Too Small, I Tell Myself

Sometimes this life seems too small 

To make all the voyages you want to make

To build all the bridges you want to build

To travel all the seas you want to travel
To say all the words you want to say

To fight all the demons you want to slay 

Sometimes this life seems too small

To dream all the dreams you want to dream

...

This life, in fact, is too small

I tell myself.

Only like a single grain of sand,

In which reflects the entire Sahara!

- leenah.

Life Of a Crystal

In a crystal we have the clear evidence of the existence of a formative life-principle, and though we cannot understand the life of a crystal, it is none the less a living being.

- Nikola Tesla

Reality is just that. Irrespective of our perceptions, our opinions and our understanding of it, reality prospers and flourishes.
The only bit of triumph we can achieve is in watchfulness of our intentions, of our will to understand...

Rest is,
!مالک دا کم پھل پُھل لانا، لاوے یا نہ لاوے

Untitled

GUEST BLOG POST 

This Guy’s Wife Got Cancer, So He Did Something Unforgettable, The Last 3 Photos Destroyed Me.

The first time photographer Angelo Merendino met Jennifer, he knew she was the one. They fell in love and got married in New York’s Central Park, surrounded by family, friends, and loved ones.

Five months later Jen was diagnosed with breast cancer. From Angelo’s blog: “I remember the exact moment…Jen’s voice and the numb feeling that enveloped me. That feeling has never left. I’ll also never forget how we looked into each other’s eyes and held each other’s hands. ‘We are together, we’ll be OK.’”

Throughout her battle, Angelo decided to photograph it. He wanted to humanize the face of cancer on the face of his wife. The photos speak for themselves.

Angelo and Jennifer’s story is tragic, but it’s in the face of a tragedy such as this that we rise above.

In Angelo’s case, he has started an organization to help women with their financial struggles during their trials with breast cancer.

Photo Credits: Angelo Merendino

Sourced via: http://beyondblindfold.com

Black Hole To Golden Sun

Have you seen how a stringed instrument is played? 
Strings are plucked and they vibrate, resonating, producing sound waves - a form of energy. These sound waves have the power over how we feel. Music is this powerful a tool because of the energy that travels to and interacts with us.
Imagine how energy within our thoughts impacts us!

There were some tough moments yesterday. Despite having an exhaustive day, I laid awake at night thinking about the bitterness of the day. And suddenly, as if touched by it, I realized the energy I was radiating ... it was black. I was brooding over negativity. I was letting something not me alter my system, affect my energy.

The sensation hit like a bolt of current. And I'm glad it did. I was able to direct my thought stream into a more positive direction ... thinking of how some value could be added to the coming days.

We are our thoughts. When we think negative, that negativity is what we choose to make the focus of our lens. With our focus we magnify the gloomy thought into a gloomy universe, a universe that encompasses us completely.

Shift of thought brings shift of energy.

I am glad yesterday happened. :)

Kaho Tou Raaz-e Hayat Keh Doon?

Ghunghat kay pat khol ri,

tohay Piya milain gay!

More ...

I want to see you.

Know your voice.

Recognize you when you

first come 'round the corner.

Sense your scent when I come

into a room you've just left.

Know the lift of your heel,

the glide of your foot.

Become familiar with the way

you purse your lips

then let them part,

just the slightest bit,

when I lean in to your space

and kiss you.

I want to know the joy

of how you whisper

"more."

- Rumi

Because Love Is Ether

And that's how Poe talked about Lee:

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me

- Edgar Allan Poe

When In Fields Of Mimosa And Poppy

When I love
I feel that I am the king of time
I possess the earth and everything on it
and ride into the sun upon my horse.

When I love
I become liquid light
invisible to the eye
and the poems in my notebooks
become fields of mimosa and poppy.

When I love
the water gushes from my fingers
grass grows on my tongue
when I love
I become time outside all time.

