Children of Swat

Photos taken by my friends

I only to need to say that I testify these are the children of Swat currently designated as IDPs...

An advice to the seekers of truth

There is this tendency among weak minds, notes al-Ghazali, of judging the truth from where it is to be found: That is, they are not concerned primarily about 'separating truth from falsehood', but they are much keen to know the possessors of truth and not the truth itself! Therefore, 'the prince of believers', Ali the son of Abu Talib, said:

"Do not seek for the truth by means of men; find first the truth and then you will recognize those who follow it."

Al-Ghazali further explains, "Honey does not become impure because it may happen to have been placed in the glass which the surgeon uses for cupping purposes. The impurity of blood is due, not to its contact with this glass, but to a peculiarity inherent in its own nature; this peculiarity, not existing in honey, cannot be communicated to it by its being placed in the cupping-glass; it is therefore wrong to regard it as impure. Such is, however, the whimsical way of looking at things found in nearly all men. Every word proceeding from an authority which they approve is accepted by them, even were it false; every word proceeding from one whom they suspect is rejected, even were it true. In every case they judge of the truth according to its professors and not of men according to the truth which they profess, a ne plus ultra of error. Such is the peril in which philosophy involves its opponents."

What is Life?

Life is the name of fulfilling your Covenants and nothing else. This is at the least the life of a true Muslim.

Shari'ah & Tariqah: Two Indispensible Aspects of Islam

S. H. Nasr explains this "geometric" explanation of the relationship between two most important dimensions of Islam, i.e. shari'ah (law) and tariq'ah (path or way) in his Ideals and Realities of Islam:

"Some of the traditional Sufi master, especially those of the Shadhiliyah order, have used the geometric symbol of a circle to depict the relation between these [i.e. shari'ah and tariqah] fundamental dimensions of Islam. From any point in space there can be generated a circle and an indefinite number of radii which connect every point of the circumference of the circle of the Centre. The circumference is the Shari'ah whose totality comprises the whole of the Muslim community. Every Muslim by virtue of accepting the Divine Law is as a point standing on this circle. The radii symbolize the Turuq (plural of Tariqah). Each radius is a path from the circumference to the Centre. As the Sufis say there are as many paths to God as there are children of Adam. The Tariqah, which exists in many different forms corresponding to different spiritual temperaments and needs of men, is the radius which connects each point to the Centre. It is only by virtue of standing on the circumference, that is, accepting the Shari'ah, that man can discover before him a radius that leads to the centre. Only in following the Shari'ah does the possibility of having the door of the spiritual life open become realized."

Now some words on the reality of Centre, or Haqiqah, and for some the need of walking on Tariqah despite being 'saved' by being on the periphery:

"Finally at the Centre there is the Haqiqah or truth which is the source of both the Tariqah and the Shari'ah. Just as geometrically the point generates both the radii and the circumference, so does metaphysically the Haqiqah create both the Tariqah and the Sahri'ah, that Haqiqah or Centre which is 'everywhere and nowhere'. The Law and the Way have both been brought into being independently by God who is the Truth. And both reflect the Centre in different ways. To participate in the Sahri'ah is to live in the reflection of the Centre or Unity, for the circumference is the reflection of the centre. It is thus the necessary and sufficient cause for living a whole life and being 'saved'. But there are always those whose inner constitution is such that they cannot only live in the reflection of the centre but must seek to reach It. Their Islam is to walk upon the Path towards the Centre. For them the Tariqah is providentially the means whereby they can attain that final End or Goal, that Haqiqah which is the Origin of all things..."

Much, much more can be quoted and reiterated about the subject matter, as this is only just a little preparation and 'clearing' required to delve deep into this subject which is to practised above all anything than to just talk about, for it is in the execution of this knowledge that our truest benefit lies.

* Artwork by yours truly

Difference between a "Service" & a "Product"

Source

According to a leading entrepreneur in Pakistan, services and products (both a form of business) are as if two opposing realities, as the difference between these two modes being very sharp. He observes that a service (for example, the job of a surgeon which deals with standard cases) requires the service provider to execute what he's best at in the best manner in order to 'create value'. The problem with making a new product, however, according to him, is that there's no repetition involved to save the day; rather, every time a company commences to develop a product that must be different from what is being offered in the market, it needs a whole new set of capabilities, technical expertise and organizational skills just to innovate a product, not many products. Moreover, another dilemma is that this, unlike providing tedious service(s), consumes an excessive amount of energy and resources. Burn rates, like stakes, are very high.

Change & Resistance

Source

I don't want to leave my home where I live now: the gracious triangular park right in front of my home; the mystical stillness in its surroundings; its mosque and its preacher who are like rays of sunlight in this "Dark Age"; its tahndi sarak (the 'cool' road); its evenings; its nights - I don't want a change. There is however one little problem - we've to leave it! My father has even selected the next home to-be. I cannot act deliberately to avert this 'fallout' sort of situation for me, nor should I attempt to resist the decision that has to be implemented, if God wills it.

