Cinta itu jadi agung kerana,

Duhai kesayangan,

Cinta yang teristimewa dalam dunia ini bukan miliknya,tapi milikNya.

Kedua pada ibu, pada ibu, pada ibu. Ketiga, buat ayah.

Terakhir, pada diri dan seluruh isi alam ciptaanNya.

Tahukah, cinta itu hadiah yang paling indah dariNya.

Kerana agungnya Dia, duhai kesayangan, cinta itu juga jadi agung; pada utuhnya keabdian padaNya. Dalam tiap titisan pengharapan pada balasan cintaNya.

...bukan cintanya.

Assalamualaikum.

To the edge!

What's best about losing is-

knowing that you put all your guts to the edge and that you're strong enough believing in possibilities.


And even if you didn't make it, you tried making something good out of whatever you've got, didn't you?


Allah sends us different people at different times when we need them. I know and believe that He loves us so much, He sends His love through everyone around you and me when we need a friend. Let's not worry too much about that, yeah? :)


My gratitude to Ayah, Ibu, Encik Zahari, Kak Odah, Natrah Rafie, Azhan Zaffuan, and all my dear friends near and far. Knowing that someone else believes in you makes giving up look totally pointless. Their words in sum spell out 'k.e.e.p g.o.i.n.g'. And so I will. Who cares if I'd fall and hurt, Allah's always around for some comfort and love. :)

Assalamualaikum. :)

And our fates are, too.

Everything that goes pass me are things I have no control over. I am at His will, and His servant I am, only. I will draw a curve to smile reminiscing every second we had. I will learn about what was and what is. I will draw steps, tiny steps to move on because I can't bear trembling over every loss. You and I, in utmost certainty, are His. And our fates are, too.

A quick one;

Assalamualaikum.

Ada assignment nak hantar Isnin ni. Artikel belum cukup. Guitar test on Wednesday. Jari-jari nak tukar chord pun tergelecek sana-sini lagi. Haih. -_-' Pray for me please, my fingertips feel a bit numb from yesterday's practice. Tu pun belum cukup lagi. Raya? Hah don't talk about Raya. Raya ikut dan je la jawabnya. Biskut raya pun belum buat tau. Ibu bagi resipi Biskut Snowball entah bila nak buat.


Penat la minggu lepas, minggu ni pulak sibuk. But I'm loving my life and every second of it. Right now my baby lemur tengah baring on my stomach, and my lappy's on my lap. Yes, I do my work on bed. Tu pasal la suka mengantuk baca buku. Last night the textbook read my face. Not what it should be doing. You don't work like I do if you have access to proper study space. I filled my study space dengan buku and...papers. That's why. Even if it's not messy pun, (at the time of writing this it's a bit messy) I won't use it either. Sebab meja tu bertingkat so my laptop x boleh bukak habis. Humh. Takpe. Katil kan ada. :p

That photo (yang atas) got through Salam Perantauan. For a few days ucapan Cohort 2 masuk surat khabar. Adakah perantau lain tak memberi saingan yang cukup sengit sampai boleh masuk berulang kali? Cepat hantar! (sendri pun tak hantar lagi). Yes,yes. I'm tryinggg. Oh, I'm the one sitting in red kurung, third from your right hand side. Salam Aidilfitri dari kami untuk keluarga,pensyarah-pensyarah dan guru-guru serta rakan-rakan yang sentiasa diingati. :D


You take care. I need to read my article and finish it before..well, as fast as possible. Time's racing against us.

Byes! Me loves you.

<3

p/s: Work hard, it's near the end of Ramadhan. Tahun depan belum pasti. Ayuh. :)

Transition #3: the movie 'Koran by Heart'

Assalamualaikum.

Hari ni tak sempat nak post panjang-panjang, tapi tengok ni,ada dokumentari pedek yang sangat-sangat worth the while watching. Ni bukan drama ke ape tau. This is a movie about little contestants of the Cairo Competition, an event where youngsters from all over the world compete in memorising the Holy Quran. Watch their journey as they prepare themselves for the day and think about their future.

What's special about this clip is..practically almost every detail. You can't help noticing their life challenges and dilemmas that make you think about what you've done up to the present time, while these kids fought their way in search for education. Right, I won't spoil it for you, go and watch ya!

May Allah bless you, amin. :)

Transition #2:Special Trifles Worth Exchanging For

Assalamualaikum.