When I love a woman
all the trees
run barefoot toward me…

- Nizar Qabbani

Of Ruined City And The Architect

Today is 806th birthday of the master we recognize as Rumi.
I, for one, am deeply in love with the Architect for having created a city that had ruins like Rumi.
You're most welcome to explore through seventy other Rumi posts spread across the blog via this link: Rumi posts

To mark the special occasion, sharing with you one of his poems, a personal favourite of mine: بیا بیا که نیابی

بیا بیا که نیابی چو ما دگر یاری

چو ما به هر دو جهان خود کجاست دلداری

 

بیا بیا و به هر سوی روزگار مبر

که نیست نقد تو را پیش غیر بازاری

 

تو همچو وادی خشکی و ما چو بارانی

تو همچو شهر خرابی و ما چو معماری

 

به غیر خدمت ما که مشارق شادیست

ندید خلق و نبیند ز شادی آثاری

 

هزار صورت جنبان به خواب می‌بینی

چو خواب رفت نبینی ز خلق دیاری

 

ببند چشم خر و برگشای چشم خرد

که نفس همچو خر افتاد و حرص افساری

 

ز باغ عشق طلب کن عقیده شیرین

که طبع سرکه فروشست و غوره افشاری

 

بیا به جانب دارالشفای خالق خویش

کز آن طبیب ندارد گریز بیماری

 

جهان مثال تن بی‌سرست بی‌آن شاه

بپیچ گرد چنان سر مثال دستاری

 

اگر سیاه نه‌ای آینه مده از دست

که روح آینه توست و جسم زنگاری

 

کجاست تاجر مسعود مشتری طالع

که گرمدار منش باشم و خریداری

 

بیا و فکرت من کن که فکرتت دادم

چو لعل می‌خری از کان من بخر باری

 

به پای جانب آن کس برو که پایت داد

بدو نگر به دو دیده که داد دیداری

 

دو کف به شادی او زن که کف ز بحر ویست

که نیست شادی او را غمی و تیماری

 

تو بی‌ز گوش شنو بی‌زبان بگو با او

که نیست گفت زبان بی‌خلاف و آزاری


Come, come, for you will not find another friend like Me.
Where indeed is a Beloved like Me in all the world? 

Come, come, and do not spend your life in wandering to and fro,
Since there is no market elsewhere for your money. 

You are as a dry valley and I as the rain,
You are as a ruined city and I as the Architect.

Except My service, which is joy's sunrise,
Man never has felt and never will feel an impression of joy.

You behold in dreams a thousand moving shapes;
When the dream is past you do not see a single one of the kind.

Close the eye that sees falsely and open the intellectual eye,
For the senses resemble an' ass, and evil desire is the halter. 

Seek sweet syrup in the garden of Love,
For Nature is a seller of vinegar and a crusher of unripened grapes. 

Come to the hospital of your own Creator:
No sick man can dispense with that Physician. 

The world without that King is like a headless body:
Fold yourself, turban-wise, round such a head. 

Unless you are black, do not let the mirror go from your hand:
The soul is your mirror, while the body is rust. 

Where is the fortunate merchant, whose destiny Jupiter controls,
That I may eagerly trade with him and buy his wares? 

Come, and think of Me who gave you the faculty of thought,
Since from My mine you may purchase an ass-load of rubies. 

Come, advance towards Him who gave you a foot,
Look with all your eyes on Him who gave you all eye. 

Clap your hands for joy of Him, by whose see the hand (foam) is produced,
For His joy admits no sorrow nor affliction. 

Listen without ears, speak to Him without tongue,
Since the speech of the tongue is not without offence and injury.

- Rumi in Deewan-e Shams

Translation via web.

Of The Shards

Un chund barson ka only real damage ye hai kay aitbaar uth gaya hai insan kay Rab kay sath ikhlaas par say.

Insan ki bisaat hi kia kay wo kisi doosray insan say mohabbat kar paey.
Khas kar dara hoa, kamzoar insan mohabbat ka bar nahi utha sakta.
Aur phir jab kay mohabbat ka dawa bhi shuro din say conditional ho ... 'haan, mujhay mohabbat hai, jab tak tumhain mujh say mohabbat hai" ... tou mohabbat bechari tou kabhi kisi ginti main aee hi nahi...

Ye tou khud kay liay aglay ki mohabbat ki acknowledgement receipt hai. Hai na?


Nuqsaan ye hoa hai kay wahid cheez jis par kisi ka takkya tha, wo uska genuine link with Allah tha.
Kisi nay socha jo banda Allah kay sath genuine ho, uski Primary root sahi hai; secondary automatically sahi hi gi, chahay execution main glitches hon.

Us waqt, har us bar jab secondary root rotten sabit hoti thi, sirf bay-yaqeeni ghairti thi ... Primary kay theek hotay hoay secondary rotten kesay hai?

