Some Persian Poetry

Here is some Persian poetry.
Yours truly has not gone trough it but it looks like a good collection.

1

Kaare bagair ishq na daarem dar jahaan

Ishq ast kaare maa va badeen kaar aamdem

I have no mission except Love in this world

My mission is Love and my work is Love

 

2

Aanaa ke khaak raa ba nazar keemiyaa kunand

Aayaa bavad ke goshaye chashme ba maa kunand

Those who can turn dust into gold with a single glance-

Would that they would cast a glance at us!

 

3

Sohbate yak saayate baa auliyaa

Behtar az sad saalaye taayat be riyaa

One moment spent in the company of a man of God

Is better than a hundred years of meditation

 

4

Nami goyam ke az duniyaan judaa baash

Ba har kaare ke baashi ba Khudaa baash

I do not say that you must leave the world

But in every work that you must do, keep God with you

 

5

Kaan raa ke badaadand badaadand badaadand

Vaan raa ke na daadand na daadand na daadand

He, whom He gives, He gives, and He goes on giving

And He, whom He does not give, He never gives

 

6

Khaaham ke na gardam zato gaafil yak dam

Afsos azeen ghaflate har dam, har dam

I had wished that I forget Thee not, even for a single breath-

Alas, I rue now the moments of forgetfulness, with every breath

 

7

Rishtaye dar gardanam afgandaa dost

Mee burad har jaa ke khaatir khaaye dost

My Eternal Friend has put a string around my neck

And leads me wheresoever He wills

 

8

Bishkanad daste ke kham dar khidmate yaare na shud

Kor beh chashme ke lazzatgeer deedaare na shudh

The hands are better broken if they have not been bent to serve the Lord

The eyes are better blind if they have not had the joy of seeing Him

 

9

Andeshaye khaar ast dareen saire gulistaan

Dar khilvate dil gulshane be khaar babeened

There is the fear of thorns while strolling in the gardens of the world,

But in the silence of the heart, you can look upon a garden without thorns

 

10

Dile daaram ke dar vai gham na gunjad

Che jaaye gham ke shaadi ham na gunjad

I have a heart in which there is no sorrow,

Nay, there is no place in it for joy as well

 

11

Behijaabaana daraa az dare kaashaanaye maa

Ke kase nest vajuz darde to dar khaanaye maa

Enter thou within the doors of my dwelling without any hesitation,

For here there is nothing else except a pain for you

 

12

Bahaaye khesh mee daanam ba-neeme jau nami arzad

Agar Maulaa karam saazad bahaaye be-bahaa kar dard

I know my worth, it is not even that of half a mustard seed

But if the Lord showers His Grace, I shall become priceless

 

13

Raihmate Haq bahaa nami joyad

Raihmate Haq bahaanaa mi joyad

The Grace of the Lord does not demand a price

The Grace of the Lord seeks an excuse to come!

 

14

Shaadbaashe ishqe khush saudaaye maa

Vai tabeebe jumlaa illat-haaye maa

O My Love, may thou ever remain happy,

For thou hast healed me of all my infirmities

 

15

Jaane azeez kaabile sozo gudaaz nest

Een rishtaa raa masoz ke chand een daraaz nest

O my dear beloved friend, do not burn it-

For this string of life is not long enough

 

16

Gadaa sultaan shavad gar zaan ke sultaan

Nishaanad bar sareere khud gadaaraa

A beggar cannot become a king, unless the king so wills-

And brings the beggar to the throne himself

 

17

Too az hukame daavar gardan ma pech

Ke gardan na pechaz za hukme to hech

Turn not away from the order of thy Master

And none shall turn away from any order that is thine

 

18

Har kujaa darde davaa aanjaa ravad

Har kujaa pasteest aab aanjaa ravad

Where there is a pain, the medicine must go

And where there is a slope, the water must flow

19

Husne Yusuf dame Eesaa yade Baizaadaari

Annche khooban hamaadaarand to tanhaadaari

The beauty of Yusuf, the breath of Christ, the rod of Moses,

That which each one of them had separately, thou hast with thee, alone

 

20

Deeno duniyaan dar kamande aan pari rukhsaare maa

Har do aalam keemate yak taar mooye yaare maa

This world and the next are in the fold of that fairy faced One

The two worlds together are the price of a single hair of my loved One

 

21

Kaar saaze maa ba fikre kaare maa

Fikre maa dar kaare maa aazaare maa

The doer of my works is worrying over them,

It is only my worrying over them that is the cause of my distress

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22

Naa bazoro naa bazaari naa bazar mi aayad

Khud ba khud aan bute Ayyaar bavad mi aayad

Neither force, nor crying, nor wealth shall cause Him to come

He shall come, all by Himself in silence, like the statue of Ayyaar

 

23

Gadaa kooye turaa maile baadshaahi nest

Havaaye sultanat va zauke kaj kulaahi nest

The beggar of Thy Lane seeks not to become a king,

He cares not for the glory of a kingdom nor the majesty of an awry crown

 

24

Khud makun begaanagi baare choon meedaani ke charkh

Aashanaayaa raa za yak digar judaayi mee dihad

Seek not to separate from one another so soon,

For the rotation of the skies shall surely bring about a separation one day

 

25

Gar che zamaane na bavad guzashto daure rasool

Vali zahoore valaayat dareen zamaanaye maa ast

Though the age of the seers, prophets and messiahs is gone,

The time has come for me to reveal myself in the world

 

26

Har ke khidmat kard o makhdoom shud

Har ke khud raa deed o maadoom shud

He, who is given over to service, becomes a master

But he who looks only to himself becomes non-existent

 

27

Haq jaane jahaan asto jahaan jumlaa badan

Tauheed hameenasto deegar haa hamaafan

The Lord is the life of the Universe and the Universe His body

This alone is truth and the rest is all conjecture

 

