. It's been an incredible journey. I have learned a lot and known some wonderful people. The experience has been great and I am richer, more informed and InshAllah, more thoughtful as a result. It is not without regrets, some sadness and the usual worries about the unknown, but I am thankful. Allah has a plan and with Allah rests our fate.

Infinity and Beyond

Not that we don't deserve it from time to time, but sometimes we need a little perspective on the grandeur we attach to ourselves. I've always been interested in space and beyond - and it serves as a reminder of the magnanimity of an impressive Universe  that Allah has bestowed upon us. 

We are but tiny, tiny specks in the cosmos. There are times though, when perhaps many of us forget and get caught up in our own emotions. I, for sure, know that I have over-stepped on occasions and have had a cantankerous moment where, no doubt, I may have made out that I was the centre of it all. In reality, it's much different, and here's a film that provides some interesting food for thought:

Ramadan Kareem

May this Ramadan be blessed for all. There are many amongst us who are suffering. May Allah make their days easier and their nights peaceful. Ameen.

خدا حافظ

We make plans, Allah makes plans - and Allah is the best of planners. I came to the end of a particular road yesterday. That is the way it was supposed to be. Beyond this, it's about choices and opportunities. This however, is true of every day as each moment that we live could in effect herald the end and every day that we live presents those very choices and opportunities. May we all remain protected and at peace and under Allah's guidance. Ameen.