Phir ahista ahista wazeefon, aanso'on, murshidoN, tasbeehoN walay logon ka modus operand samjh aya  .... :)
Par tab tak dair ho gai thi.

Bohat say loag baghair support kay nahi chal patay.
Chahay school ho, ya ghar, professional life, ya social gatherings. They need a crutch to lean on.
Raat ko darnay walay bachon kay liay baazo'on main daba teddy bear jesay.

Allah, bohat saray loagon kay liay aisee hi aik lollipop hai.
Jab aur koi crutch na mil rahi ho, tou association with Allah ko apna teddy bear bana lo!
Nahi, associate with Allah nahi hona. Association-with-Allah ka teddy bear baazo'on main dabana hai. Jesay kai loag Mont Blanc ka pen apnay pass rakhtay hain.
Its a statement of association. Bus.

Its not Association. It is merely a pronouncement of it.

Like wedding vows are for some.


Jis din ye samjh aya, saray shikway khatum ho gaey.Haan ... wazeefon, aanso'on, murshidoN, tasbeehoN par say yaqeen bhi khatam ho gaya.

آج بازار میں

فکر و جزب، سوچ و خیال

بے معنی، بے مصرف وبال

تم دام بتائو جو چاہے ہو

جو مال بکائو، وہ لائے ہو؟

- leenah.

Why Must You Join Rahbar?

A Rahbar fellow, Zuhaib Sheikh explains why must we need to be a part of the TCF Rahbar program.
Its not only his words, but also the life pulsating through the accompanying images that makes one a believer in the spirit of Rahbar.

I'm thankful to Karim Jindani for sharing this with us at twitter.

گدگداتی آنکھوں کے

جگمگاتے پردے پر

خواب پروئے تتلی کے

رنگوں جیسے کچے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

ناخدا جو مل جائے، 

پھر یقینی ساحل ہے 

اک ذرا افزائش ہو 

دیکھ کمر کیا کستے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

چاند ستارے ہوں تسخیر

سوچ کے پنکھ جو مل جائیں

خواب اڑانوں کے پرزور

اور ارادے سچے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

دوستی محبت کی

ایک چھٹانک بانٹو  تو

چاہتوں کے موتی یہ

بھر نچھاور کرتے ہیں

  یہ بچے میرے بچے ہیں

If it touches your heart in any way, please be a part of it. Be a part of Rahbar! 

It's just a click away: TCF - Rahbar 

Rahbar can be so much more with your inclusion! 

More About Rahbar

Having first shared the per-requisites of being a Rahbar (here), here's sharing with you the Rahbar JD - as simple as it gets. 

Isn't #Rahbar more about your personal spiritual beauty regimen! 
Hai na? :) 

... To A Person I'm Proud of

This is an ode. 

An ode to the journey of a life. Of love. Of faith.

With the dawn of a new year in your life, turn back and look at all those years gone by. Look at the warrior who has travelled through all these years.

Look at the scars and the wounds. Look at its sun burned cheeks.

Look at all those battles that live in the warrior's being.

Take a good look.

Seen?

Now look into the warrior's eyes. The eyes whose brilliance is brighter than that of the noon sun.

Look at the warrior's shoulder, that despite all the burden they've towed through the years, refuse to bend their straight posture.

Look into the warrior's heart!

This is where the oozing zam-zam of strength is. This is where the faith is born and nurtured.

You've studied physics.

In physics they teach you about potential energy - the energy stored in an object by virtue of its position: Apply force on a spring, cramp it and it would become a store room of energy, ready to pounce.

A warrior's heart works just like that.

The more it takes the beatings, the more strong it becomes. The more faith flourishes.

And with the insurmountable faith, the warrior sets out to travel even more oceans, win more battles.

Take again a good look at the warrior's heart.

Take a good look.

Through all these years, while the warrior endured the sun, and the heat, and the scars, the heart has continued to be the abode where The Lord resides.

And this is what makes all these years a statement of gratitude. Alhamdolillah.

May there be many many many more years, and many more victories for my beloved warrior.

May there be a win at the end of every fight you come across in life!

May you be grateful to be the warrior that you have grown to be, my love!

This is an ode to the second most beautiful warrior in my life!

Happy birthday!

Love,

leenah.