28

Na tanhaa ishq az deedaar khezad

Bas aan ki daulat az guftaar khezad

Love does not spring only on seeing

It is that wealth which can be had on hearing as well

 

29

Ai lakaayato javaabe har savaal

Mushkil az to har shavad be keelo kaal

O Thou art a Dictionary with an answer to every question

One which solves all difficulties without asking

 

30

Khaaham ke too paak shavi az jurm

Varnaa bandaa hargiz balaa na farishtam

I had wished that thou be freed of all sin

Otherwise, O man, I would not have sent retribution on thee

 

31

Bani aadam aazaaye yak deegar and

Ke dar aafreenash za yak jauhar and

Man is but a part of man,

For their birth is of one essence

 

32

Har ke az dil khezad

Bar dil rezad

That which comes from the heart-

Must go to the heart

 

33

Khastgaaraa noshdaaru mee diham

Bastgaaraa dar kushaayi mee kunam

To those afflicted, I bring a cure

To those in bondage, I bring freedom

 

34

Bayaa ai shekh dar khumkaanaye maa

Ke sharaabe khur dar kausar na baashad

O Shekh ! Enter thou into my drinking tavern

And drink of that wine not found even in heaven !

 

 

35

Dosh az masjid sooye maikhaana aamad peere maa

Cheest yaaraane tareekat baad azeen tadbeeere maa

Leaving the place of worship, our Master entered a drinking tavern,

O thou orthodox believers, what else could we do but follow him!

 

36

Ai khush aan roz ke aayiyo ba sad naaz aayi

Behijaabaana sooye maifile maa baaz aayi

O what a joyous day it will be when thou shalt come with a hundred glories,

Without any  hesitation, into my dwelling place again

 

37

Mardmaanash az hamaa pakeeza tar

Khoob rooyo, khoob khooyo, khush sear

Those who are the purest of the pure- His lovers,

Have faces that are beautiful, natures that are beautiful, and habits that are beautiful

 

38

Jamaale hamnasheen dar man asar kard

Vagarnaa man hamaa khaakam ke hastam

It is the light of my Eternal Friend that illuminates my existence,

 

39

Baihare yak nazzaaraa bar dare oo

Saal haa saal intazar mee baayad kard

For a single glimpse of Thee at Thy door,

I can wait year after year

 

40

Yak saayate hazooriye oo een chuneen guzasht

Man ijz boodan oo hamaa naazo garoor bood

A single moment before Him passed in such a way

That I was all humility and He was All Glory

 

41

Makaane yaar door az man na par daaram na paa ai dil

Ajab dar mushkil uftaadam chunaan tai saazam een manzil

My Beloved’s house is far away, I have neither wings nor feet, O heart!

It is a strange dilemma this - how can I ever reach my destination ?

 

42

Dostaan raa kujaa kunee maihroom

To ke ba dushmanaa nazar daari

How canst Thou forget Thy friends,

Thou who art even by the side of Thine enemies!

 

43

Shaadbaashe dil ke fardaa bar sare baazaare ishq

Muzdaye katl ast gar che vaadaye deedaar nest

Be happy, O Heart! That tomorrow in the bazaar of Love

There are the tidings of death, though not the promise of union

 

44

Har kamaale ke maasavaaye Haq ast

Dar haqueeqat zavaal mi daanam

Every rise in the world other than towards God,

In reality, I look upon as a downfall

 

45

Baiharest baihare ishq ke hechash kinaaraa nest

Een jaa juz een ke jaan ba supaarand chaaraa nest

The Ocean of Love is an ocean without a shore,

In this place there is no choice but to give up one's life

 

46

Agar dar khaanaa khas ast

Yak harf bas ast

It it enters the realm of the heart

Even one word is but enough

 

47

Khaanaye Saadi choon deedam ba yak mushte khaaro khas ast

Kaarvaane raihravaan raa een kadar manzil bas ast

I saw the house of Saadi- and it was a house of straw and thorns,

"For the caravan of life that goes along the way, this much of a place is enough!"

 

48

Jaan jaanaa rabb de varnaa vistaanad ajal

Khud too munsif baash ai dil, een na ko yaa aan na ko

Give up thy life to thy Beloved otherwise there is death to take it

Be thou thy own judge, O heart, whether to give it here, or to give it there!

 

49

Cheh pursee zaahidaa vakte sharaabam

Pesh az iptadaa man baadaa khaaram

O philosopher, why askest thou me the time of my drinking?

I was drunk even before the dawn of Creation!

 

50

Hargiz na meerad aanke dilash zindaa shud ba ishq

Sab dast bar jareedaye aalam davaame maa

He never dies whose heart lives on in Love

In the office of this world, the seal of immortality shall ever be mine!

 

51

Gar falak kaare turaa barham zanad az jau marau

Jaamaa raa khayyaat kataa baihare dokhtan

If the skies dash thy hopes to pieces, be not distressed

For the tailor cuts the cloth only to sew it

 

52

Kilaafe tareekat bavad auliyaa

Ke tammanaaye az Khudaa juz Khudaa

It is against the nature of holy men

To desire anything from God except God

 

53

Har kaseraa baihare kaare saakhtan

Maile oo dar khaatarash andaakhtan

Every person in the world is meant for some work

And has been endowed with that inclination

 

54

Baa yaar kase dast dar aagosh naa kard

Taa tarke zaro seemo dilo hosh na kard

Thou cannot have the Beloved in thy embrace

Till thou has given up thy gold and silver, thy heart and thy senses

 

55

Kushtgaane khanjare tasleem raa

Har zamaa az gaib jaane deegarast

For those who die willingly on the field of Love,

There comes a new life, every moment, from a direction unknown

 

56

Sar baraihna nestum, daaram kulaahe chaar tark

Tarke duniyaa, tarke ukbaa, tarke maulaa, tarke tark

My head is not uncovered, it has a four-cornered cap (whose corners show)

I have left the world, left salvation, left my God, and left even the notion of leaving!

