God forbid that vice be embraced

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace."
― Alexander Pope

What will happen when there is no one left who would invite to all that is good, enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong (in a wise and respectful way, if I might add)?

God forbid that vice be embraced by all.

The last week

Ya Allaah, in You I put my trust. You know best what is better for me in the long run. I need to learn my limits. I know we learn from mistakes.

Ya Rahman, make me calm and strong in facing these worldly challenges ahead of me.

In the end, what's most important is the purpose of life.

I am capable, insyaAllaah, of switching off. Let this be the last week to go all out for that smaller vision, and leave the results to Allaah SWT. Ya Allaah, make my task easy for me.

Then as for the biggest mission, make me stronger ya Allaah, make it easy for us ya Allah. Accept our good deeds and worship Ya Allaah. And blot out our sins. Aamiin.

Laa hawla wala quwwata illa billaah.

Parkia Speciosa (or better known as Petai)

It (Parkia tree) is beautifully shaped, like a great flat-topped umbrella. It’s leaves are doubly compound, like feathers. It’s bark is smooth but not too smooth, in some species dotted with red. But most glorious of all are the flowers, pompoms of stamens and styles, bright red or pale yellow or bronze depending on species, that hang from on high on long thin threads like Christmas baubles.



The topmost flowers in each inflorescence are sterile, with copious nectar, which begins to flow early in the morning. By mid morning the first flowers begin to open, and all of them are open by mid afternoon. At dusk, the flowers begin to release their pollen. Then the bats come. By morning all nectar has gone, the filaments that bear the anthers have wilted, and the flowers have faded. One of nature’s most glorious shows lasts only one night. Showbiz is not the point. Replication and multiplication is the point. One night is enough.

*Excerpt from The Secret Life Of Trees. LOVE the title.

The soul

Heaven is Real. A Doctor's Experience with the Afterlife. Dr Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon actually.

"It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect."
Az-Zumar 39:42 - Translation of the Qur-an by Yusuf Ali

So, the most amazing thing for him is that, even when his body was not functioning, and his whole brain is totally 'switched off', 'something' was experiencing what he related. It's definitely not the body, neither was it the mind. There can only be one thing left. It's the soul that is experiencing all that. There is a soul. That soul is the real us.

Science intrigues me. Another book I've read explained about our senses, i.e. the mechanics of seeing and hearing, feeling. Seriously it's technical, how light waves and sound waves gets converted into energy and is processed in our brains. The interesting question is, so our body is a tool for our senses - then who are what, is the body processing those information for? Who is the ultimate user of all those information? The answer again is, the soul.

This soul that will be accounted, for all our words, actions and feelings. This soul is an abstract thing. Nobody knows the true nature of a soul. Like is it made of of any matter in this universe? Nobody has actually been able to identify or find a soul physically. So when I say I, I'm actually referring to my soul. This soul that can leave the body or return to the body, by Allah's will. This soul that I believe experience our dreams.

And as for the doctor, and all of us.

And say: “All praise is due to God! In time He will make you see [the truth of] His messages, and then you shall know them [for what they are].” And thy Sustainer is not unmindful of whatever you all may do.
~ An-Naml 27:93 - Translation of the Qur-an by Asad