Beautiful.Islam

[ak7t7]

⏰ *One Less Day*

"When we understand that each day isn't one more day, but one less, we start giving more value to what truly matters..."

Many of us view each new day as an addition to our lives—a day gained, a day added to our plans and ambitions. But the reality is that with every sunrise, we are not merely gaining another day; we are also moving one day closer to our meeting with Allâh ﷻ.

Each day that passes is a portion of our life that will never return.

✍️ Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله said:

“O son of Ādam, you are but a collection of days. Whenever a day passes, a part of you passes away.”

This realization is not meant to make us despair but rather to motivate us to make better use of the time Allâh ﷻ has granted us.

Time is among the greatest blessings, yet it is often the blessing most easily wasted.

Allâh ﷻ says:

﴿وَالْعَصْرِ ۝ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ﴾

"By time. Indeed, mankind is in loss."

~ Surah Al-'Asr (103:1-2)

Forwarded as received.

[far-away-storm-deactivated20260]

[thecalminside]

True perfection seems imperfect, yet it is perfectly itself.

True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present.

True straightness seems crooked.

True wisdom seems foolish.

True art seems artless.

-Lao Tzu

[iambrillyant]

“sometimes the waves keep coming in your direction because the phase you’re in is teaching you how to swim; above your fears and insecurities, above opinions or assumptions that don’t belong to you, above everything that suffocates you so you can finally learn how to breathe.”

— iambrillyant

[lazyyogi]

Time: Magic and Mastery

"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small." -- Lao Tzu

Potent yet succinct, this seed of wisdom contains an essential key to a life of mastery.

In his seminal comic book masterpiece titled The Invisibles, Grant Morrison speaks of the 5th dimension--a dimension that exists outside of space and time.

(Morrison happens to be an all time favorite author of mine, as well as a formidable philosopher-magician. As an aside, he openly shares how his insight into the 5th dimension came as consequence from his abduction by aliens in Katmandu in 1994.)

What does it mean for a dimension to exist outside of space and time, according to Morrison?

One consequence of a dimension outside of time's flow is that nothing grows there. Growth both implies and requires the dimension of time, of change. And so he concluded that the utility of the 4 dimensions (3 dimensions of space + 1 dimension of time) was to grow things.

As humans, we often feel as though we are victims of time. Life is short, we are mortal, and everything we are is ultimately eroded by time. It's also why we regard important accomplishments as things that will stand the test of time, things that will outlive us.

But the wisdom of Lao Tzu's aphorism is a major tip for how to use the dimension of time to your advantage. If you start now and start small, growing and building over time, incredible feats are possible for you.

It also makes me think of a meme I once saw, which went something like this:

"In time travel stories, whenever people travel back in time, they are always careful because they're worried that small changes can have drastic consequences for the future. But no one lives that way in the present."

To put it simply: small changes in our daily lives add up to big things in the future. Whether that's growing a meditation practice from 5 minutes a day to 1 hour, taking up a new exercise regimen, learning a new skill, or changing the entire direction of your life.

In college, I majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. After I graduated in 2011, I worked in the movie industry for a few years. Now I'm more than halfway through my training in head and neck surgery. How did that happen?

In 2013, I decided to abandon my pursuits in film (that's another story) and re-orient my path toward becoming a doctor. It would be 7 years before I finally had my MD and started residency. I took it all one step at a time. Eventually it added up to where I am now.

I underwent a slow but intimate transformation during the time between when I made that decision and received my diploma. The same goes for my meditation practice and exercise regimen. I started small, grew it daily, and now I have something solid with both.

While sudden and significant life changes can be exciting and dramatic, it is our sustained effort over time that can be relied upon most to endure with us for life. When formidable aims and accomplishments are reduced to their initial components, we realize they are possible even for us. Manipulating and working with the passage of time in this way is its own kind of magic.

And in the end, it is not the objects we accumulate nor is it the experiences we gather that comprise a worthwhile life.

The real manifestation of a good life is a good person.

LY

[perennialphilosophy]

Common sense is the best distributed commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.

Rene Descartes, 1637

[julaibib]

Ibn Al-Qayyim said :

فإنه لو لم يرد اجابته لما ألهمه الدعاء

if Allah did not want to accept your duaa, he would've not guided you to make it (in the first place)

[ عدة الصابرين ]

[iheartallah]

How to pray on Laylatul Qadr? (Please watch and share!)

[islamisforeveryone]

[islamisforeveryone]

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ

And let your longing be for your Lord. (The Quran, verse 94:8)

Source: moffad.deviantart.com, via IslamicArtDB

I am an independent, self-published author. Support this blog and the rest of my work by getting my books on Amazon.com and leaving an honest review!

[liberatingreality]

If you maintain an artificial persona, and rationalize that this is somehow  necessary, or even clever, that it allows for a kind of strategic social advantage, some convenient, superficial approval, then you’re really only denying yourself the opportunity for genuine personal development.