 

57

Na shagoofaa-am, na samran, na darakhte saayaa daaram

Dar hairatam ke daihkaan cheh kaar kisht maaraa

I am neither a flower, nor a fruit, nor a tree that gives shelter

I wonder for what purpose the Creator has sent me upon earth

58

Agar Firdaus bar rooye zameenasto

Hameenasto, hameenasto, hameenasto!

If on earth there be any Paradise,

It is this, it is this, it is this!

59

Eesaa agar murdaa ba sad duaa zindaa

Sad murdaa kunee zindaa shokh ba dushnaami

If Christ could raise a dead man with a hundred prayers,

My Beloved can raise a hundred dead with a single rebuke!

60

Maa shaakhe bulandem pur az mevaye tauheed

Gar raahguzar sang zanad aar na daarem

I am a tall branch filled with the fruits of Reality

If passers by hurl stones, I am not surprised

61

Murgaane hamaavaaz majmooye azeen gulkhan

Parreeeda badaan gulshan ba gariftaa nasheman haa

Birds of the same voice, living together in the furnace of existence

Fly away at last towards their nest in the garden

 

62

To za kujaa gariftayi ai gule shokh rangoboo

Gar ba chaman na deedayi yaare chaman taraaz raa

From whence hast thou captured this beauteous scent and colour, O Rose,

If thou has not seen the Creator of this garden?

 

63

Bishnau az nai choon hikaayat mee kunad

Vaz judaayi haa shikaayat mee kunad

Ask of the flute the meaning of its cry-

It plays the mournful note of separation

 

64

Hubaabam bar sare aabam za buniyaadam che me pursee

Havaa taa dar sare daaram dareen veeraanaye aabaadam

I am a bubble on the crest of water, ask me not of my foundation,

For as long as there is air within me I am alive in this wilderness

 

64

Bandaaye ishq shudi tarke nasab kun Jaami

Ke dareen raah falaan ibne falaan cheeze nest

When thou hast become a slave of Love, O Jaami, give up the boast of thy birth

For on this path, so and so, the son of so and so, is meaningless

 

65

Maile man sooye visaalo kasde oo sooye firaak

Tarke kaame khud gariftam taa baraayad kaame dost

I desire Union, He desires separation

I give up my desire and am united with my Friend's Will

 

66

Har ke vakte subah dam dar yaade Haq bedaar nest

Oo muhabbat raa che daanand laayake deedar nest

He who thinks not of God early with the first breath of morning

What can he know of Love, when he is not worthy of a glimpse of Him

 

67

Man lazzate darde to ba darmaa na farosham

Kufr sare zulfe to ba eemaan na farosham

I shall not sell the pain for Thee for the sake of medicine

I shall not give up Love's heresy for the sake of belief

 

68

Maraa har zarraa zarraate aalam

Ba to raahe visaal mee numaayad

Every particle of the Universe

Shows to me the way to unite with Thee

69

Havaa maseeh nafas gasht va baad naafaa kushaa

Darakht sabz shudo murg dar kharosh aamad

The air is now invigorating and the breeze scatters scent

The trees are turning green and the nightingales are singing

70

Sarnavishte maa ba daste khud navisht

Khush naveesast oo na khaahad bad navisht

The writer of my destiny is writing with his own hand

His handwriting is so beautiful that he can never write anything unkind

 

71

Insaan ke shikam seri az yak naan ast

Vaz hirso havas shaamo saihar nalaan ast

Man whose stomach is filled with but one piece of bread

Cries day and night in greed and lust

 

72

Bedaar shau az khaab ki een jumlaa khayaalaat

Andar nazare mardame bedaar choo khaabast

Awaken thou from these dreams, for all these thoughts

Are like a dream for one who is awakened

 

73

Ai dil bakooye ishq guzaare nami kunee

Saamaan jamaadaariyo kaare nami kunee

O heart, thou hast wandered not in the lane of Love,

Thou hast collected a lot, but for nothing

74

Ayaan hai jab vo khud hee dareen jaa

To matlab rahaa kyaa hamen nihaan se

When He Himself is revealed in every place

What need have we for One who is hidden

 

75

Azeen masaa-ibe dauraan manaalo, shaadaan baash

Ke teere dost ba paihlooye dost mee baayad

Be not afraid of the troubles of the world- be joyous!

For 'tis the arrow of a friend, coming to the embrace of another friend

76

Ba naame aan ki oo naame nadaarad

Ba har naame ki khwaani sar bar aarad

By what name canst thou call Him--

For He answers to every name that exists!

 

77

Maneh dil bareen daihare naa-paayedaar

Za Saadi hameen yak sukhan yaad daar

Give not thy heart to this perishable world

Remember this one word of advice from Saadi

 

78

Ham Khudaa khwaahi va ham duniyaaye doon

Een khyaalasto mahaalasto janoon

We desire God and we are attached to the world

This thought is farcical, it is that of a madman

 

79

Ai azeez dar khurdi pasti, dar javaani masti, dar peeri susti

Ai madhosh khudaa raa kai parasti

O friend, when a child thou wert too small, when a youth thou wert full of fire, when old thou wert wearied--

O thou lost in forgetfulness! What time didst thou leave for God?

 

80

Az mafaakaate amal gaafil mashau

Gandam az gandam baroyad, jau za jau

Be not ignorant of the fruits of your actions

If thou sow wheat, thou shall reap wheat, and barley shall give barley

 

81

Maa dar che khayaalemo falak dar che khayaal

Kaare ke Khudaa kunad falak raa cheh majaal

I think in one way and the skies in another

But what must be, is God's Will, and the stars can scarce act otherwise

 

82

Baa maute akhtayaari har ke murdaa

Za maidaane haqueeqat goye burdaa

He who dies a willing death

Carries the day on the playground of Reality

 

83

Gar nami khwaahi shavam dil khastagi

Jaaneman! vaakas makun dil bastagi

If thou wish thy heart be never broken,

Then O beloved friend, bind it not to anything

 

84

Anche bar khud na pasandi

Bar deegaraan maa pasandi

That which thou dost not like for thyself

Do not unto others

 

85

Ain hasti khud tooyi pas az to choon munkar shavem

Hujjate hastiye tust een hastiye inkaare maa

Thou art Existence itself, how can we deny Thee?