Duduk Sydney mana boleh bawak kereta. If you do, it means that you have enough amount to cater for your daily needs plus transportation needs-you know, fuel is something people argue about for taking the most out of a fortnight's pay dekat Australia ni, mahal tau harga petrol. It could also be that you're good at managing your financial needs without having to have that much amount of money in your account.

Eh, ni dah silap topik. :)

So me, being neither, takes the bus or train to everywhere. And I listen to my music player a lot. Always. My cohort friends recognise me with a set of earphones. One day, out of the blue I thought: "I stuck this earphones all the time while travelling. If I was listening to zikirs or nasyids, wouldn't it be something far better?"

It's like doing nothing, listening to songs, and getting some peace of mind.

or

Doing nothing, listening to zikirs, and getting some peace of mind sealed with countless of rewards.


Kan? If I listen to songs and songs only, I get to relax, but only while it lasts. If I let myself be immersed into zikirs, I get to relax and as long as it goes, I get rewards. Isn't He kindhearted in many beautiful ways? He rewards us for doing ourselves good, and refrains from punishing until we commit sin. Even then, He waits for us to repent, and would gladly erase our sins if we really quit committing them.

Where else on Earth can you find such a deal?

Nowhere.


And it makes it even sweeter to think about it this way: if you love music just as much as I do, and you keep searching for the kind that pleases you the way I do, it's just because when your soul was created, you heard the voice of God, remembered how soothing it sounded, and now scorch the world just to listen to the beautiful voice again, only to end up searching for such a beauty in the voice of His creations, never the one as perfect as His. Every soul, before life was blown into it, was asked by Allah if he wills to live in the living world, to face tests, to be His loyal servants. We heard Him once, and knew how wonderful He sounds.

This life is a journey, a search. I walk my path in search of Him. You walk yours, in search of the same. We all walk our different roads to one ending point. We will meet Him one day, and along our journey He gives us many options to choose from for Him to reward us.


Tell me, what harms are there in rewarding yourself in the simplest ways possible, like saving some copies of nice nasyids into your playlist and echoing to selawats while you enjoy the view through your car window, or-in my case-bus? ;p Come on friend, kick start by browsing Youtube for some nasyids you have in mind. Try 'Yusuf Islam', search for some qasidahs (poems) (try qasidah burdah), or anything. It doesn't have to be about love to Allah only, it can also be about love among creatures, Father and Son, whatever it is that soothes you. Then continue to look for more, listen to the lyrics, understand them and let it be a part of you. They are little pieces of a bigger, inspiring story of living with love to The One.

Trust me. I used to, and still do listen to Keane, Franz Ferdinand, and yes, Avenged Sevenfold. But what has loving their music to do with me and my true love Allah? I search for a beautiful essence in songs I listen to until I realised that it's not there, not anywhere. It's in me, waiting to be discovered. The elixir is in our hearts. In fact, what these musics give to me does not compare to what Allah does. He awards me with sweetness in every prayer, love in my tears, amazement in my thoughts. Obviously not something to be found in Keane's sweetest melody or A7X's adrenaline rush, whatever-you name it. It's a feeling of bliss every time I whisper to Him, that I search for. It's...different. Extraordinarily one of a kind, something that completes the missing piece of life.

I can be no way more amazed about the Seven Wonders of the World than I can be about how Allah awards all of His servants the same air to breathe, never runs out of it, water to drink, knowledge to live, and the same opportunity to succeed-what's left is to only work towards achieving. Tell me, how can I be more amazed about one thing when everything around me is within His power? It's because of Him that mankind are capable to built the highest of skyscrappers. It's because of Him that people speak in unique languages that distinguish them from one another. It's because of Him that mankind has the knowledge and ability to study the planets thousands of miles beyond reach. It's because of Him that we meet and love each other. It's all because of Him. Aren't we lucky.


Take these little trifles in exchange to what have made up your life all the while. Take the chance, do the simplest things of all:

Immerse yourself in the most pleasing ways of living with Islamic lifestyle; such as

1. wearing wonderful, comfortable clothes that cover your aurat, 
2. listen to soothing zikrullahs, and slowly add up the number in your playlist, 
3. go sightseeing, and gaze at His magnificent creations, think of your existence and how lucky you are to be the best of creations.
4. often say 'subhanallah, how amazing is that!' instead of 'wow!' or 'OMG!' (I'm not saying it's bad to say OMG, it's okay to, substituting is just a training to familiarise ourselves with words of appraisal to Allah,ya?)
5. make friends, have them around as your brothers/ sisters, love them, and be loved by them.
6. love the way you live, and love it even more when you start doing 1-5 plus some other you might think of in addition.