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12th September is the day of Birthday greetings for someone who is my love and makes me proud. Bohat sara! :)

Silver And Wine Mingle

Between us

twenty years of age

between your lips and my lips

when they meet and stay

the years collapse

the glass of a whole life shatters.

The day I met you I tore up

all my maps

and my prophecies

like an Arab stallion I smelled the rain

of you

before it wet me

heard the pulse of your voice

before you spoke

undid your hair with my hands

before you had braided it

There is nothing I can do

nothing you can do

what can the wound do

with the knife on the way to it?

Your eyes are like a night of rain

in which ships are sinking

and all I wrote is forgotten

In mirrors there is no memory.

God how is it that we surrender

to love giving it the keys to our city

carrying candles to it and incense

falling down at its feet asking

to be forgiven

Why do we look for it and endure

all that it does to us

all that it does to us?

Woman in whose voice

silver and wine mingle

in the rains

From the mirrors of your knees

the day begins its journey

life puts out to sea

I knew when I said

I love you

that I was inventing a new alphabet

for a city where no one could read

that I was saying my poems

in an empty theater

and pouring my wine

for those who could not

taste it.

When God gave you to me

I felt that He had loaded

everything my way

and unsaid all His sacred books.

Who are you

woman entering my life like a dagger

mild as the eyes of a rabbit

soft as the skin of a plum

pure as strings of jasmine

innocent as children's bibs

and devouring like words?

Your love threw me down

in a land of wonder

it ambushed me like the scent

of a woman stepping into an elevator

it surprised me

in a coffee bar

sitting over a poem

I forgot the poem

It surprised me

reading the lines in my palm

I forgot my palm

It dropped on me like a blind deaf

wildfowl

its feathers became tangled with mine

its cries were twisted with mine

It surprised me

as I sat on my suitcase

waiting for the train of days

I forgot the days

I traveled with you

to the land of wonder

Your image is engraved

on the face of my watch

It is engraved on each of the hands

It is etched on the weeks

months years

My time is no longer mine

it is you 

Nizar Qabbani

Rahbar Material

Whenever seeking people out to be a part of Rahbar - TCF's volunteer based mentoring initiative (https://www.facebook.com/TCF.Volunteer.Programmes/) - one of the most common barriers faced is the misconception that the guides/mentors (Rahbars, as we call them) have to be some super human, oh-out-of-this-world individuals!

The fact of the matter is, there is nothing farther from truth than this notion.  

Think of RAHBAR not as a mythical character from a hollywood flick who needs to have every possible achievement in his(/her) bag of goodies, but as earthly an individual as any (wo/)man of clay is made of. 

#Rahbar is someone

• who has seen failure,
• has an idea of how bitter disappointment tastes,
• has gone through ups and down
• YET
• has chosen to keep marching
• and is eager to take other people along as well

Do you see the picture? Mr. Incredible Hulk and Mr. Batman may very well not forward applications, thank you.

So, to help overcome the limiting fence of self doubt, here is a list of questions I thought I could put forward. Following is a set of a few YES/NO answer questions to let you see for your self if you maybe ignoring the Rahbar within you to come out ... Don't rush to reply, you yourself are the jury and the time-keeper.

Be kind to yourself in time-keeping and be honest in judging. :)

Here we go! 

1. My recipe of life includes my family as a basic ingredient. Yes or No?
2. Saying 'sorry' at the end of a conflict is a near death experience for me. Yes or No?
3. Life is an avalanche and not a D.I.Y (do it yourself) project. Yes or No?
4. My usual set of adjectives in everyday lingo is positive (wow... amazing ... wonderful ... etc etc). Yes or No?
5. The most important things in my life are objects. Yes or No?
6. I can't always be the best but I try my best not to cheat (people, emotions, laws, promises, etc.). Yes or No?
7. I think my individual contribution can play a role in shaping up the destiny. Yes or No?
8. I think that as a person, I've grown mature from where I was ten years ago. Yes or No?
9. I'd rather describe myself as a grateful person than a dissatisfied person. Yes or No?
10. I'd like me if I met me. Yes or No?

Now, as you score yourself let me share with you the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScWSLU50ktTsgg7zn8fMELPzRIbHk8acI152QxdFNZOlTdyEQ/viewform

Another Rahbar session is initiating this October, please fill in the form if the Rahbar in you wants to be a part of it! :)