Our very denial of Thy existence is a proof of Thee!

 

86

Maa em pur gunaah to dariyaaye raihmati

Jaaye ki fazale tust che baashad gunaahe maa

We are full of sin, and Thou art a river of Mercy

Where Thy Kindness prevails our sinfulness canst scarce remain

 

87

Darmiyaane kaare dariyaa takhtaa bandam kar dayee

Baaz mee goyi ke daaman tar makun hoshiyaar baash

In the middle of the river thou hast set me afloat on a plank

And sayest: 'Careful, lest thy clothes get wet'

  

88

Shabe taareeko beeme maujo girdaabe chuneen haayal

Kujaa daanad haale maa subuk saaraane saahil haa

The night is dark, the waves with whirpools threatening

What know they of our plight - those who stand on the shore

 

89

Shabe maahtaabo baade khush labe dariyaa sanam dar bar

Kisaan daanand haale maa gareekaane tammavuj haa

A moonlit night, a wondrous wind, the shore in sight and the Beloved by my side-

How canst they know of my joy, they who drown in the waves!

 

90

Gar javaani taubaa kard

Shevaaye paigambarest

He who knows of repentance in youth

Has the makings of a Prophet

T

 

91

Sarv kadaa chamaan chamaan bar labe joo ravaan ravaan

Farshe rahe to kumriyaan taalaye shaan bapaa kushaa

Tall as the Cyprus tree, walk thou by the side of the stream

Thy floor is the bowed heads of thy lovers whose destiny thou hast unlocked

 

92

Jaame za mai baaki az daste khushe Saaki

Baa kasrate mushtaaki mee joyomo mi raksam

I take the cup of the wine of eternity from the beautiful hands of the Saki

I drink from it and then dance with ecstasy forever

 

93

Raihnavardaane muhabbat raa payaam az maa rasaan

Kaan dareen raah yak kadam az khud guzashtam manzil ast

To those who walk on the path of Divine Love, give this, my message,

That on this path, to put one step further, beyond  one's ego is to reach the destination

 

94

Dauraane baakaa choon baade seharaa biguzasht

Talkheeyo khusheeyo zebo zishto biguzasht

The time of life passed away like the wind over the jungle,

The good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly- all passed away

 

95

Kavi shudem che shud, naatvaan shudem che shud

Chuneen shudem che shud, chunaan shudem che shud

Bahech gunaa dareen gulsitaan karaare nest

To gar bahaar shudi maa khizaan shudem che shud

Thou hast become strong, or thou hast become weak, what then ?

Thou hast become like this, or thou hast become like that, what then ?

No matter how much thou may try, thou cannot stay in this garden of life,

So if thou dost become the Spring, and I, the Autumn, ah, what then ?

 

96

Yaareen beguzeen ke bevafaayi na kunad

Dil khastaa turaa dar aashanaayi na kunad

Paibastaa dar aagoshe kinaarat gardard

Hargiz za to yak gaam judaayi na kunad

Make such a friend who will not betray thee,

Who will not break thy heart in love,

Who will ever be by thy side,

And never be separate from thee even for a single step

 

97

Aitbaare vaadaahaaye mardame duniyaan galat

Haan galat, aare galat, imshab galat, fardaa galat

Nuskhaye beenaayiye deevaane umre maa mapurs

Khud galat, mazmoon galat, inshaa galat, imlaa galat

It is wrong to rely on the promises of worldly men

They are wrong, this night is wrong, tomorrow night is wrong,

Ask not me of the illumination of my life

I am wrong, my spelling wrong, my writing wrong, and my dictation wrong

 

98

Cheest duniyaa sar basar purseedam az farzaanaye

Guft, yaa khaabast, yaa baadast, yaa afsaanaye

Keest aankas ke baro shaidaa shavad jaan mee dehad ?

Guft, yaa dev asto, yaa gool asto, yaa deevaanaye

‘What is this world in all its fullness?’ I asked a wise man,

He replied: ‘It is either like a dream, or like the wind, or like a story!’

‘Who would wish to stake his life on such a world?’

He replied: ‘Either a ghost, or a will-o-the-wisp, or a madman!’

 

99

Baaz aamdam baaz aamdam

Taa vakt raa maimoo kunam

Baaz aamdam baaz aamdam

Taa darde dil afzoon kunam

I have come again, I have come again

To make the times a-glorious

I have come again, I have come again

To increase the pain of love in the hearts

I have come again, I have come again

 

100

Pas az man shere man khaanando mi goyando dar yaa band

Jahaane raa deegar gun kard yak marde khud aagaahe

After I am gone, they shall read my verse and think of the being who came into their midst,

Who knew of himself, and who changed the world and left

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Source: ReoCities

Most Successful Life

Whose life is most successful?

As Muslims we do have an answer that is universal.
Beloved Prophet (PBUH)'s life is most successful.

Reward for a believers success is Jannah.
In this world he is guaranteed only bare minimum sustenance.

And hence when beloved Prophet (PBUH)'s mission is complete the intructions to him are rather crisp, carrying almost military like precision, understated but very decisive.

"When comes God's help, and victory, and people are entering the religion of of God in gusts then sing the praises of your Lord. And ask for forgiveness for He is surely accepts repentance."

This is Surah Nasr from the Noble Qur'an.

There might be Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in this world.
There might be Warren Buffets and Birlas.
There might be mighty generals and sport stars.
There might be big politicians and respectable statesmen.
There might be Einsteins and Newtons.
There might be great nations and huge empires.
There might be magnificent cultures and enchanting civilizations.
But none of them have the durability and assurance that is found in the life of beloved Prophet (PBUH).