Therefore, my life is going to be shifted. Change is inevitable, as ever? I doubt the last part of the preceding sentence, but from an unusual point-of-view. I find that certain breed of humans, characterized by their spiritual character and love of the All Powerful, are never bothered by any displacements, or change in circumstances, or in what is between the heavens and the earth. Because. They're in love at heart with the One, the Absolute, God Almighty, Who dominates everything. Such people of 'understanding' have no worries.

Consider those, who, on the other hand, are devoid of such love for such a Being, doubtlessly they need to reconsider their positioning. They should think of change that can lead them to the One, Independent, on Whom everything else depends. They should not dread it, the change. How difficult would be such a transition for someone like me, I yet have to find out very soon.

What is going to happen with me is going to be an experiment and test of the worth of my words. In my father's will is God's will, no doubt about that. But, my will currently is not aligned to his. And I am worried. And I am lazy. The path is clear that is yet not taken. It's 'wrath yet not awaken', to crush and forge my spirits, to make dents, to change and to help myself transcend the world of change and forms. To be free.

Of A (Very) Strange Event

Now. This is not a kind of post which can relate itself to the dubious motto of a book by Gurdjieff who states in effect about his book All and Everything, "Now I am going to tell you something people are not going to believe" or if something really strange is going to happen. Not that. Not that at all. Because his book is nothing but an anti-thesis to its very 'galvanizing' statement.

Once upon a time, once or twice? Once! Once upon a time, I was driving a rickshaw. A customer came by and said that he wanted to go to some place B, which to him was not far from point A, where we're located at the moment. I told him it would cost him 60 something, as I was empty for the time it took me to reach at point A. He fought for 40 something; argued hard in all what's gibberish; and we settled for it. When we reached at his destination. He gave me 100 something. I was amazed, and you ask: Amazed? I ask, "little?".

So I asked him: What for?! He behaved like a true economist-consumer (you've to admit it's a strange thing to happen these days with the passiveness of being a consumer). He said in a very factual and monotonous way, "40 something for bringing me here; 10 something for the time I wasted in arguing with you; and 20 something for what you had to give up to pick me up while we were free of any customer. Finally, take 30 something more - approximately - for the time you are to spend burning carbon empty (it was late at night) from here now on. These are all your 'opportunity costs' that no economist would ever pay you, so please sod off!"

I wish if there exists such an academic person who did everything what he theorized. Perhaps that's why people read fiction to the end, always.

The Rules of Communication

Military fascinates me, the way most of the Pakistani youth adore it, for even its outlook is very electrifying. Take for example the sternness of an army general. Like the one European (probably American or Britisher) who used to tell his junior comrades what he expects from them when he talks to them. He used to say:

I can't write what I mean; I can't say what I mean; but I want you to know what I mean.

I don't know whether they intend to be funny or not.

Question-mongering

Moderns, like profane philosophers, have an infinite capacity to ask questions (often not questioning questions), while at the same they do not posses any such capacity to digest the answers; and they also tend to approach the answers with a certain sort of contempt to what is 'shocking to their mental habits'.

The Way Things Are

Progress no; hope yes. Or better be: 'Hope yes; Progress no' - the very title of an interesting article on the comparison between Traditional world view and Moderns' by Houston Smith in his Forgotten Truth, the book. Nonetheless, I have found myself as never 'progressing' in any matter of high importance to me. I have always found myself, when in growth, to be regaining the innocence of childhood, becoming as pure as I was. I contemplate Insan al-Kamil (Universal or Perfect Man) in the innocence and uprightness of adolescents. No progress. I wish to repeat what T.S. Eliot said meaning by: "the wave of future will be a return to the past," as Houston Smith puts it:

There is only the fight to recover what has been lost

And found and lost again and again.

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Change is life; innovation not, as such.

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We sometimes come to like certain people, and care a lot about them, even if they do not pay heed to us at all, but we keep loving them. Actually. There's a bond between these souls, a bond that was created in the metacosmic world of which we unconscious in the microcosm, this lowest world in the hierarchy of realms. The souls must reunite, but not necessarily in this world. (The thought originally belongs to someone else, but felt, I think, by many.)

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There's rule and there's essence. Essence predominates the rule even if it's defined by the very rule.

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The thing 'to act' is as spontaneous as action itself. The process is calculated. Only healthy imagination can support correct action, not a lethargic and (too) skeptical one.

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One of the two essential parts of religion Islam is to fulfill our covenants with others, and to respect and build on our relationships. In the absence of this respect, the result would be destruction and mayhem among the people who do not respect each others words and integrity. This would lead to chaos, hence a complete chaotic society. The current situation of Swat in Pakistan testifies this perennial truth.

Maxim of the day!

There's nothing more dangerous than a general maxim.

(Unknown)