To Damascus, years are only moments, decades are only flitting trifles of time. She measures time, not by days and months and years, but by the empires she has seen rise, and prosper and crumble to ruin. She is a type of immortality… Damascus has seen all that has ever occurred on earth, and still she lives. She has looked upon the dry bones of a thousand empires, and will see the tombs of a thousand more before she dies. Though another claims the name, old Damascus is by right the Eternal City.
I will give you one good reason why everything is going to be alright: Allah.
The victim must remember: there is a day when the divine redresser will right every wrong, heal every wound, fulfill every vow, and remove for all eternity the scars of this world that were unjustly inflicted by those who betrayed God’s protection.
The suffering of the world is spoken of in terms of wars, starvation, hatred, competition, and the struggle of the survival of the fittest. Yet all the suffering of the world originates in the human heart. Every crime committed, every act of oppression, every callous cruelty, and every injustice to the self or others emanates from the hearts of men. However, for every wrong wrought by the human heart, a thousand acts of mercy have issued forth: every mother’s love, every child’s forgiveness, every teacher’s care, and every father’s concern for the well-being of his progeny–all have their source in the core of the human being, the human heart. If we are to right the world, we must first rectify our hearts, and this is why every revelation has been granted to humanity in order to make firm our hearts. The most oft-recited prayer of the blessed Prophet, peace and prayers be upon him, was “O Revolver of the hearts, make firm my heart upon the straight way.” In no equivocal terms, the Qur’an states, “On the day of Judgement, when neither wealth nor children will avail, only one who brings forth a sound heart.” A sound Heart! The soundest of hearts was the heart of the Messenger of Allah, peace and prayers be upon him, who, through his purity and singularity of intention, transformed the world. His teaching remains, and the challenge is for each of us to take it and to transform our hearts with it, thereby, transforming the very world in which we now reside.
“Whoever supposes that faith is realized through speculative theology, abstract proofs, or academic devisions is an innovator. On the contrary, faith is a light that God, the Sublime and Exalted, casts into the hearts of His servants with bounty and grace from His presence. Sometimes faith is evidenced internally and is impossible to express; sometimes, through a vision while asleep; other times, by witnessing the state of a pious man and receiving the emanation of his light as a result of his companionship and presence; and then there are times when faith comes by the concurrence of circumstance. Indeed, a Bedouin came to the prophet ﷺ denying and disavowing him. But when his eyes fell upon his radiant aspect—may God increase its dignity and nobility—he saw in it the light of prophethood and exclaimed, “By God! This is not the face of a liar!” He then implored the prophet ﷺ to explain Islam to him and immediately embraced it.”
— Abū Ḥāmid Al-Ghazzālī.
Islam began as a stranger and it will return to being a stranger as it once was. Therefore, blessed are the strangers who remain virtuous when everyone else becomes corrupt.
“O God, suffice Thou me with what is lawful, to keep me away from what is prohibited, and with Thy grace make me free from want of what is besides Thee.”
Surely man transgresses when he deems himself independent.
…like the desert palm: rooted in Africa, watered by Islam and rustled by the winds of Europe.
I envy the sand that met his feet
I’m jealous of honey he tasted sweet.
Majnun would stare at the full moon.
When asked why, he replied: maybe Layla might look, too, and our glances meet.