That life has it all that we should look forward to.

May Allah (SWT) give us the ability, capability, capacity and opportunity to emulate that life.

Without Comment

Here is a quotation from a report in left leaning Israeli daily the Haaretz:

To some extent Jews got involved in Bollywood, or Indian cinema as it was then known, through a quirk of cultural circumstance. When Indian cinema began, it was taboo for Hindu and Islamic women to appear onscreen, so initially female roles were played by men, in the style of Shakespeare or Monty Python! However, the Jewish community was more liberal and progressive and they were prepared to take these role[s]. The fact that they had lighter skin made them all the more suited for celluloid.

These communities had very different values. Jewish women worked on other professions that at the time Hindu and Islamic women shunned, like being telephone operators. The Jews did not regard it as dirty and neither did the viewing public, who adored these stars.

Falling in Love Again

Yours truly had written about falling in love with various Elders of Islamic tradition.

Name of Pir Zulfiqar Ahmed Naqshbandi Sahab (DB) should be included in the same list.

And since yesterday Dr Israr Ahmed too has joined the ranks of the people whom yours truly has fallen in love with.

Yours truly was already impressed with the late scholar.
Falling in love is a step beyond being impressed.

Yours truly is impressed with a lot of scientists but is unlikely to fall in love with them. Latter act is reserved for the people of Allah (SWT).

Some one might interject that at this speed yours truly might end up in falling in love with Islam itself. And then Rasoolallah (SAW) and then Allah (SWT).

Well that is already done, by the Grace of Allah (SWT).
Of course an increment in that is expected.

And all thanks are due to Allah (SWT) for all these blessings.

And then I invite all Muslims to fall in love with all with whom yours truly has fallen in love with.

Price of Indiscretion

What is the price of indiscretion?

In case of Tarun Tejpal it might be career.

Looking at his record, we mean the sting operations, there might be a very natural reaction that he had it coming.

This distracts us from a serious concern.
Should a discretion cost a person his career?
Even in Saudia they give a person three chances before chopping the hand of a thief.

Yours truly is not conservative about it and is open to discussion on this matter related to coming down with a hammer on a person indulging in indiscretion.

The whole way of life espoused by people like Tejpal stinks.
But that too is a distraction.

Yours truly remembers Delhi police dealing with eve teasers in the following way. They will simply threat to inform the family of the perpetrator.
This would be very numbing for the person - the fear of shame in immediate family.

In order to protect our society from the social and psychological damage all precautions should be taken before we destroy the career of a man.

Blessing of Islam

For a person there is no blessing better than the blessing of Islam.

Many impressive blessings of Allah (SWT) are scattered around us.

People are awed by the military might of the US.

Economic grit of Japan is impressive for anyone.

Chinese economic upturn is in the same league.

World sports are simply awesome.

And then there are many more impressive worldly things around.

But the blessing of the faith of Islam is a different thing altogether.

I you have it then the rest of the fire works of the world are very evanescent.

Transcendental Islam

Why do the teachings of beloved Prophet (PBUH) transcend all that we see around us?

Many would disagree with the premise behind the query.
But their objections are merely the manifestation of the sickness of the present times.

Islam does transcend all that we see around us.

When Allah (SWT) chooses some one to draw him towards Him then He (SWT) creates situations where the person is induced to search for the meaning of life.
And when he searches earnestly then he is given a glimpse into the reality behind the facade of this world.

It does not matter that Islam is not the biggest military power today.
It does not matter that that Muslims do not control the power structure of the most powerful nation on the world.
It does not matter that Muslims do not control the finance, business or the economy of the world.
It does not matter that Islam is the most reviled religion today.
Islam transcends the reality around us.

We shall suffice with one evidence.
The most difficult problem to solve in real life is the one society has degenerated in some way.
An example is that of mutual feuds of Arab tribes.
An enmity started by most flimsy cause could drag for centuries.
And beloved Prophet (SAW) did bring that silliness to stand still.
Do we have any other such example?

And that was only one example.

Regeneration of a decayed society is an uphill task. Islam did the miracle.

Other stories of success, mind boggling as they might be, fall much short on the standards set by Islam.

Shashi Tharoor and the Death of Sunanda Pushkar

Death is a solemn, sad and humbling occasion.

Death is not a glamour event. Or a juicy event.

Unfortunately the vibes we are getting at the death of Sunanda Pushkar are in the vein of yet another socialite gig.

Normality of life events stands completely compromised.

We, for sure, have done something wrong to our life style.

Femininity has become a card to be used.

Privacy has become another card to be openly flaunted.

But why should a Muslim be interested or concerned with this unfortunate turn of events?

Well one kosher reason is that one should be aware of one's surroundings.

After that one can ask a question.
Suppose both of these spouses were Muslims?

By the Grace of Allah (SWT) Sunanda Pushkar was not a Muslim nor is Shashi Tharoor.

We know Tharoor because of his endearing writings in the Times of India during his UN stint and later on his political career.

And then we know of Sunanda Pushkar because of him.

For a Muslim multiple marriage, even at the same time, will not be news that is one would emphasize too much.

Tharoor-Pushkar marriage was a social entertainment event.
Perhaps that too would not be problem because marriage is indeed a celebration.

But the show-off part of that marriage will seriously fall into a category of questionable acts.

They did indulge in show-off.
We hear that she took excessive dose of anti-depressant drugs and that is what killed her.

This is a strange amalgam of elements - to take anti-depressants and to show off.


A person ending with anti-depressants is a bad news.
It indicates an ailment. Physical ailment entailing emotional and spiritual sickness.
To show off too is a spiritual ailment.

And now that she is dead the public interest in the event is yet another collective ailment.

We have made an a spectacle of our life.

Personal things should be left private.

The Mehar Tarar angle too is debauch.