Just one thing to remember. Avoid overdoing something, when you want to try something new. In going through a transition there is no need to rush. Take your time, enjoy the while, and do not feel that you have to dump your old self just because you want to be different. Oh c'mon, you can't go dump yourself. You just add up to the parts of your life, and improvise. You will enjoy it, in sya Allah.

Me loves you much. May Allah bless. ;)

Transition #1: Look Around

Assalamualaikum.

I don't know why, but I have the feeling that it gets harder to write day by day. Looks like it has become more and more true, (regardless of the many times that I doubted myself) that I spend more time thinking and abandoning the thoughts than writing about it in this blog.

It's now winter break. I'm home because this Aidilfitri I won't be together with family celebrating the big day. Ha, my first experience of celebrating Raya with the peoples down under. :) Rasakan. But I find that staying away  teaches me a lot about love and sacrifice. Dulu masa dekat maktab, study bukanlah sesuatu yang senang. Mana-mana pun macam tu. Whenever you face a challenge you can't stop to tremble over it, you carry on. It's nothing different, no matter where you go. The more I believe in it, the harder life feels.

Macam mana agaknya ya. Dugaan datang umpama bayang. Tak putus-putus mengekori. Hati juga kadang rasa lemah, letih, bila yang dikasihi berada jauh dari pandangan mata, jika dikhabarkan pun, akan sayulah hati kesayangan-kesayanganku itu, Ayah dan Ibu. Itupun sudah cukup banyak yang mereka korbankan demi anak yang seorang ni. Jadi pada siapa sebenarnya tempat berpaut?

Kita hidup dilingkungi kuasa Pencipta kita. Tak ada apa yang lebih berkuasa dariNya. Tuhan itu berkuasa atas tiap-tiap sesuatu. Tak ada makhluk yang diuji melebihi dari apa yang mampu ditanggunggnya. Bukan kita tak tahu. Tapi jika 'redha' itu boleh disukat, seberapa dalamkah redha kita menerima ujian Allah?

Tak tahu. I can't even tell how ready I am whenever His tests come in my way. Because time and again, I need to be reminded. Of how dependent I am to Him. Of how true the fact is, that He owns my life, sets my destiny, determines my path. Of how I would be in despair if I don't grab the chance to pray to Him and ask for nothing but the best.


Because, my friend, He listens. He listens to your every prayer, pays attention to your every whining, waits for the second when you will finally stop complaining about how life's been cruel to you and bow your head to Him, tell Him that the faith in Him keeps you running.

Allah is the Most Merciful. I believe that no matter how troubled I am, I am good because He made me. You are too, because He made you.

Our existence is the most beautiful fact about being alive. Living is another thing, but first is the chance Allah gave us-to live. Souls are created but not all make it. We made it, somehow. With His grace. Come to think of it, what's life if it's all bed of roses? What's life if you get rewards without tests? What's life if it's not your diary of struggles and inspiring stories of success? What's life then, if it's not those?

Allah rewards those with outstanding patience. Outstanding patience. Work towards it, because there is no parameters as of to how outstanding your efforts are. It's something very subjective and most importantly, it's His to decide.

Look around you. Isn't the world beautiful? Isn't it lovely how the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West? Isn't it lovely how the Moon lights up your nights and the stars glimmer to decorate the skies? Isn't it magnificent how you exist with all other living organisms but you differ greatly to them? Isn't it mindblowing to think of how the Earth exists for you to call home, while you know that there are zillions of other existences across the atmosphere and you're not there but here on the Earth, pondering about the creations around you?

Isn't it magnificent how tiny your little self is, compared to the Universe, all of those which is no one's but His own?

Your breath-my breath-is something unthinkable. Let alone this life He awards us with. Alhamdulillah. Forgive me Allah, for my wrongdoings. Forgive me, for whining. Forgive me, for making you wait. Forgive me, for not asking to You humbly. Forgive me, if my faith ever gets shaken by Your tests. Forgive me, for not being at my best.


I need You.


*photo taken at Bruni Island, Tasmania, Aus. June 29, 2011.

About Today.

Today I wake up listening to inspiring songs by Yusuf Islam, which makes me think of how much he have travelled on his way to who he is today.

Dear Allah. If You will it that I'm not going to make it to another tomorrow, grant me one wish:

"Let today be my best last."

Amin.

And peace be upon you. :)