There’s nothing intelligent, courageous, are transformative about feeling so incompetent that you can’t be who you really are around people. If you cringe at the thought of being vulnerable with others, then that self-disgust should be the driving force to face your inadequacies, understand them, and transcend them, not to normalize your fear-based dishonesty. Feelings like disgust, resentment, and bitterness, are valid emotions, especially when considering legitimate personal flaws, and these feelings will motivate you to radically transform your life, so long as you don’t repress them and pretend you’re someone that you’re not.

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

The Quran, verse 60:5

رَبَّنَا لَا تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

Our Lord, make us not [objects of] torment for the disbelievers and forgive us, our Lord. Indeed, it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

Source: to-jannah, via IslamicArtDB

I am an independent, self-published author. Support this blog and the rest of my work by getting my books on Amazon.com and leaving an honest review!

[islamisforeveryone]

[ak7t7]

Must listen..

[imaanovernafs]

ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE CROWD?

When ‘Umar bin al-Khattab رضي الله عنه was walking in the market, he passed by a man who was supplicating :

اللهم اجعلني من القليل اللهم اجعلني من القليل

❝O Allāh, make me from the few! O Allāh make me from the few!❞

‪

So ‘Umar said to him :

❝Where did you get this du'a (supplication) from?❞

‪⠀

And the man said :

❝Allāh in His Book says :

وَقَليلٌ مِن عِبادِيَ الشَّكورُ

“And few of My servants are grateful.”

[Quran, Saba’ (chapter 34) ; 13]❞

‪⠀

So ‘Umar wept and admonished himself :

❝The people are more knowledgeable than you, O Umar! O Allāh make us from Your ‘FEW’ servants.❞

—————

Sometimes when you advise someone to leave a sin, they respond with :

❝But everybody does it, it’s not just me!❞

‪⠀

But if you look for the words “MOST PEOPLE” in the Quran, you will find that most people are :

ولكن اكثرهم لا يعلمون

❝…and however most people DO NOT know.❞

[Quran, Al-A'rāf (chapter 7) ; 187]

‪⠀

ولكن أكثرهم لا يشكرون

❝…and most people DO NOT show gratitude.❞

[Quran, Al-Baqarah (chapter 2) ; 243] — and

‪⠀

و لكن اكثر الناس لا يؤمنون

❝…and most people DO NOT believe.❞

[Quran, Hūd (chapter 11) ; 17].

‪⠀

•••

‪⠀

And if you look for “MOST OF THEM“, you will find :

وانّ أكثر كم فا يقو ن

❝…defiantly disobedient.❞

[Quran, Al-Māidah (chapter 5) ; 59]

‪⠀

و لكن أكثرهم يجهلون

❝…ignorant.❞

[Quran, Al-An'ām (chapter 6) ; 111] — and

‪⠀

بل أكثرهم لا يعلمون الحق فهم معرضون

❝…turning away.❞

[Quran, Al-Anbiyā (chapter 21) ; 24].

‪⠀

—————

‪⠀

So be of the “FEW”, whom Allāh says about them :

‪⠀

و قليلٌ من عبادي الشّكور

❝…and FEW of My servants are grateful.❞

[Quran, Saba’ (chapter 34) ; 13] — and

‪⠀

وما آمن معه إلاّ قليلٌ

❝…but none had believed with him, except A FEW.❞

[Quran, Hūd (chapter 11) ; 40]

‪⠀

في جنات النعيم ثلة من الاولين و قليل من الآخرين

❝…in the Gardens of Bliss : many from the past and a FEW from later generations.❞

[Quran, Al-Wāqi'ah (chapter 56) ; 12-14]

‪⠀

—————

‪⠀

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said :

❝Go on the PATH OF TRUTH and DO NOT feel lonely because there are FEW who TAKE THAT PATH ; and BEWARE of the PATH OF FALSEHOOD and DO NOT be deceived by the vastness of the perishers.❞

‪⠀

• [Kitab al-Zuhd - Ahmad bin Hanbal ; and Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shaybah]

—————

May Allāh make us of His FEW servants.

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

“And when such people feel trapped by life, by financial hardship, by pain, by loneliness, by fear, by heartbreak, or sadness, all they have to do is turn to Allah, and He always makes a way out for them. Know that this is not some feel-good theory. It is a promise. A promise made by Allah Himself, who says in the Qur’an: “…And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out, And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him…” (65:2-3)”

— Yasmin Mogahed

[islamic-art-and-quotes]

“The experience of Prophet Yunus `alayhi sallatu wa sallam (may Allah send his peace and blessings upon him) is so crucial to internalize. When he was trapped in the belly of the whale, he had only one way out: turning completely to Allah, realizing Allah’s oneness and his own human frailty. His du`a’ encapsulates this truth in such a profound way: “There is no God but You, glory be to You, I was wrong.” (Qur’an, 21:87) Many of us are also trapped inside the belly of the whale of our own desires and objects of worship. It is our own selves which we become enslaved to. And that imprisonment is the result of putting anything where only God should be in our hearts. In so doing we create the worst and most painful of prisons; because while a worldly prison can only take away what is temporary and inherently imperfect, this spiritual prison takes away what is ultimate, unending and perfect: Allah and our relationship to Him.”

— Yasmin Mogahed