For one why should a Muslim woman, as this Pakistani in all probability is, be romancing publicly? Or even privately? Irrespective of the light of her eyes being a Muslim or not.

Society is so much against two or more wives. On part of Muslims it amounts to a mockery of Islam.

But luckily we are not talking about a Muslim couple and at the moment this amount of musing is sufficient in this case.

Except for one point. We Muslims of India did not bother to call them to Islam when we could.
Can we at least make a suggestion to Shashi Tharoor now?

If You are a Muslim You Don't Know Nothing

A selection committee is in progress for the department that yours truly works in.

Yours truly is not a candidate for promotion in the said selection committee.

Things worked out that way only.

But even yours truly was wondering why Allah (SWT) so trnformed the things that yours truly did nothing to appear before the committee.

Now yours true knows why.

Yours truly sports a Sherwani and a beard. Muslim like.

And then there are people who think that Muslims know nothing.

One such person is sitting in the committee right now. He, being what yours truly terms a residual communist, would most certainly take the biased view.

Thus Allah (SWT) saved yours truly the trouble of tackling a begot.

Not that yours truly minds sending them spiraling down. There is no sight prettier than that of an enemy of Lord Most High going glug, glug, glug.

Ghazals by Shabab Meerathi - 1

Yours truly intends to talk about some Ghazals by a new friend from Meerut.
Kindly wait for transliteration, translation as well as commentary.

मुझे क्या ख़बर मिरे सामने तिरी चांदनी की शराब है
मिरी आँखों पर बड़ी देर से घने आंसुओं का नक़ाब है

मिरे दिल में टीस उठी अगर कभी दश्त में तो समझ गया
कहीं दूर दर्द की छांव में तिरी उँगलियों में रबाब है

तू महक गया मैं बहक गया तू संवर गया मैं बिखर गया
तिरी हर अदा के हिसाब से मिरे पास तेरा जवाब है

वही रौशनी की चमक-दमक हमें खींच लायी क़दम-क़दम
जहां तिश्नगी का पड़ाव है जहां तेरा मेरा सराब है

मिरी ज़िन्दगी मुझे नफ़रतों का अजीब ज़ह्र पिला गयी
मिरी नींद भी है तबाहकुन मिरा जागना भी ख़राब है

जो तिरे लिये ही जहान से तिरे साथ-साथ न लड़ सके
उसे अपने दिल से निकल दे वो रिवायतों की किताब है

ये सितम से लड़ने का दौर है ज़रा आग भर ले ज़बान में
वहां रौशनी की ग़ज़ल सुना जहां ज़ुल्मतों पे शबाब है

ज़रा मेरी आंखों में झांकिये जहां नींद भर के चले गये
इन्हीं पत्थरों पे खुदा हुआ मिरा इक हसीन सा ख़ाब है

कभी गिर पड़े कभी उठ गये कभी चल दिये कभी रुक गये
तू बिछड़ गया है तो ज़िंदगी भी सफ़र नहीं है अज़ाब है

 दिनेश कुमार स्वामी ‘शबाब’ मेरठी

Source : Lafz Group

I am Afraid of China

There is a book by Col Bhaskar Sarkar: Who is Afraid of China? I Am.

I too am scared of China.

Indeed China can do no harm to us without the permission of God Most High.
And God Most High has made this world a place we have to adopt our own means to defend ourselves.

Defending India from China is our Achilles heel.
Late Rajiv Ghandi had remarked that if Pakistan messes up with us then we shall make it remember maternal grandmother - a Hindi-Urdu phrase conjuring images of distress.

Indians usually dabble in that fancy, ignoring a stark reality across the northern border. The increasing and increasing military might of China is no different from the presence of an elephant in the drawing that everyone connives to ignore.

And we Muslims of India simply do not talk about it at all. It is taken by us as an Indian problem. As is Indian problems have nothing to do with us.

Have you heard Syed Shahabuddin talking about it? Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Hind? Jama-at-e-Islami? Aziz Burney? Azam Khan? Asaduddin Owaisi?

No.

And then we complain that we are given a second class citizen treatment in our own country.

Subconscious Mind in Action : A Strange Episode

Yours truly was traveling by car.
Something written at the back of the vehicle ahead of us sent a chill down the spine.
Yours truly could not check the words because a third vehicle has come in between.
Soon the traffic dynamics exposed the same text again.
Now yours truly read the word. It said : Narwari.
It was the name of some place.
There is a hidden meaning in the text.
Replace the word by Narbali and the meaning comes to the fore.
Narwari means sacrifice the man.
Narbali means human sacrifice.
There you have the meaning in its stark form.

It is amazing how our subconscious is a few steps ahead of us.

It took a thorough look at the word and a processing of the meaning to reach the same conclusion that our subconscious can reach nearly instantaneously.

PS: Are the people at the said place so stupid that they have not thought of changing the hideous name? Yours truly can think of another scenario. Initially they were too shocked to change it and now they have forgotten the implication of the name and thus live with the constant curse of a dubious name. May Allah (SWT) protect all the believers from ambiguous punishment.

What I Told Them

The attendance was not full.

Hence I did not present any additional technical details.

In earlier years I would do the opposite.

Then I told them not to take burden beyond their respective capacities.

If God has not made them responsible beyond their capacity then men can not do the same.

I also told them that it is all right to be not an engineer.

Engineers are the most boring people around.

No offense to you dear engineers - make yourself interesting for us if you still take notice.

And then I told them that it is not such a bad thing if you are not doctors, physicians. Why do you want to be a person who has to deal in diseases all his or her life?

And Then I Fell In Love

So what is wrong with that?
Am I not allowed to fall in love?

Maulana Aashiq Ilahi Bulandshahri (RA)'s book What Happens After Death ? is amongst first books this sinner had read.
It was the original Urdu version.
The book has four parts containing the descriptions of death, the Judgment day, hell and heaven.
Late Maulana made the matters both stark as well as extremely easy to digest.
Not a small achievement in these days when religion looks darn difficult.

And that is why this sinner fell in love with late Maulana.
The book looks like as if it was written centuries ago.
It was surprising to know that Maulana died very recently in Madinah.

The same falling in love episode was repeated when yours truly read the description of Hazrat Hasan Basri (RA)'s life in Ali Miyan (RA)'s book The Saviors of Islamic Spirit, first volume.

And the same happened again when Imam Ghazali (RA)'s life was described in the same volume.

And the falling in love, intense love, happened again in case of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilan (RA). And Nuruddin Zangi (RA) and Salahuddin Ayyubi (RA).

When this sinner blabbered this all to a colleague he remarked that I have no standards.

Yours truly would like to beg to differ.

Later on I may not fall in love with Imam Ibn Taimiyya (RA) but I am already in love with Umar Mukhtar Shaheed.

My colleague might be still puzzled but only this sinner can tell you the following secret: It is easy to fall in love again and again if you have done it once.

So brother go ahead and fall in love with all of the above people.

Perspective of a Muslim

Our elders have taught us that in our supplications we should start with our own self, then we should supplicate for our near and dear ones and for our friends and relatives and then for the rest of the Ummah.

This is a hierarchy, a warrant of precedence.

To supplicate one has to be aware, first, of the the normal human necessities and requirements and then about the current situation and contingencies and emergencies. Only then one can supplicate for the elevations of difficulties and granting of well being as blessings.

Clearly to this end a Muslim must be aware about personal circumstances and he also must be educated to a suitable level about local, regional as well as global realities.

And since these levels of reality keep changing constantly, these are dynamic, even the task of education is a continuous one.

We Muslims fail at all levels in these matters.

Even most educated Muslim do not know what they should be supplicating at personal level. They have never got time to fix their priorities.

The number of Muslims aware about regional problems of Muslims is rather small. Can one supplicate for their regional brothers and sisters if they are not aware about regional social, cultural, economic, business, industrial and financial dynamics?

If we were aware of our regional problems then a global unity of Muslims would not be a dream like an air castle it would be a reality. It would be a fulfillment of the Qur'anic injunction that we are a global Ummah.

At least in India we must take suitable steps to make each and every Muslim a part of the Indian part of the Muslim Ummah.

Self-Actualization Redux

Redux means to bring back or restore.

In the present post we are using it in the sense of coming back to self-actualization.

Self-actualization, or self-realization, is a term in positive psychology.

It is used in various connotations. Here are some examples.

(1) Pursuit of Knowledge
(2) Urge to Do Something for Society
(3) Desire for Spiritual Enlightenment
(4) Expression of Creativity

Psychology is the discipline dealing with human psyche and hence it has natural boundary with the Islamic mystical tradition.

The main modern scientific tradition, as much as it can be used for psychology, is to present a mechanical view of the world.

As a result a modern psychologist would conclude that religion has nothing to say about human psyche.

Falsity of above claim should not be a point of contention.

But one can not ignore the fact that western scientific tradition sneers at anything that can not fit its mechanical paradigm. This manifests, for example, in a very patronizing attitude towards homeopathy. The Unani Medicine tradition, so prevalent in the Indian subcontinent will receive the same treatment by the western establishment were it presented to them.

Practitioners of Unani Medicines are called Hakims and the irony is that many of them would prefer to be called doctors and in deed so many of them use western allopathic medicines in their prescription - an act for which they are certaunly not qualified.

But let us talk about conservative practitioners of Unani Medicine. Many of them are products of our Islamic Darul Ulooms, Islamic seminaries and some of them are experts of Islamic mysticism. They deal both with physical ailments as well as matters spiritual.

So what do the practitioners of Islamic mysticism, the mystics, the Sufis, say about above matters of self-actualization.

Let us take one of them: Pursuit of Knowledge.

A western psychologist would assert, after Kurt Goldstein [1], that tendency to actualize self is the mater motive of an organism. 

Let us restrict ourselves to human beings.
In the context of pursuit of knowledge a western psychologist would assert that a human beings have the master motive to acquire knowledge.

This should be qualified. The motive is strong in some people and moderate in others and there are people who are rather detached from this tendency.

This is a rather obvious but significant aspect of the issue at hand.
We do have mighty scholars of every discipline of academic pursuit.
Over the period of time we have seen mighty scholars of Islam - both Muslim and western.

Then there have been western scholars of Christianity, Hinduism as well as the fames Indian scholars of the latter.

Then there is the long list of western Muslim and Indian scholars of philosophy. Similar long list of scientists with insatiable urge for knowledge. Same is true for the disciplines of humanities and social sciences, including economics and literature.

So this observation that some human beings have a rather strong desire to acquire knowledge is a truism.

But there is another truism. Every human being is not like John L. Esposito or Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi or Noam Chomsky or S. Radhakrishnan, Amartya Sen or Edward Witten. The matter of fact is there are only few people like them.

Let us be little more specific and accurate. Every modern society has a sizable number of academicians of various hue. But what is its percentage of the whole population. It certainly vary from country to country. For a Jewish population it will perhaps be very large but for an underdeveloped country it will be very small. On the average we would be lucky to have a hundred good academicians per million residents.

Here we are not talking about literacy. That is quite different from self-actualization.

Let us include all the people overwhelmed by the self-actualization desire in all the fields mentioned the list at the beginning. Let us also include also those disciplines that are not mentioned in above list. The number still might reach only a hundred souls per million. That is a tiny percentage of population.

The number is so small that it is not worth mentioning even if multiplied by hundred.

This raises a question. Why are such people so visible if there number is really so small? Answer to that is that we talk only about such people and we do that again and again.

In conclusion we do have examples of self-actualization but the numbers are insignificantly small.

And the phenomena is remarkable because of the impressive nature of every such achievement and the fact that we human beings focus on such things but phenomena is really rare.

Indeed this rareness and scarcity contributes to the mystique of the phenomenon of self-actualization.

From the Islamic point of view this would be a mundane observation that Allah, Exalted is He, sometimes distributes his bounties appreciable to some of His slaves. This is a Grace of God and He bestows it by His Will on whoever He wants.

To view the same from a mechanical angle is a travesty of truth because it dissociates a piece of reality from not only spiritual but even psychological content. A better attitude, even for a western academician would be that an emotional and psychological phenomena is more than the content of its parts and that is spiritual. Before that we got to accept that psychological phenomenon is more then its biological content. Even before that we got to accept that biological phenomenon is more than corresponding mere bio-chemical collective content.

Our western friends would disagree with that.

But we do have an Islamic perspective.

[1] Arnold H. Modell, The Private Self (Harvard 1993) p. 44

Purpose of Life and Self-Realization

There are two disciplines related to meaning of life: psychology and mysticism.

These address the same aspect of our life yet these are so far apart from each other.

Psychology, basically the modern psychology, developed with the studies of its pathology.

Soon psychologists realized that this is not a wholesome approach to, perhaps, the most complex discipline of studies - human psyche.

Hence they came up with the ideas related to positive aspects of psychology.
Self-realization is one such aspect.

Basically psychologists assert that a healthy psyche will have an irresistible urge to put its creative abilities to utmost use. This, according to them, manifests itself in extra-ordinary feats of achievements of people.

What does mysticism say about these matters?

Does mysticism assert that human beings have extraordinary inclination to become religious?

This certainly is not true. If there are people with extraordinary commitment to religion then opposite too is true - there a fanatic atheists.

Indeed in Islam faith is a voluntary step with the responsibility ensuing from it falling squarely on the undertaker.

This is quite different from and extraordinary urge to do some thing.

Things are further compounded by the very well known observation that Divine love, Ishq-e-Haqiqi in mysticism, has all the manifestations of the extraordinary urge for self-realization.

But it is self-realization after personal choice and decision to have a faith.
In sense worldly self-realization is a basic instinct while faith is a conscious choice for which we are responsible.

It is clear from this analysis that the two concepts, self-realization and a purpose of life, are neither the same nor opposite to each other. Nor we can assert in a straightforward way that these are complementary to each other. In fact we are simply talking about two very different things. One is human urge ( self-realization) and another one is responsibility ( accepting that life has a purpose).

We hope these words help those who are curious about the connection between psychology and mysticism.

Dr Abu Tamim ( Malih Ahmed Siddiqui ) : In Memorium

With utmost sadness I have to announce that an Internet friend of mine, Dr Malih Ahmed Siddiqui , a diabetes expert from Mumbai died on Thursday, January 2, 2014.

He is survived by three sons, less than a year old Abu Hani, about three years old Abu Shamail and about five years old Abu Tamim and his gynecologist wife.

Verily we belong to our Lord and unto Him is our return.

The news was broken to us by Dr Siddiqui's mother through Maulana Junaid from Gujrat.

This sinner came to know about him through Sunni Forum where the feisty doctor used to post under the user name Abu Tamim.

He had a characteristic style of smothering long pompous posts against Islam by breaking it into sentences and replying to each argument one at a time with  academic vigour and exemplary zeal.

This sinner joined Sunni Forum because of his activities and adopted his style as well as the style of his avatar on that forum. Dr Siddiqui showed utmost love as well as respect to this lowly self and hence leaves a vacuum behind him that can not be easily filled.

Even before Sunni Forum ceased its activities a few months back Dr Siddiqui was too busy in his practice as a physician that he rarely posted on the forum he was already sorely missed because of his no nonsense attitude and a personality lacking all guile. He had very visible sense of humour.

He was a person who taught us that we do not have to suffer fools after we have submitted our will to the Will of Allah (SWT). For a person with modern academic career he was remarkable informed about Islamic theology and he could muster a variety of arguments based on actual texts in favour of his point of view. This was a rather rare ability in these times when modern educated Muslims turn their abilities against Islam and Muslims themselves rather than defending the Deen of Allah and its followers.

In spite of his blogs ( one, two, three) and an emphatic presence on Sunni Forum I do not expect any public presence on his part and thus we might be the only one in public domain to cry for him. I request my readers at Thus Spake, An Alig's Armchair and Kamalat-e-Kalimia, Sunni Forum and and the users of Mufti says to do supplications for our beloved brother late Dr Malih Ahmed Siddiqui.

May Allah (SWT) forgive his sins, convert his failings into good deeds and grant him a high place in Jannah.

Rest in peace my friend. We miss you a lot.

We loved you for the sake of Allah (SWT) and we do the same now. We expect a shade in the shadow of the Divine Throne on the Judgment Day because of your friendship.

May Allah (SWT) give Sabr-e-Jamil to your mother and wife and may He (SWT) make the best arrangements for them as well as your three sons. By the Grace of Allah (SWT) we are with them in thought and deed.

And we seek all the help from Allah (SWT) in this difficult time.

And indeed he took you away from us to remind us of the perishable nature of this world. In your presence He was our only support and now that you are no more with us again He (SWT) is our only support.

And seek help and support from Him only. And he is sufficient to take care of our affairs. In Him we put our complete trust.

There is no blessing better than the faith and it is special blessing that Allah (SWT) gave us birth in the Ummah of beloved Prophet (PBUH).

And by providing a friend like you He only enhanced His favour to us. In your presence you warmed our hearts and in your absence you accentuate our sense of duty. In your life you were a blessing for us but in your death you did a favour to us by reminding us of the real object of life.

You left before us while we are coming after you. May the Mercy of Allah (SWT) be upon you.

Update 1 : Following threads at different fora have posts on the sad demise of Dr Abu Tamim.

(1) Sunni Forum
(2) MuftiSays
(3) Ummah Forum
(4) Multaqa Ahlul Hadith
(5) Islamic Awakening